New Dispatch System is really bad

[Bruno]

Our Carrier has came up with a new dispatch system that all of our driver's hate. I understand the idea behind it but they need to throw this one out the window and run it over with the truck. Now our trucks are getting load offers that are 300 to 500 miles away. With the high cost of fuel trucks just can't deadhead these high miles. With this new system you are not able to talk to a live person your dealing with a computer. I understand they want to cover loads faster and service the customer but this not the way to do it. It's either yes or no with the computer.

This kind of change can lead to driver's wanting to go to other companies because of it. To ask a driver on a load offer to pull over and stop on the side of the road to write down the run number on paper then type that number into the C-Link to except a load is not going to work. This can lead to an accident on the side of the road or put the driver in a hurry to pull over which can cause a accident. The way the loads was offered before it only took the driver to hit a load except and that was it. When i'm getting a load offer I want to talk to a person not a computer.

 

[TeamCaffee]

Bruno
Most drivers we know for the most part like the new system and the benefits it offers us such as when multiply loads come in such as the ability to choose a load going to an area you like. The loads are getting covered faster, the customer is happy and we get more load offers. The only reason you would be getting load offers with that much dead head is the fact there is not a truck closer just do what you would normally do if you cannot afford to take the run do not. You still can call in and talk to a dispatcher the number has not changed just have the load number available to ask about when you are connected.
There is nothing new about the loads only the fact that FedEx Custom Critical is streamlining the process on getting the loads covered quicker and if they cannot get the load covered FCC can look for an alternative truck. The new system will stop a lot of the drivers that will not accept the load as offered and always want to jack up the price.
Bottom line is a happy customer helps our bottom line.

 

[hdxpedx]

Deadhead paid-- I'll take any offer to load it ++deadhead++ miles in the right direction..BEATS SITTING!!

 

[redytrk]

> To ask a driver on a load offer to pull over and stop on the side of the road to write down the run number on paper then type that number into the C-Link to except a load is not going to work. This can lead to an accident on the side of the road or put the driver in a hurry to pull over which can cause a accident.

When I raised this concern, I was told it was a Qualcomm thing and they had no way to eliminate the need to re-enter the PRO number. (Don`t know if I buy it)

 

[arrbsthw]

They need smarter programers then...don't ya think?

 

[Roadpig]

Yes, by all means let's let COMPUTERS do all of the work. Because computers are always correct.

I would worry if I were all of you. If you can't talk to a person that means you can't really have your problem addressed.

Without live bodies at Fedex that means that they have let their workforce go and you truly are just a number.

The more industries that forsake people in favor of COM-PUTE-ORS means that there are more people unemployed.

This means that there are more people that don't have money to buy product.

This means there is less product being produced.

That means there is less product to be hauled.

That leads to unemployed truck drivers and the process continues ad nauseum.....

 

[Tennesseahawk]

But, sir, you are talking on a COM-PUT-ER.

 

[juliewray60]

All along i was thinking the newer
format is actually easier. And much
better at giving drivers the bigger picture.
Honestly ive not come across drivers
who dislike the newer format. Possibly
this is just a case where the drivers just
dont quite understand what their viewing ?
Maybe some re-trainings needed or some
simple explanation by an experienced
driver.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Not really my place to say much...BUT ..You guys must hang with a different crowd then me....of the ones I do know they DON'T like the new system but then again they all live near the border Can/Us...now thats not saying it's maybe faster further away from the border...Because the Feds can't seem to isolate trucks that do not do Canada and they are inundated with Canada runs. Some twinking to do there.
Heres the example....a load opportunity goes out to 3 trucks...none do Canada...reject x's3 and so on...quicker?

 

[Humble2drive]

Bruno
Most drivers we know for the most part like the new system and the benefits it offers us such as when multiply loads come in such as the ability to choose a load going to an area you like. The loads are getting covered faster, the customer is happy and we get more load offers. The only reason you would be getting load offers with that much dead head is the fact there is not a truck closer just do what you would normally do if you cannot afford to take the run do not. You still can call in and talk to a dispatcher the number has not changed just have the load number available to ask about when you are connected.
There is nothing new about the loads only the fact that FedEx Custom Critical is streamlining the process on getting the loads covered quicker and if they cannot get the load covered FCC can look for an alternative truck. The new system will stop a lot of the drivers that will not accept the load as offered and always want to jack up the price.
Bottom line is a happy customer helps our bottom line.

