How much time do you need to accept a load

[Bruno]

I would like to put this out to the people of EO. How much time do you need to accept a load. The reason I'm asking is I feel that 15 minutes is way to long to give a truck time to accept a load. In this business the customer pays top dollar to get their freight picked up and moving down the road. This is the Emergency Freight Business. When you call an EMS they don't tell you okay we need 15 minutes to let you know if we are coming. The point I'm making is if you give every truck 10 minutes or 15 minutes and 3 trucks refuse the load you now have 30 minutes or 45 minutes and still don't have the load covered.

Just some thoughts

 

[arkjarhead]

Well it's my understanding that companies like Panther will tell the customers they will have the freight moved before even offering it to the trucks. If no one accepts it they broker it out. At least that is how some one in the office explained it to me when I asked. They could be wrong, and/or it could have changed.

When I was working under "no force dispatch" it took me only a couple of minutes to decide if I wanted the run or not. Just long enough to think about what kind of freight area it would put me in, and how much of the fuel the fsc would be covering. Then I knew if it was worth it. If it was I took it, if it wasn't I let it sit.

I took it to mean you have 15 minutes from the time you are offered a load to be rolling not to just accept. At least that's what I did. You brought up a good point about the EMS, but they don't have to do log books before moving that I know of. You could be deadheading for a couple of hours or longer and need to empty your bladder before heading that way. Chances are it won't take the EMS that long to get the pateints to the hospital and then they can go if need be. Plus I found on quite a few runs I was arriving with time to spare before the delivery time. I have sit in an empty parking lot across from the consignee before for 2 hours waiting on the delivery time to get there to go unload. Sometimes Just In Time means not late and others it means not early. Of course you know this. Also some loads go on an expedite truck for special handling or exclusive use purposes and time constraints aren't an issue.

 

[LDB]

I have to disagree. We are not talking about putting blood on the rapid infuser, we're talking about covering freight. I agree it's often more urgent than would be the case if they were calling JBH for a pickup in 10 days however it's not too often it's so time sensitive a few minutes makes a difference. Equally importantly, we need the time to make well informed business decisions. When you allow for 1 minute in and 1 minute back out for the QC offer/acceptance that leaves only 8 minutes max with a 10 minute deadline. That's not an excessive amount of time to look up locations of shipper and cons and determine routing as well as confirm accurate mileages to verify proper payment. Your post proves the point for the load opportunity rather than the load offer. That is one of the best changes to come along in a while.

 

[LakeSide]

I've got a business to run. Those making hasty decisions are far more likely to totally blow it. Decision making takes time & time equals money.

 

[Streakn1]

Ten minutes was more than ample time to make a prudent business choice in taking a load or not when we were leased to our previous carrier. With the new system I feel that one may be rushed into making a decision they would have preferred more time to considered. Friends are reporting that even when they've accepted a load offer in less than 30 seconds from the time they received it, they are still beat out by another truck that was quicker. They have admitted that they didn't even look at the statistics on the load, just hurried up and accepted it. How do you make a profitable choice every time if you have to do that?

I do understand the concept of the carrier needing to cover the load asap but not at the cost of me making a hasty decision that I will later regret. In looking back I see that had we taken loads because we felt we had to rush to accept it before someone else did, bad choices could have been made. Realistically, one should be able to figure out if they want the load within five minutes but not rushed into 30 second or less choices.

Although we still operate under a Non-Forced Dispatch system with our new carrier we have changed our strategy. We accept all loads offered to us. So far this has worked well as all loads have been profitable to the truck.

 

[nightcreacher]

The new system isnt based on how fast you agree to a load,it is still given to the truck that can make the pick up on time,and has the most dwell time and the rest of the crazy DVA criteria.Ive accepted loads in a matter of seconds and didnt get them, as a closer truck accepted the offer.For me as Ive stated many times I have a formula that I use that determins what I take and dont take.It only takes seconds to figure it out.I also dont do loads that will have long dead heads on both ends,that is to pick up,and to layover.So therefore,if I would need the 10 mins to determine whether I do a load or not,chances are,i didnt hear the phone ring

 

[TeamCaffee]

I think Bruno explained basically why FedEx Custom Critical went to the Load Opportunities instead of each truck getting ten minutes to decide all trucks who receive the load opportunity get ten minutes to decide at the same time.

The customer gets the best service and all trucks that were offered the load opp still get their ten minutes unless the truck with the higher ranking in the VRU accepts the load. Then the load opp is withdrawn from the other trucks with the less VRU rankings.

The customer who is often in a bind knows very quickly the exact time a truck will be at their doorstep to pick up their freight.

 

[LDB]

With the new system I feel that one may be rushed into making a decision they would have preferred more time to considered. Friends are reporting that even when they've accepted a load offer in less than 30 seconds from the time they received it, they are still beat out by another truck that was quicker.

Is this referring to the new load opportunity system at Fedex or something else? If it's the FX load opp it is incorrect. They are not being passed over on the load because someone else said yes in 23 seconds against their 30 seconds. They don't get the load because they were truck 2 or lower in ranking on the board and truck 1 or one higher than they were said yes within the 10 minutes. Speed has nothing to do with it as long as the reply is made within that teeny tiny 10 minute window.

 

[Turtle]

"This is the Emergency Freight Business."

Not so much. Mostly it's the Exclusive Use of the Truck Business. When it's true emergency freight, the dispatcher will almost always let you know that right up front when they call. Everything else I have to say, Leo already said it.

