Express 1 and cargo vans

[underdog777]

Does anyone know why.When you hit around 1200 miles with them that it seems like they dont look for loads for you anymore during that week.If this keeps up i will be short lived here with this company.Any good companys out there that gives you steady pay on loads and 1500 2000 miles a week.It seems my luck with companys is not to good either low pay or low miles

 

[chefdennis]

They might feel the need to "share the wealth" ...you know, make sure everyone is making a "living wage'...not just a few making more then others...have to "level the playing field..."

and don't think they don't do it either....

 

[underdog777]

ive noticed this with them.i see they will dead head in trucks up to a 100 miles away to take a load i had 1200 miles of yesterday morning dropped at greensburg in was on the board at indy and sit all day and half of today till i came home if this is the way they play i want be there to long.it s not my fault if other drivers dont know how to run.and they seem to feel they need to help them out at this company.bolt would give you better miles but some times at low rates.and panther well they would leave you somewhere for weeks

 

[Falligator]

I've noticed the same thing with E-1 with regards to the miles I keep hoping next week will be better than the last, but its pretty consistent
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[chefdennis]

Dispatch at my previous carrier called me one afternoon and the young lady told me that she was training a new person and that if I didn't mind, she would explain everything to the new person as she went..Well at the very beginning, she told the new person to make sure she looked for a "star" or some kind of special notation. That notation indicated that the particular driver was having a a good week and that if there was another driver within a certain miles of the PU, even if the driver with the good week going was ahead of the other driver in board position, to pass over the driver with the good week to help even things out.......

When I questioned her on that, her responce was that i wasn't suppose to hear that.....

It happens with the mid to larger carriers....get yourself with a solid smaller carrier that only puts units on when there is an increase in business that dicates the need for more units...not a carrier that has orientation every week of the yr just to make sure they have coverage on every street coner in America....

 

[xiggi]

1200 hundred miles a week? From my experience there you should consider yourself lucky.

 

[davekc]

Sounds like a communist carrier
Can that be?

 

[underdog777]

i consider 1200 miles a slow week. the norm should 1500 to 1800 a week and 2000 being a high week.i think what happens here is they may have teams they give more loads to or they may have owner operator within the dispatch.

 

[chefdennis]

E-1 will dispatch a team around a solo in a heartbeat even if they don't need the team because of mileage or time...

 

[blizzard2014]

That's why i'm now hooked up with three companies. There is no favoritism when you work for three companies who rarely ever have two units in the same area. One of my companies called me today with a nice GE load from Commerce, CA to Kansas City, KS, but i'm not ready to go in service until next Tuesday. They had to broker that one out. I am their only guy in California and they have at least 6 loads a month coming out of here; some of them go all the way to Pennsylvania. I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year for me out here!

Working for a carrier that has regular customers is less stressful, as you don't have to wait to see whether or not they got the load. Also, having a carrier that has regular customers and allows you to partner with other carriers so you can stay busy in their dead zones tells me that they care about my ability to make money and support myself. It's all in what kind arrangement fits you better.

I worked with E-1 and barely made a living, but their dispatch was cool and they always paid on time. I worked with Panther and did well until they got larger and it became near impossible to reach a live person in dispatch. I worked for bolt and made 40k in 8 months, and I even tool 8 weeks off during that time. But they would always call me with load opportunities when I was out of service and I didn't fell like that was very professional of them. Now i'm off to a new chapter for the time being!

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I can concur...teams will get loaded before you...they are heavy on teams...when things slow down team runs start around 500 miles instead of 750-800 miles...I've been team and know we got some runs that weren't deserved...just ask Steady Eddie...he knows that first hand...then when solo anywhere around about 1,000 to 1200 miles...sat, sat and sat some more.....how does a person be #1 from Tuesday till Friday in Indy..while you can see others come and go?

 

[Steady Eddie]

I can concur...teams will get loaded before you...they are heavy on teams...when things slow down team runs start around 500 miles instead of 750-800 miles...I've been team and know we got some runs that weren't deserved...just ask Steady Eddie...he knows that first hand...then when solo anywhere around about 1,000 to 1200 miles...sat, sat and sat some more.....how does a person be #1 from Tuesday till Friday in Indy..while you can see others come and go?

Just ask me O Buddy, O Pal, O Friend of mine.....You mean- A team just pulled into O. Branch after running a 1,100 miles. Number 2 out was right next to you, (I mean THEM), #1 <me> was about 18 miles from you, (sorry, THEM)......15 min. and the team gets a 700 mile run to Henderson, NC. One BTW I have made many times as a solo. Oh yeah, just ask me!!!!!!