TC- Who are you asking?? If you ask random drivers outside of your circle I think you may get some different opinions. I have asked many drivers at fuels stops etc. and have gotten the opposite reaction.
The new "load opportunity" system is a very impressive automated method for efficiently dispatching loads. It does that very well and is of great benefit to Fed Ex and the clients it serves. It has no inherent benefit for the drivers. We have accepted that and will live with it because not every improvement is made with the drivers in mind.

Some common complaints we hear are:

* Not user friendly- As stated earlier, the need to write down and repeat information can create difficulties.

* The ability to negotiate a fair load offer has virtually been taken away.

* The system can actually be demotivating.
Example: One couple had 2 opportunities to go home and several to go by and visit family. They did not get dispatched on any of those and could only wave good bye as the other driver pulled out of the truck stop.

How are you able to "chose" a load going where you want? Do you want to go somewhere that nobody else wants to go to?

One more important note:
This system is currently in test mode and at this time refusals do not count against your acceptance %. When this system is integrated with the current dispatch system that will change. The exact parameters of how refusals will be handled is currently up in the air so enjoy the free offers while they last.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

It's also cheaper to pay a computer operator then to pay the wages of a REAL well trained experienced dispatcher....all they are now is call takers and button pushers...the premise of thinking is the computers job..."well, sir the computer says....."

 

[Roadpig]

It's also cheaper to pay a computer operator then to pay the wages of a REAL well trained experienced dispatcher....all they are now is call takers and button pushers...the premise of thinking is the computers job..."well, sir the computer says....."

Exactly.

IT workers are the enemy of the common man.


I mean that in all seriousness.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Its the same way at dealships with the "technicians" if it don't thro a code they have no clue....

 

[Bruno]

Bruno
Most drivers we know for the most part like the new system and the benefits it offers us such as when multiply loads come in such as the ability to choose a load going to an area you like. The loads are getting covered faster, the customer is happy and we get more load offers. The only reason you would be getting load offers with that much dead head is the fact there is not a truck closer just do what you would normally do if you cannot afford to take the run do not. You still can call in and talk to a dispatcher the number has not changed just have the load number available to ask about when you are connected.
There is nothing new about the loads only the fact that FedEx Custom Critical is streamlining the process on getting the loads covered quicker and if they cannot get the load covered FCC can look for an alternative truck. The new system will stop a lot of the drivers that will not accept the load as offered and always want to jack up the price.
Bottom line is a happy customer helps our bottom line.

I really don't know who you have been talking too, but everyone I have talk to hates it and all off our driver hate it. The loads being sent out to many trucks at the same time is great and I don't mind that because FedEx can get the load covered faster. The problems I have is.

1. When it takes them an hour to get back with you on a load you wanted, just to tell you the load was taken by another truck.

2. Macro 31 is a joke and is not something that saves time, it adds more time. Plus it can make drivers in a hurry to load all the info in if they want the load. Which can cause an accident.

3. I don't like talking to a computer when it comes to dealing with a load. I want a person on the phone so I can ask things, like what Express Center is the load going too.

4. Load offers now have more dead head on them now. I have seen it for myself.

5. The base charges on the loads has went down to less than a $1.00 per mile on some runs.

6. Our drivers want to talk to a person and want to know if they are on the load not having to sit a wait to know if they was awarded the load. Which is upsetting to our drivers.

What mean by that is, the drivers are sleeping and the computer calls with a load that is going from Boston to LA paying $6300.00 and the driver are all pumped up to do the load now. Just to get a call back saying the load was covered by another truck. Now the drivers are upset because they was woke up for a load that they never got anyways. Then it puts the driver in a very bad mood sometimes.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Bottomline...computers won't work in this enviroment...too many variables that the computer can't handle....sometimes human is better.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Bruno..you know Fedex is under pressure to cut costs (like alot of companies), last quarter results was bad...BUT this isn't the way...You just can't dehumanize everything...

 

[Bruno]

Bruno..you know Fedex is under pressure to cut costs (like alot of companies), last quarter results was bad...BUT this isn't the way...You just can't dehumanize everything...

