Freight volumes are picking up. Running about 4 weeks behind the normal year over year trend. The bigger vehicles are picking up faster. Sprinters are lagging still a bit, the two pallet vehicles are really our biggest struggle right now.
March Locations and Nonsense...HAHA
- Thread starter TheOGExpediterGuy
- Start date
Sounds like the same experience i had when i was in a straight a few years back, not sure where I was.
This morning I saw a beautiful red cardinal sitting outside my kitchen window. It told me, if you go in service the loads will come
So after a March to forget with too many personal set backs, I'm Back in service looking for that 2nd load of the month 
Based on the number of loads that the two pallet vehicles that have been sitting next to me for the last five days have gotten, and based on conversations with other drivers of two pallet vehicles who have been loaded more days that not over the past three weeks, I'm left to conclude that dispatch is actively focused more on three pallet Sprinter loads and the two pallet vehicles have been put on the back burner as being unimportant, because the two pallet loads are definitely there. That if a two pallet loads happens to come up, great, but they are unconcerned with getting me loaded, or rather, I'm not much of a priority. At this point, I'd much rather have 1200 miles a week at 80 cents a mile than this. Current dwell time: 147 hours, 6.125 days.
March 1 - 52 Loaded
March 1 - 795 Loaded
March 8 - 248 Loaded
March 13 - 377 Loaded
That's it.
Well that logic is flawed for more reasons than I can type. If that was the case we would only focus in tractors??? 2 pallet market is flooded with cv's and rates are much harder. So to the contrary we work harder on those units to achieve less. Part of the reason we have basically eliminated OTR CV's from the fleet I understand the frustration though.
I know it's flawed logic, but clearly I have nothing but time to come up with such flawed logic. That, or I have to figure I'm on someone's crapola list or something.
OTR cargo vans and auto freight don't mix, mainly because they're not tall enough moreso than because they're two pallets, so it's certainly understandable to eliminate them from the fleet.
OTR cargo vans and auto freight don't mix, mainly because they're not tall enough moreso than because they're two pallets, so it's certainly understandable to eliminate them from the fleet.
ebsprintin
Veteran Expediter
en route to nashville. last two loads recovered my month.
eb
eb
Might want to check on the brokered-out load from Miamisburg, OH to Jonesville, MI today. The unmarked Ford cargo van that was sitting next to me at the TA is the one who got the load. It most definitely wasn't three pallets. It was one box. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to conclude from that.
Chicago to Kentucky Load one south
Not sure on that question either. I called Mike Johnson and he is researching and will be following up asap.
guido4475
Not a Member
Maybe that load was just to cheap to begin with.
He figured out what the deal was with that mess. At the same time he had everyone in the building focused on finding me a load, which, frankly, is something they should do anytime a truck has been sitting for 100 hours, much less the 150 I was sitting.
Thanks for making the call.
xxiv24
Expert Expediter
After seeing Turtles post on the few loads he has done, i am inspired to speak up as well.
A few months back a new fellow was brought on board and changes to dispatch were made, in an effort to increase freight volume. I, like everyone else, was a bit excited to see what would come of this because more is always better. It seemed like it got off to a rocky start, more than a few screw-ups by new dispatchers learning the ropes and of course the changes to the call in system. Through all of this things moved forward albeit painfully slow at times. After the holidays the slow period seemed to increase, but hey it was across all companies. During this slow period, we'll call it Jan. the load count was mediocre at best and the loaded miles were 300 or less.
*******this information is based on my own unit********
It seemed to me as each week drug by the loads were coming in less and the mileage was becoming smaller. Then at the end of Jan. I had a good week...i was happy. Could this be the end of the rut?
Then comes Feb. Turtle is experiencing my Feb. I had 4 loads, of the following loaded miles, 311, 254, 280, and 610. It bears mentioning that the last had a 282 dh attached to it. wow is all i can say to that...bye bye feb.
Now comes Mar. The first week comes on screaming...5 loads...215, 148, 218, 178, and 161. uhmm, ok. the next week of Mar. brings 2 loads 92 and 233.
Given these figures you can see where the next week went as well.
Unfortunately, from my perspective, the only freight increase i see here is in the number of courier loads being dished out.
You know before and up to Nov of last year i never had a problem getting loads and keeping up with the super 3 skidders, i have a hard time saying that with a straight face...while i do not agree that 2 skid vans are being singled out, i do not believe as well, that 3 skids get more loads because they can haul 3 skids...if this is a truism then why not see how well a 3 skid van does only getting loads of 3 skids? I bet that would go over like a turd in a punch bowl wouldn't it?
Anyhoo, i will step up and say what noone else to my knowledge has said, and again this is my opinion.
I do not think your new man is working out in the best interest for sprinters on the whole. He may be doing wonders for straights, but John, respectfully I am not a courier service sir and i work for Load One not UPS.
Thanx for listening.
A few months back a new fellow was brought on board and changes to dispatch were made, in an effort to increase freight volume. I, like everyone else, was a bit excited to see what would come of this because more is always better. It seemed like it got off to a rocky start, more than a few screw-ups by new dispatchers learning the ropes and of course the changes to the call in system. Through all of this things moved forward albeit painfully slow at times. After the holidays the slow period seemed to increase, but hey it was across all companies. During this slow period, we'll call it Jan. the load count was mediocre at best and the loaded miles were 300 or less.
