RE: i didn't
I agree Turtle, this business is what it is. My only point was, this business will be what "we" let it become. Thus the reason "I" opt out on holidays.
Here's a quote from Dhalltoyo,(and i hope he doesn't mind
)
" A fellow driver pulls into the shipper's lot and watches two D units being loaded with 1-2 skids.
He says, "Are you hauling those at cargo van rates?"
The team driver doesn't respond. Obviously, disappointed.
The solo driver says, "Yes, I am trying to get to a better location."
I understand the logic, but I am also seeing more and more D units hauling single skid loads. Moving to a better location, or not...the math says that it is impossible to make a truck payment, buy fuel and cover all the other expenses hauling those loads at cargo van rates."
I think you can see where i'm going with this. Anything that we do for less than whats appropriate sets the stage for what happens next.
Like you said, as an owner operator, i set my own pay. However, when the company i am leased to can talk someone else into doing the load for straight rates it decreases my ability to negotiate for a better rate. Corporate greed allows for such tactics, but, ethical standards and integrity would leave us all less subjugated.
One of the things i really liked about Landstar was that rates for holidays and layovers and runs out to dead freight areas were negotiable. When you talked to an agent it was a negotiation. And when they say "no forced dispatch" there is actually meaning behind the words. Not to say that you "can't" negotiate with other company's, just that it seems more difficult because you are not talking to the person who is "actually" structuring the deal with the "actual" customer.
