AMonger
Veteran Expediter
There's some SERIOUS undercutting going on.
frt lanes have changed
- Thread starter Jack_Berry
- Start date
There's some SERIOUS undercutting going on.
With the Help of Satelites one can see the the very trucks that are running. at certain places.
Not hard to catch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HMM
Not hard to catch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HMM
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I been out of the Detroit area within 4-5 hours of dropping a load; sometimes faster. I was in Gary Indiana for a whopping 3 hours 2 weeks ago and got a load out to Ford in Twin Cities Minnesota. I guess it all depends on the company that you're leased on with and whether or not they have a strong customer base.
I don't know about the trumping part, but one thing that consistently helps is being equipped, qualified and willing to haul the loads that are available to haul.
Rule of thumb: The more kinds of freight you are able to haul, the more opportunities you will have.
Example: We just completed a run from Calgary, Alberta to Dallas, Texas. We did not get the run because we were sitting in the right place at the right time, unless you count Oakland, California, 1,400 deadhead miles away, as the right place. This 3,400 all-miles run was dispatched to us because we were equipped and credentialed to take it, and willing to go into Canada to get it. We were willing because the load was dispatched at our price.
"I don't know about the trumping part, but one thing that consistently helps is being equipped, qualified and willing to haul the loads that are available to haul."
Being in the right place at the right time assumes the comparison of apples to apples, not comparing, say, a cube van to a refer truck for a refer load the cube van cannot haul regardless. In comparing equally equipped trucks and equally credentialed and willing drivers, being in the right place at the right time beats everything else.
Equipped and credentialed is a relative constant for a given truck and as such merely widens the scope of both time and distance relative to being in the right place at the right time. If you had not been equipped and credentialed for that load, you wouldn't have gotten it even if you were sitting in the parking lot of the shipper. If there had been an equally equipped and credentialed truck sitting in Calgary while you were in Oakland, the likelihood of you getting it over them because of your equipment and credentials is pretty slim. There are many factors involved in opportunity, but when comparing equally equipped and credentialed trucks of equal capacity ranges, being in the right place at the right time stills trumps everything else.
I once deadheaded from Saskatoon to Salt lake City for a load going to just north of Edmonton, AB, and got the load because of all the Sprinters that go to Canada who could haul the load and were willing to do it, I was in the right place at the right time. Maybe not the ideal place, but right enough just the same.
Being in the right place at the right time assumes the comparison of apples to apples, not comparing, say, a cube van to a refer truck for a refer load the cube van cannot haul regardless. In comparing equally equipped trucks and equally credentialed and willing drivers, being in the right place at the right time beats everything else.
Equipped and credentialed is a relative constant for a given truck and as such merely widens the scope of both time and distance relative to being in the right place at the right time. If you had not been equipped and credentialed for that load, you wouldn't have gotten it even if you were sitting in the parking lot of the shipper. If there had been an equally equipped and credentialed truck sitting in Calgary while you were in Oakland, the likelihood of you getting it over them because of your equipment and credentials is pretty slim. There are many factors involved in opportunity, but when comparing equally equipped and credentialed trucks of equal capacity ranges, being in the right place at the right time stills trumps everything else.
I once deadheaded from Saskatoon to Salt lake City for a load going to just north of Edmonton, AB, and got the load because of all the Sprinters that go to Canada who could haul the load and were willing to do it, I was in the right place at the right time. Maybe not the ideal place, but right enough just the same.
Isn't this just another way of saying that, all other things being equal, the load will go to the closest available truck?
Pretty much, yeah, but not exactly, since that statement only considers "place" and doesn't address "time".
For example, you could be First Out on the board, 50 miles from the pickup, and the Second Out could be 2 miles from the pickup. The "closest truck" scenario gives the load to the Second Out. But since the load doesn't actually pick up until 2 hours from now, you as First Out get the load. The other truck was certainly in the right place, but at the wrong time. The driver was all kinds of "smart" to be there, but as the non-existent luck would have it, his timing was off.
On the other hand, if the load picks up in half an hour, you were in the right place, but at the wrong time, and the other truck was both in the right place and at the right time.
You know, your smart.
You know, you're smart.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Well what can I say?
Your right.
anywho...
Having qualifications doesn't always matter unless you are with a company that leverages them. FedEx will have freight for contractors who have the right credentials but not always and has in the past used surface trucks with drivers who didn't go through training - exceptions to the rules thing.
The dispatch system of every company has ways of working around some truck, even if the dispatchers "look really busy" there are always ways. The owner or drive may never know what has or is happening and because a lot of systems are 'hidden' from the contractor because there is an assumption that the contractor doesn't need to know what opportunities are lost.
The same goes for the company itself, most companies don't require HV or rad training, some don't even have proper hazmat training and some don't haul anything special so they don't have any training.
The key is not the qualifications but access to it in these companies. Even if you are the smartest successful expediter in the world, if the company won't allow you to have the training, then you and your business is limited.
Your right.
anywho...
Having qualifications doesn't always matter unless you are with a company that leverages them. FedEx will have freight for contractors who have the right credentials but not always and has in the past used surface trucks with drivers who didn't go through training - exceptions to the rules thing.
The dispatch system of every company has ways of working around some truck, even if the dispatchers "look really busy" there are always ways. The owner or drive may never know what has or is happening and because a lot of systems are 'hidden' from the contractor because there is an assumption that the contractor doesn't need to know what opportunities are lost.
The same goes for the company itself, most companies don't require HV or rad training, some don't even have proper hazmat training and some don't haul anything special so they don't have any training.
The key is not the qualifications but access to it in these companies. Even if you are the smartest successful expediter in the world, if the company won't allow you to have the training, then you and your business is limited.
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
Got loaded Thursday to Denton Tx,reloaded Saturday to Buffalo Ny.At home reading EO.Leaving about midnight for delivery