 

[Streakn1]

Not knocking the new system (Load OP) since I left just before they went full force with it. Just amazed at how many complaints friends of ours are making when they loose a really nice load they accepted to a truck sitting next to them at the same truckstop. Kinda like placing a juicy steak in front of the dog just to snatch it away from him when he reaches for it! LOL. Nothing more upsetting than to know about a great load and then not get it. Just my opinion.

I'm thankful that our new carrier can still offer a load to one truck at a time based on the order the truck is checked into an area. It just seems that it creates less competition and stress between the trucks. Plus with the trucks being equally equiped and qualified we seem to be on a more equal plane with each other. I like that.

 

[pelicn]

Yep...what Leo and Turtle said. I will add though, most times it doesn't take that long to decide

 

[bludragon13]

I agree with leo,turtle and pelicn on this one,when the load is time sensitive we always get called before the qc beeps, I ask how far to pu and destination then ask for it to be sent on qc and I will answer within 3 min of rec the offer, most loads are can be accected or turned down in that time frame and if it takes longer then its because something doesn't added up in the offer(miles,dh mostly)

 

[ATeam]

Friends are reporting that even when they've accepted a load offer in less than 30 seconds from the time they received it, they are still beat out by another truck that was quicker. They have admitted that they didn't even look at the statistics on the load, just hurried up and accepted it. How do you make a profitable choice every time if you have to do that?

As others have pointed out, your friends do not understand the system. I want to encourage newbies to think about this a bit more. Here are people who are taking actions and getting upset based on what they know about the system, but not knowing that they do not know how the system really works.

More than one driver or contractor has changed carriers in an emotional huff or stayed put but been unnecessarily frustrated and less profitable than he or she would otherwise be, because they thought the system was something different than at actually is.

Do good research, and when things change, do more good research. The quicker you come to believe you know how to use a dispatch system, the sooner you may blind yourself to information that could help you use the system better.

Expediting is a dynamic arena situated in the larger arena of the global economy. As shown by the friends mentioned above, a fixed opinion about how things work, or how they should work, can drag you down. Sometimes it is not the economy or a carrier that needs to change to make things better. It is the driver's mind.

 

[LDB]

I agree it can be frustrating knowing a really good load went elsewhere. In my very short exposure I've already said yes to loads I wanted but didn't get. I know that's how it works though and it just as easily could have been me getting the load. It has been in some cases in fact. I appreciate having the full time to get to the shipper more than I dislike knowing about a load I want but don't get.

I know this system was put in place as a benefit to the company but I also know it benefits me as well even though that wasn't the primary purpose of it. It benefits me because it further solidifies the relationship between shipper and Fedex. The shipper knows their call will be answered by a truck in a very expeditious fashion. That benefits me because that shipper is more likely to just call Fedex and be done with it resulting in more load opportunities for me. It also benefits me in that the loads I do take are less stressful both on my equipment and my person since I have the full alotment of time.

None of that changes the fact that 15 minutes should be the minimum time available for responding to a load offer, the original point of the thread, but it does explain why this system is the best system in current use.

 

[jaminjim]

Leo, give it three months and report back. It is the best system for the shipper and to Fedex. In my opinion the amount that it will benefit the O/O's will be outweighed by what it does to your bottom line. I'm not saying that it will put O/O's in the red that were doing fine. But you know as well as I do, it was put in place to Benefit the Fed first, the customer second, and after that they don't really care. That is not evil, thats business.

It's the same idea as the one call gets it all. That was only setup to facilitate Them, and the customer. And maybe to help draw a cleaner line for there brokerage.

 

[nightcreacher]

This new system isnt to get you to answer any quicker.If the number one truck in the DVA still takes his 10 minuets to respond,no matter how fast you answer the call,the load isnt going to get dispatched 'till the number 1 truck answers.The whole idea is to get more trucks involved so if that #1 truck turns it down FECC knows if anyone else will take the load,and the next truck in order will get the load,and this isnt going to take an hour incase there are 6 trucks available as it did before.In that hour the company wanting a truck will have gone to another trucking company.

When I do a flat bed load, they dont use this system,its done the old fasion way,and these loads are sometimes dispatched,a day or two in advance,as many times there is more to it than just calling a truck and seeing if he wants the load.Not many of us pull a flat bed,24/7.you know its hard to put a load on with a crane when you pulling a dry box,or reefer

 

[LDB]

I don't see it affecting the bottom line much although perhaps this system is different than what I'm most familiar with. At Panther if you didn't want the load as offered but would take it on different terms you could tell them and if nobody took it as offered they might come back to you at your terms. I know the fear in the load opp system is not being able to tell a live person those terms and not having a freeform text line to send the terms along with your refusal. There is still standalone freeform text and next avail via VRU by voice. I can't see this as affecting the bottom line much, if any.

 

[geo]

i guess i'm lucky as my dispatch knows what runs i will take and not take
so when he offer's run he already knows i will take the run

 

[Streakn1]

Yep, I agree. Whether your a newbie our an old timer and don't like the system or can't make it work for your satisfaction then leave and go to a carrier and system that does work.

 

[flattop40]

You guys crack me up. On another post there were several knocking E-1 about different things but correct me if I am wrong but you guys have to hover over your QC?

If there is a load offered to us they ALWAYS call us first. I could be sitting in my living room and get a call. We discuss the particulars and I make my decision at that time. You should have plenty of time on the phone if its good or not.

IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!!!!