NEW discount Panther van rates

[twinpopusa]

Been getting van load offers from Panther for 70CPM. The dispatcher told me that "we the drivers asked for" discounted runs, just to keep running. News to me. I sure never asked for this. Has anyone out there contacted Panther and requested this?

 

[Bob and Hooligan]

Dispatchers are trained to say things like that. If they don't know an answer, they refer y
ou to your council member. I know because they were giving drivers my number and tellling them to call with their complaints.

I think the discounted rate has been in the works for a few months. Have you noticed that when they call with an offer they have been saying it is at "your rate"?

I don't think they can charge you with a refusal, or drop you on the board for refusing these discounted loads. After all, they are outside the boundries of your contract.

It never occurs to companies to take a smaller profit. They expect the contractor to do that. Just say NO to cheap loads.

Road Hooligan

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Are those .70 loads NLM or regular?

 

[hondaking38]

i havent had a discounted freight yet!! my driver has and my friends have...one will never take it because he gets .85 cents a mile and .70 is about 18% less..so he always asks if there going to discount his qc fees and insurance...i believe this is freight that would normally get brokered out......instead there trying to keep us running, and panther not taking a cut into there profits...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

We at E-1 run .70 NLM loads...or whatever they decide is a major contract...

Are the dispatchers throwing a little DH money in the pot to help compensate? you know 10-20 bucks?

 

[hdxpedx]

TIMBER- the B-RATE TREE is falling-- or FLUSH --the VAN rates are in the toilet, I looked at this from BOTH sides..

 

[Turtle]

Back when Panther was booking van loads at $2 and $2.25 and $2.50 a mile, they never offered to spread the wealth with inflated rates, it was always "at your rate". They might have been a little quicker to toss a bonus to help with deadhead or something, but not anymore. Now that freight is slow and the customers can get lower line hauls though the bidding process, Panther is booking them cheaper and aren't making as much profit per load, much less overall profit due to fewer loads. So they're gonna pinch it wherever they can. And if they can talk someone into running it for 70 cents a mile, that's more in their pocket. And if they can get some goober to deadhead 200 miles for 150 loaded for standard deadhead pay, great.

If you haven't seen it already, you'll see the FSC getting lower and lower, because the line haul bids are cheaper, and they'll make up the difference by charging the customer less for FSC. The structured FSC is about 12 or 13 cents right now, and for those running the variable rates, you'll start seeing fuel surcharges that are mostly within a penny or two of whatever the structured FSC pays.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

E-1 is .08 last week...for C/V's and sprinters....but we still have a lot of customers paying the buck for a sprinter load...so it helps offset the .70 centers

 

[Turtle]

E-1 is .08 last week...

Yeah, E-1's been screwing drivers on the FSC since they started offering it.

At least there is that $1 a mile thing, tho. That's something that not all of them offer.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Yeah, E-1's been screwing drivers on the FSC since they started offering it.

At least there is that $1 a mile thing, tho. That's something that not all of them offer.

Lets just group them all that pay the flat rate system on the FSC....and ya know you ya are.....

 

[pellgrn]

Had one of my drivers cal with a 75 cent per mile with a 14 or 16 cent sur,he took it cause he was 10 miles from pu with 500 something on the paid miles.The D unit i got is contracted at 1.35 and they can offer you as low as 1.10,it's been that way for years.Truck has ran some 1.20 maybe 2 or 3 in the last year cause they made sence,good sur charge,not much weight,close to pu.As stated in previous post,i would think like with the c,d units,the vans also won't get a refusal.My van at 85 cents with the non fixed sur,100% is suppose to go to the drivers.Like were gonna know what they got paid from the customer for the sur charge alone,the end of the day if the money is right ya run it.

 

[FIS53]

I've seen the makings of a price war from our competitors and have heard from others in other parts of transportation the samething is happening. Lower rates are being quoted to get jobs and lower fsc is definitely a possibility due to lower fuel prices. With so many looking for a run there maybe some real price chopping with the independants which will cause more of a problem for the rest of us. I'd expect to see lower rates coming over the next couple of months as everyone competes for the loads so don't be surprised by some of the pricing you see.
Rob

 

[twinpopusa]

I wouldn't mind the 70CPM too much, IF they gave us a 1st out for it, and let us piggyback two loads if possible every now and then. Still, it's cheap frieght, and it's sad to see our rates go DOWN more over the years. These are the van rates we made with Roberts Express back in 1991..

 

[Turtle]

If they start offering me loads lower than my contract rate, like for 70 cents, then I'm going to want to know the specifics of why. Like, how much do they have in the load, and what my actual percentage of the load is, 'cause once we're off-contract, the only thing left is the percentage and then it's a whole new deal. See, I pay them to find me loads, they don't pay me to run 'em, and if they're going to call me a Partner, then they're gonna have to partner up if they want to go off-contract.

 

[Moot]

See, I pay them to find me loads, they don't pay me to run 'em, and if they're going to call me a Partner, then they're gonna have to partner up if they want to go off-contract.

Whoa, that's some subversive talk there pardner! With thoughts like that you are on a dangerous road my friend.

At Con-Way Now orientation during a break I mentioned that I was hiring Con-Way to book me loads and cover the clerical type stuff. My peers looked at me like I was from Minnesota or something. The idea that I was paying Con-Way 42% to procure loads for me was so foreign to them as to be incomprehensible.

 

[davekc]

I think the biggest issue affecting vans is the reduction in auto freight. Looking at all different kinds of loads boards and you see a major reduction in loads of the 2 to 3 pallet range. And what you do see has become cheaper.
Without the higher dollar auto freight (if you want to call it that), the vans are now competing with the courier/local services and many others. They haul and deliver and much cheaper prices.
Just a reality in a very competitive environment.

 

[Falligator]

I haven't been offered a .70cent load yet...but I sure have seen unl gas go up to $1.73 from $1.59 just the other day.I've been getting a lot of runs that are 170 miles that cannot deliver until next day that panther isn't booking with a layover fee in them....when i ask about it they just tell me that it was never booked in the load and go to the next driver. Can't believe that the load count between Akron/Cleveland has gone from 9 per day to 4 per day. I know it's the holiday and all, but I've never ever seen freight this low. I think that the times are going to be worse than the great depression. Especially if the big 3 doesn't get that loan they're looking for.

 

[AmericanLaw]

.I've been getting a lot of runs that are 170 miles that cannot deliver until next day that panther isn't booking with a layover fee in them....when i ask about it they just tell me that it was never booked in the load and go to the next driver.

I was told a few months ago by dispatch that they do not charge customers layover anymore. It is not a courtesy for the customer and that Panther only pays a layover if they have that extra in the load or they know they won't be able to cover the load otherwise. I don't know how much of that is true, but that is what I was told.

The Law

 

[BillChaffey]

"cause once we're off-contract" if your "off contract" why isn't the Contract void?

 

[davekc]

I was told a few months ago by dispatch that they do not charge customers layover anymore. It is not a courtesy for the customer and that Panther only pays a layover if they have that extra in the load or they know they won't be able to cover the load otherwise. I don't know how much of that is true, but that is what I was told.

The Law

I don't know if that is true on van loads or not? I have never heard that. We had a load just over Thanksgiving that paid layover because the load was on the truck while the team was home celebrating. This was on a straight truck.