How foolish some members are....

[OntarioVanMan]

As a watcher of our industry and having a lot of contacts I can observe somes business activities and draw opinions that are mine and mine alone...


Fact is , most carriers are suffering the same problem...30-35% out of service rate....

I see people running 3-4 runs and running home OOS for 2-3 days over and over again....and then when they sit 24 hours complaining how disappointed they are about sitting, thinking they are owed a load or something...I have no idea what their mind is thinking.

Carriers are recruiting for this very reason and the above will cry" My carrier is recruiting!!" Oh my!!!

Last year when things were a lot skinnier people stayed out longer. Now that things are somewhat better it is a different story..these same people are grabbing the quick buck and running home with NO regard for their carriers needs...They give NO thought to the carriers needs only their own and when said carrier recruits..It is the carriers fault.

There is money to be made and some are blowing the chance to make some great cash...believe me..the skinny times will come back....so i don't want to hear.."I should have worked when it was busy"

As a responsible business owner you DO have a responsibility to your carrier and most important to your self to act accordingly....do yourself a favour and your carrier...close that recruiting door abit.

Oh BTW..It is a work truck..the idea is to run the wheels off..it is NOT a luxury RV...work truck!

 

[greg334]

Well it may not be just your opinion.

First recruiting doesn't seem to be happening at the pace it was back in 2007/8. I think it is a carrier's market now and they can be a bit more choosy on who or what they take.

OOS, 30 - 35% - that seems normal to me. With 1/3 of the capacity unavailable, it seems that this is a two fold issue.

If a carrier (say E-1) has full capacity (mean everyone in the fleet is ready to go waiting for a load), do they have the ability to fill every truck that day?

With dwell times exceeding 36 hours for many among us, it only seems that the carrier is hedging their bets through the marketing of "I got a larger fleet than X carrier, so use us".

 

[nightcreacher]

I've been one of those lately to be home more than I'm use to,but it's purely that I've had truck issues that couldn't be delayed any longer.I'm home this week,co-driver is on long needed vacation,and I'm having dental work done.oh ya,State farm ins is fixing my truck from a fender bender that accrued couple weeks ago.Girl said she didn't see me,made a right hand turn to get off exit ramp,from center lane,problem was ,I was on her right side,in fact, right next to her.Wander if she was texting,lol

 

[Lawrence]

Rating this thread 5 Stars. Great post OVM!

 

[greg334]

...

Oh BTW..It is a work truck..the idea is to run the wheels off..it is NOT a luxury RV...work truck!

Was it that Lawrence that made this a five star thread?

 

[Dakota]

Here I thought this was gonna be a post about me......nevermind LOL

 

[OntarioVanMan]

First half of last year when things were off. using just E-1 as an example, the OOS stats were running 10-15%.....goes to show the mentality...

 

[xiggi]

I used to be driver mgr and then opps mgr for a large courier company and did the driver recruiting. Here is how the numbers worked for me and I would guess work for most companies.

As far as recruiting goes oos % has little impact on available drivers per available load. A carrier needs x number of drivers on duty. Lets say they need 100 and the oos rate is 10% they are going to attempt to have 110 drivers on the books. Now let's say the oos rate is 35% they will try to have 135 drivers on the books. Both scenarios equal 100 active drivers.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

When a company has available 300 loads a day and their fleet of say 400 has 30% OOS that is 120 leaving only 280 to service customers.....depending of course on the mix of truck demand...some loads take 2-3 days to run taking more away and factor in the HOS...

 

[davekc]

Keep in mind that for many carriers, the more they put on the better. They are making money off QC's, truck and personal insurance,signs, and several other items depending on the carrier. When freight slows, they are looking to add to their bottom line anyway they can even if it is at the expense of their own fleet.
The amount of available trucks is insignificant with regard to the amount of freight. If there is more freight than trucks, then they just broker it out where they can.

 

[layoutshooter]

Keep in mind that for many carriers, the more they put on the better. They are making money off QC's, truck and personal insurance,signs, and several other items depending on the carrier. When freight slows, they are looking to add to their bottom line anyway they can even if it is at the expense of their own fleet.

That is correct Dave. Everyone in this business must remember that carriers are in business for their bottom line. Truck owners for theirs. Both need each other and for the most part their interests overlap, but not entirely. The bigger the carrier and the bigger the fleet the less importance each individual truck is to that carrier. The offset is that the bigger carrier often has the ability to draw more freight. Everything is a trade off. It is up to the individual truck owner to decide which model and type of carrier fits their business model the best.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

When you have responsible carriers not trying to overload with trucks like Load-1 or Barrett Direct..that actually measure volume to capacity...OOS has more meaning...

 

[JohnMueller]

OVM and Lawrence;

I commend you for the post, and for making it a 5 star post.

'Nough said.

HotFr8Recruiter

 

[jelliott]

When you have responsible carriers not trying to overload with trucks like Load-1 or Barrett Direct..that actually measure volume to capacity...OOS has more meaning...

Great thread and thank you for the compliment OVM. I agree that as the economy improves we have seen OOS rates creep up. Many times you can see OOS rates higher after a high volume week. While I would like to say it is coincidence, we all know it is not. I do think some of it has to do with positive economic factors. As our owner operators have gotten healthier, I have seen more of them down units for repair work that they were putting off to conserve cash.