Also, when we get a lot of NEW dispatchers, and we do, and new, I mean less than a year, you will see a big drop in long runs for the solos. I guess they are drilled to the teams in training. I have heard about the "Cut Off" on miles per week by many current and EX drivers.... One driver even has a chart per month that shows, everytime he gets close to 1500 miles for the week, even if it's wed., and he had a 800 mile run over the weekend, he gets a 400 mile and a 300 mile run and he is done.... I'm at or around 1600 as of today. As best as I can see, I am closest truck in (Insert Location Here), but 3rd out in my class. If my go home trip comes up Friday I do hope they "Play" closest truck and not spend D/H pay to get someone here. But, then again, first out is first out. Fair is fair, sometimes...which ever way the company needs it to be.....

It really could be that due to being a little slow, it just seems that way, you get cut off...
It's only money and you cann't make it all. Give some up for your comrads, just like we do with the FSC.....

Feed the teams

Starve the solo

Note: I am a solo with team exspenses, one unit same repair bills, fuel and so on. Doggoneit I can eat as much as two!

Now all that being said. On an average, I do not see a cut off in miles per week. I use to think that to, but my miles and pay just can not refect this thinking. Last year I had some of my best months with Express-1, Oct was over the top with two weeks over or at 3,000 miles. I think I ended the month with almost 10,000 miles. Right place right time? You bet! I made sure I was not sitting somewhere being 4th or 5th out.

I'm not saying they do not cut you off, this could be true I just don't know.

However, if it affected me I would leave and go somewhere else. This Feb I started my 7th year with Express-1, If I was goning to leave I would've already been gone.

Also, one last thing. If you have a lot of turn downs then dispatch may just do not want to call you due to your turn down rate. All loads are not good ones and turndowns happen. Why do a run if it is a loss to you, all of them are not a loss.

Just so happens Freddy Fender is on the radio singin "Wasted Days and Wasted nights"



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[ChrisGa23]

What kind of miles can a team get at e1 compared to solo. To be honest I never heard of a company doing this but I don't doubt it one bit. But for the long runs where a solo would run out of hours and require a swap I could see why they load the long loads for teams. A swap is pretty expensive. I swapped out a month ago and it was 145 for maybe 3 minutes of work.

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[OntarioVanMan]

What kind of miles can a team get at e1 compared to solo. To be honest I never heard of a company doing this but I don't doubt it one bit. But for the long runs where a solo would run out of hours and require a swap I could see why they load the long loads for teams. A swap is pretty expensive. I swapped out a month ago and it was 145 for maybe 3 minutes of work.

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Thank you Eddie...yep it was a new dispatcher the run was like 752 miles BUT had just over 2 days to do it...

Chris..it is just their business plan...they do a lot of Mexico...and they don't want to ask customers for the extra time like other carriers do....so they went with teams...just that competitive edge everyone is looking for...but it does hurt a solo...

As Eddie also pointed out the FSC is a killer...based not on a $1.20 like other flat rate carriers but $1.25 ALSO they use the MidWest Average instead of National average ...Midwest is the 3rd lowest in the country, ALSO they don't give the decimal points...if it is 19.9 you get .19. they round DOWN never up....sometimes it'll sit at .9 for weeks...They keep YOUR money. That is NOT 100%

 

[TSexpediter]

Any broker try to cover the load as fast as possible. I don't think that they have time and patience to calculate your miles. Think about ,Express 1 has more than 100 cargo vans. It is just a coincidence.

 

[Falligator]

It's slow again today. Which means dispatch is probabably deadheading other drivers to my area to get freight even tho I'm #1. Well Im giving it til 7 tonight and if no load by then....Im outta here

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[purgoose10]

Good Deal there Steady Eddie, I think one reason you keep running is the fact that you have 7 years with them and they don't want to loose you.
Company's know who run's and who don't, who complains and who don't and all that stuff. Of course if you change dispatchers out in less than a year that tells you volumes about the inner workings of the carrier.

 

[JoeS]

Any broker try to cover the load as fast as possible. I don't think that they have time and patience to calculate your miles. Think about ,Express 1 has more than 100 cargo vans. It is just a coincidence.

I cannot begin to tell you how easy it is for them to program a query within their own dispatching program to do this in real time.

Regards,
JoeS

 

[underdog777]

yea i am giving them two weeks to step up too the plate.Im owner operator that needs to make a living.If they didnt need my truck they should have not put it on.What it has come down to me in my eyes.They hire on new vans a try and offer them all the loads no one else will cover.I dont mind to take small loads but every one being 150 to 200 miles 9 out of 10 trips now come on.I was born at night but not last night

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I cannot begin to tell you how easy it is for them to program a query within their own dispatching program to do this in real time.

Regards,
JoeS

Absolutely..TS must be a management person....the program automatically tracks everyones income and is available with one click of the mouse...on a normal business day a good dispatcher has that split second to look...


Dog..I gotta ask...just HOW many miles are you expecting/needing?