*******this information is based on my own unit********
It seemed to me as each week drug by the loads were coming in less and the mileage was becoming smaller. Then at the end of Jan. I had a good week...i was happy. Could this be the end of the rut?
Then comes Feb. Turtle is experiencing my Feb. I had 4 loads, of the following loaded miles, 311, 254, 280, and 610. It bears mentioning that the last had a 282 dh attached to it. wow is all i can say to that...bye bye feb.
Now comes Mar. The first week comes on screaming...5 loads...215, 148, 218, 178, and 161. uhmm, ok. the next week of Mar. brings 2 loads 92 and 233.
Given these figures you can see where the next week went as well.
Unfortunately, from my perspective, the only freight increase i see here is in the number of courier loads being dished out.
You know before and up to Nov of last year i never had a problem getting loads and keeping up with the super 3 skidders, i have a hard time saying that with a straight face...while i do not agree that 2 skid vans are being singled out, i do not believe as well, that 3 skids get more loads because they can haul 3 skids...if this is a truism then why not see how well a 3 skid van does only getting loads of 3 skids? I bet that would go over like a turd in a punch bowl wouldn't it?
Anyhoo, i will step up and say what noone else to my knowledge has said, and again this is my opinion.
I do not think your new man is working out in the best interest for sprinters on the whole. He may be doing wonders for straights, but John, respectfully I am not a courier service sir and i work for Load One not UPS.
Thanx for listening.
guido4475
Not a Member
Yes I could. Low income minus high expenses would equal no taxes owed.
Well good morning, I guess lol. Scott, while I honestly feel your frustration some of the thoughts are not quite on target. The new guy was brought in to work on our operational/customer service capability. He isn't in sales so thus he does not really control the kind of freight that is available or that customers are needing to move. I will have to run some reports to look at average length of haul. We generally focus on average revenue per unit. We have never focused on number of loads or avg length of haul per unit. The restructure has no advantage or disadvantage for any unit based on size. The same people are booking and talking to customers for all size vehicles. We can discuss the 2 pallet vs 3 pallet thing all day. Bottom line is units with more capabilities are able to capture more opportunities. Goes back to why do I not save money and buy 48ft trailers if 80% of my loads would fit on them.
While we don't have control of seasonal freight volumes, we can try to do what we can. We recently hired 2 more seasoned area sales territory managers. As well we are close to hiring a 3rd within the next week. We have also hired a new VP of sales. He did start about a month ago, but it takes a little time to get trained and learn the operation. He is also finishing out a no compete period for about 45 more days. At the same time we did not increase the number of sprinters in the fleet. The last 45 days if one left we did not replace them.
Some have been frustrated with units repositioning and bumping other units. This problem is much more prevalent when it is slow. While I have issues with the way the system works. I can honestly not think of a better way or had one suggested to me.
I can not speak for what every carrier out there is doing, but when I talk to many the "small units" have been the majority of their first quarter struggles. While some guys may get lucky and have a good month, I talk to owners who are looking at all of their units and I hear what they are seeing on average. We also see this in the calls to recruiting. At no time have we ever had a longer waiting list for sprinters to sign on than we do now.
Are we perfect, heck no. We still need to continue to find ways to capture more freight and move the trucks more. Are we trying to add sales, add customer service and look for ways to do this? YES. Unlike other carriers, sitting trucks cost me money. I have no upside to a unit sitting, only expense. I am not in business to waste money.
With that being said, I do see improvements. I things have been slowly but steadily trending back up. When we look at the charts and the numbers it is inline with past years, but it is running almost 4 to 5 weeks behind the normal curve. So yes is it frustrating for all of us but I am still very confident it will end up being a good strong year.
While we don't have control of seasonal freight volumes, we can try to do what we can. We recently hired 2 more seasoned area sales territory managers. As well we are close to hiring a 3rd within the next week. We have also hired a new VP of sales. He did start about a month ago, but it takes a little time to get trained and learn the operation. He is also finishing out a no compete period for about 45 more days. At the same time we did not increase the number of sprinters in the fleet. The last 45 days if one left we did not replace them.
Some have been frustrated with units repositioning and bumping other units. This problem is much more prevalent when it is slow. While I have issues with the way the system works. I can honestly not think of a better way or had one suggested to me.
I can not speak for what every carrier out there is doing, but when I talk to many the "small units" have been the majority of their first quarter struggles. While some guys may get lucky and have a good month, I talk to owners who are looking at all of their units and I hear what they are seeing on average. We also see this in the calls to recruiting. At no time have we ever had a longer waiting list for sprinters to sign on than we do now.
Are we perfect, heck no. We still need to continue to find ways to capture more freight and move the trucks more. Are we trying to add sales, add customer service and look for ways to do this? YES. Unlike other carriers, sitting trucks cost me money. I have no upside to a unit sitting, only expense. I am not in business to waste money.
With that being said, I do see improvements. I things have been slowly but steadily trending back up. When we look at the charts and the numbers it is inline with past years, but it is running almost 4 to 5 weeks behind the normal curve. So yes is it frustrating for all of us but I am still very confident it will end up being a good strong year.
good morning gang.... some interesting reading to wake up to.....
just got an email from the J/Pilot...Richard Petty will be at their booth at MATS....
just got an email from the J/Pilot...Richard Petty will be at their booth at MATS....
I turned them down. Too busy at ours.
I'll be at the Pilot booth with King Richard....lol
I get your autograph on my paycheck every week.....