I think fleets must always balance freight and fleet. While we have grown at a prudent pace, we have added sales force and operational staff at the same pace as units. Ideally we always want to have more freight than our fleet can handle. This helps to ensure that dwell time is reduced and utilization is higher. At the same time we want to service the customers needs. Thus we tend to see about 25% of our business put on partner carriers. This "extra" freight also acts as a "cushion" when things slow down to help protect the asset fleet.

 

[layoutshooter]

Great thread and thank you for the compliment OVM. I agree that as the economy improves we have seen OOS rates creep up. Many times you can see OOS rates higher after a high volume week. While I would like to say it is coincidence, we all know it is not. I do think some of it has to do with positive economic factors. As our owner operators have gotten healthier, I have seen more of them down units for repair work that they were putting off to conserve cash.

I think fleets must always balance freight and fleet. While we have grown at a prudent pace, we have added sales force and operational staff at the same pace as units. Ideally we always want to have more freight than our fleet can handle. This helps to ensure that dwell time is reduced and utilization is higher. At the same time we want to service the customers needs. Thus we tend to see about 25% of our business put on partner carriers. This "extra" freight also acts as a "cushion" when things slow down to help protect the asset fleet.

Good post. I would love to see other carriers post in this thread with their basic ideas on fleet size etc. It would be interesting. I like your ideas.

 

[jelliott]

Thanks. Carriers are not always much smarter. While things are improving we still see carriers that are pushing rates down in an attempt to gain market share or temporarily improve cash flow. I think everyone in this industry needs to smarten up a bit, not just the owner operator.

 

[JBCarroll]

First off I won't say who carrier was at the time. But I remember haveing to sit a week at a time, a number of times, and usually only got a load once a week. When I did get a load it was usually something you could load on a motorcycle. As for going home, I stayed out a month at a time, only wanting 2 to 3 days off a month. Yes I asked for work, and was sent to a clinic to be checked for drug and alcohol abuse. My owner at the time finally pulled me after the carrier had me sitting doing nothing for a week and a half. I then started working locally makeing 7 to 8 hundred a week. So don't give the carriers all the glory as some of us truely stayed out and really wanted the work.

 

[layoutshooter]

Thanks. Carriers are not always much smarter. While things are improving we still see carriers that are pushing rates down in an attempt to gain market share or temporarily improve cash flow. I think everyone in this industry needs to smarten up a bit, not just the owner operator.

"Carriers" are just a group of people, people trying to earn a living just as everyone else is.

Sometimes in business, as companies grow to be really large, they often lose sight of the "little things" that got them there. That is when they will start to slide in quality. It is a difficult thing to avoid. Some never do.

For the O/O it is a big problem. Do you go with the "big name" to take advantage of the size, brand name and advertising? Do you go with a "smaller" but up and coming carrier? Which carrier does you truck "fit" with? Can that smaller company keep you moving at rates high enough to meet your needs? Has that "bigger" carrier gotten to be "too big" and now ignores the needs of single truck or small fleet owners?

This post is not meant to knock any carrier or boost another, it is just meant to try to point out some of the realities that both O/O and carriers face in this business.

 

[jelliott]

"Carriers" are just a group of people, people trying to earn a living just as everyone else is.

Sometimes in business, as companies grow to be really large, they often lose sight of the "little things" that got them there. That is when they will start to slide in quality. It is a difficult thing to avoid. Some never do.

For the O/O it is a big problem. Do you go with the "big name" to take advantage of the size, brand name and advertising? Do you go with a "smaller" but up and coming carrier? Which carrier does you truck "fit" with? Can that smaller company keep you moving at rates high enough to meet your needs? Has that "bigger" carrier gotten to be "too big" and now ignores the needs of single truck or small fleet owners?

This post is not meant to knock any carrier or boost another, it is just meant to try to point out some of the realities that both O/O and carriers face in this business.

We will just stay in the middle and be safe! LOL

 

[ATeam]

Keep in mind that 30 percent out of service is not all that bad in some carriers' eyes. FedEx Custom Critical sets 70 percent as the in-service minimum for Four Star award eligibility. If you are out of service 30 percent or less and meet the other Four Star criteria, you are a hero!

For people who don't live full time on the road and have things to do at home, 70 percent in service takes some effort to maintain. For them, the fewer trips made home the better. Take 30 percent of the time off if you wish, but do it in bigger chunks. Thirty percent of the year is 109 days -- over 3.5 months!

If you go home a few times a year for two weeks or a month at a time instead of going home many times for just a few days, you will save money on deadhead miles and reduce your time lost just getting home. You will also stay in the freight groove longer once you go back in service and get your momentum up.

Seasoned expediters say "Don't break a streak" meaning that when the freight is running well, stay with it. Going home fewer times a year but for longer periods each time keeps you in the streak.

Think long and hard about what you are trying to accomplish. If the goal is to get home every so often, maybe you should take a job that keeps you home for good. Expediting is a job that by its very nature takes you away from home and the more you stay out, the more money you will make.