I would agree 100%, because there is to many companies that will try to take contractors away because of this and use it as a sales point to get someone signed on with them. I can hear it now. " We have live Dispatcher's not a computer to offer you loads, With us at ABC company your business parnter not just a number.

Over the years I have talk to the customer's and asked them is there something we don't do anymore that they liked or disliked. The number one thing I get told by some of the older customers is they liked it better when FedEx had Cat Teams. For those of you that don't know what Cat team where.

It was a group of agents that took the calls from customers and drivers from the same area everytime. The customer and the drivers dealt with the same agents all the time. I was in Cat 23 which was Cleveland, Canton, Youngstown, and Pittsburg Express Centers. The customer would call in and the agents would set the load up and dispatch the load to the drivers in these Express Centers, the customers said they they liked the personal touch and even knew the different agents names they dealt with all the time. It was not a different agent everytime. I wish we still had Cat teams, back then you wasn't just a truck number you was a business partner with Roberts Express. I think the CEO we have now is the person that came up with Idea. If you have something that worked great why change it. Why they ever stop useing Cat teams is unknown. Back then an agent could do everything, we had less people back then doing more loads than we do now. If FedEx wants to cut cost then maybe they should go back to this system, because there was less agents then we have today.

Bobbie Bobbit did the job back then by herself that is done by about 20 people today.

 

[spudhead911]

Bruno
Most drivers we know for the most part like the new system and the benefits it offers us such as when multiply loads come in such as the ability to choose a load going to an area you like. The loads are getting covered faster, the customer is happy and we get more load offers. The only reason you would be getting load offers with that much dead head is the fact there is not a truck closer just do what you would normally do if you cannot afford to take the run do not. You still can call in and talk to a dispatcher the number has not changed just have the load number available to ask about when you are connected.
There is nothing new about the loads only the fact that FedEx Custom Critical is streamlining the process on getting the loads covered quicker and if they cannot get the load covered FCC can look for an alternative truck. The new system will stop a lot of the drivers that will not accept the load as offered and always want to jack up the price.
Bottom line is a happy customer helps our bottom line.

No, better freight rates help our bottom line. There is nothing wrong with negotiating a rate if you think the rate is too low. We are small businesses, trying to make as much money as posssible. FedEx needs to service their customers, they use us contractors to do that. Why shouldn't we make as much as we can? Some load offers come in very low, sometimes talking to the dispatcher enables us to have the rate bumped up a little. I see no problem with that, and I don't think most other contractors would either. Maybe you should think a little less about FedEx profits and more about your own. It seems you would make a great "company Man/woman" instead of an Independant Contractor. I'm not picking on you, it just seems like you always have to defend FedEx if someone says a negative thing about them. After a while it gets old and boring. FedEx is more than capable of defending themselves. Again I'm not picking on you, and it's not a personal thing, but it just seems like your always trying to make brownie points with them. We all know they read these posts, I think you have made enough points with them to last more than a lifetime. Like I said earlier, it gets old and boring. I read your posts and shake my head every time you praise FedEx. Enough is Enough. I like FedEx, I've been with them over eight years, I just don't get the reason you feel you need to tell everyone how great they are, every chance you get. If it gets any worse you might have to have a certain part of your anatomy surgically removed from a certain part of FedEx's collective anatomy. No offence intended. I know you are good people, with good intentions.

 

[greg334]

What?

It seems some of us said that this system was not about the contractor getting better or more opportunities but to get more loads accepted at the rates that they want them to be.

This 'you better get it now or you may not get anything' seems to be something that a few are waking up to - surprise.

Don't get me wrong, I loved FedEx, but I am not saying this to trash them its just that most of you are missing the bigger picture - it is all about them and money.

 

[spudhead911]

What?

It seems some of us said that this system was not about the contractor getting better or more opportunities but to get more loads accepted at the rates that they want them to be.

This 'you better get it now or you may not get anything' seems to be something that a few are waking up to - surprise.

Don't get me wrong, I loved FedEx, but I am not saying this to trash them its just that most of you are missing the bigger picture - it is all about them and money.

Yup, and I was one of them that said it was all about the money and getting loads covered at the lowest rate possible. I wasn't trashing FedEx either, I'm very happy being with them. They are trying to improve their bottom line and we contractors need to do the same thing.