looking to move my truck to smaller company need s

creekindian33 · Jul 24, 2006

my company sold me out to panther.i do not care to go to panther an alot of owners i have talk to do not whant to go eather.all though they say there is no favortism i just talk to a panther owner who told me they still cater to fleet owners im not a fleet owner.example panther told me if i dont go to canada ill have to take a cutt in pay .the panther owner told me his drivers dont have to go an he has no cut in pay besides if panther caterd to everybody they whould not give biger owners mor pay.SO MY QUESTION IS I HAVE ONE TRUCK I TEAM DRIVE I DO NOT WHANT TO GO TO CANADA WHO CAN I SIGHN WHITH THAT PAYES AT LEAST 121 PER MILE I KEEP FSC AN HAVE ENOUGH LOADS TO KEEP ME RUNING.i was making 180 to 200 thousand a year befor fuel whith con way panther is saying 140 thousand befor fuel is what there trucks r making. can anybody point me in the right direction .we had a 100 percent on time rate an a 98 percent exceptence rate whith con way . i appericate any input

TJ959 · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

There are a number of good smaller companies out there. I only have direct experience with two of them and I would recommend both. I'm currently with ExpressWay and I find them to be fair and they make every effort to keep me busy. I was with PTL and I liked them very much as well. The Expo is coming up very soon so the best thing to do is make every effort to get there and talk to as many companies as you can. The company you choose has to be a good fit for you not for me. Sometimes free advise is worth just what you paid for it.

Tennesseahawk · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

I sent you an email...

targuard86 · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

Look at Epes express. You will not find a better group of owners, managers and worker bees than these folks!!

panther_art · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

I don't know why other drivers are telling people out there that fleets get better loads because that not true, maybe before Finway moved in but not any more, those that get the loads are the onces with the good numbers, if you just want to go somewhere and sat and turn down loads then you are not going to get that many offers.
when I go an stay out I move every day an I avg. 2500 miles a week an I oly have one van on.
Left Panther about two years ago n when to conway loved them and I am sad about what has happened, but been back with Panther 4 a little over a year now n doing very well.
don't listen to all that you hear out there.

LDB · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

I don't think you'll find another solo opportunity with 165,000 miles to make $200k like you did at Conway. For small companies I'd look at X1, C&M, and TranStewart.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5507, 5508, 5509
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

davekc · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

I don't think 200,000 gross is realistic with any company as a solo. HOS aren't going to let you get even close to that.

Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

kwexpress · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

KW Express
o/o till i die

well I agree with you I dont think that the sell out is a good idea for the owner/ops of either company.as far as some of panthers owners getting paid more than others well thats because they was contracted at a different time when panther paid more.I first cargo van with panther paid .90 per mile and a year latter I made the mistake of buying a new one and my new contract was .85 per mle and as you see now its down to .77 I think.

as far as favorites when I was there Id say yes they did play favorites it was strange how I would come to town drop a load and not more than 2 hours in most places I would be reloaded.
But I dont know that its was because of the number of trucks I owned the most I ever had with them was 4 but In my prime when I made the most money I only had 1 van and one straight and always stayed busy.

My point is at that time I think it depended more on your service level. if you did your job right and was always on-time then I think you was a favorite and If it was 2 am when I delivered I would always call in and it seemed like if they didnt have anything within reason they would empty move me to a load they wouldnt tell me there was a load there or else they knew I would ask for deadhead but when I got there after a couple hours sleep sure enough the qc would wake me.

So I would say you should give them a chance although I would say the 140 figure the recruiter is telling you is correct but what do I know.I did that as a single every couple months someone would get wise and ask if I was a team and of course id always say yes me and my truck made a pretty good team.but somehow it kept getting changed in the computer and it showed the truck as a team but I never had a team in two years there.but that was the old panther 96-99 but didnt make the three year mark so have no real clue what its like now

if you really feel a change is needed then I would say express-1,C&M
or try something different and go it as an independent.

kwexpress · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

KW Express
o/o till i die

another question I have about the sell out

wasnt con-way now"expedite " a division of con-way and didnt con-way also own emery wich became Menlo expedite?

if you liked con-way now why not try menlo.

I was with emery after I left con-way now back in 99 I liked con-way but made more money at emery.didnt run everyday but had alot of long runs.

rode2rouen · Jul 24, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

>I don't think 200,000 gross is realistic with any company as
>a solo. HOS aren't going to let you get even close to that.
>
>Davekc

Dave,

He sez he runs team............SEE THE PART WHICH IS ALL CAPS.

Rex

Jack_Berry · Jul 25, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

i heard this come up at work today. the airfrt/expedite chick said that p2 had 1250 trucks and picked up another 300+ with the acquisition. she said fecc still has over 4x more trucks but also 4x the price and out of our range. landstar, e1 and p2 are in the top 3 or 4 there to use.

Jack Berry

classbcruizzer · Aug 2, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

I could not whole heartedly recommend panther2, ive been with them, your luckily to get paid in a timely manner, you get mistreated by there dispatch, they threatened me with a suspension and possible firing simply cuz i would take a 76 mile load for one of there very large contract customer, even though my 14 hours were up, you can talk to employees and even they say that there is way to much paperwork going through the building they cant keep up with it all, there are there for themselves and the customers not you i had been forced to forge logs jsut to take loads, they say there is not forced dispatch think again, they play with your number not once did the percentages mathmatically add up. I had gotten tickets by the way they made us run. they are other higher quality companies out there

LDB · Aug 2, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

I'm not sure which parallel universe this was in but the Panther in the universe I'm in isn't the company you are talking about. They have never asked any of my trucks to run in violation of HOS. They have gone so far as to start beeping me around 10.25 hours to tell me to find somewhere to shut down soon. Payroll follows the net 15 terms and is there every week. A few dispatchers can be abrupt but they aren't threatening. They aren't a perfect company and neither are any of the others. They certainly are better than many though.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5507, 5508, 5509
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

davekc · Aug 3, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

classbcruizzer,
I am always alittle suspicious of these types of posts. You have become a member for one day and the first post you put up is a complaining foolish one.
I agree with Leo in that nothing in your post makes any sense. We have never been asked to run illegally. Panther has plenty of transfer locations and I have seen them tow a truck to delivery because the driver ran out of hours. Additionally, speeds on a run are calculated at 47 mph. If you are running late, all that they ask is that you QC them. If you received tickets, thats your own fault.
With regards to pay, they pay 15 days after they receive your paperwork, and 45 percent of the base upon completion of a load. They also pay a flat rate per mile, not a percentage as you decribed.
Sorry, but you sound like a big whiner with some other type of agenda.
You may want to consider another career outside of expediting.

Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

babs3361 · Aug 5, 2006

RE: looking to move my truck to smaller company ne

Classbbruizer:
Im sorry to hear about your experience. Are you really talking about Panther II because we have been with them for 3 yrs and have never had to fight for our money. Yes ther have been errors in payroll but we have always gotten that within a reasonable time. My hubby and I usually run team but I have run solo when he was put out of comission. ( hot coffee burns on 1/2 his body!! ouch our joke I got POed thru it at him )And in that 4 week time I had to tell them I had enough running time so I could continue. ( Still could do split sleeper) As for speeding shame on you. We never speed and always get to our destination on time. While things are not always perfect neither am I. So I guess it is all in perception.