whats going on???
I am seeing less and less panther trucks out here....
... i am hearing from other drivers .. about a couple large fleet owners pulling there trucks out of panther.
... in the pass 3 months i have took on a team driver....... we are NOT seeing the miles as a team as we figured on.. i am getting same pay as if i was solo and have more stress teaming.
... i cant handle this much longer. I dont need a stress heart attack.
.... i well my team partner and i both feel like quitting and have been looking at other avenues.
You are citing quantitative (numbers) and qualitative (emotions) factors. If I was in your shoes, I would want to get better information. Yes, you are seeing fewer trucks but has the fleet actually declined in size? Try to find out what the actual fleet count is and how that compares to the past.
It has been reported here in the Open Forum that Expediter Services trucks have moved from Panther to FedEx. How many trucks? Why did they leave? What does that say about Panther? Are other fleet owners doing the same? If so, why or why not? What does your fleet owner believe is going on at Panther now? What are his or her intentions regarding the company? Does a decline in fleet size mean more freight for me, or has the company lost important customers leaving less freight for the remaining trucks?
Those are the kind of questions I would want to answer before making a carrier change decision.
The quantitative numbers you can be most certain about and that are easiest to know are your revenue and miles. You have already stated that both have declined. Take a good, hard look at your numbers again, and then your behavior. What were your numbers a year ago? What, if anything, are you doing different that may explain the change?
What about the runs themselves? Compared to a year ago, are you getting longer or shorter runs? Are they more frequent or less? Has the pay changed? If so, in what way?
Note that emotions can affect judgement. There is something called cognitive bias. When you develop feelings for or against a company, you tend to magnify the importance of information that confirms your feelings and minimize or reject information that does not support how you feel.
Say you are on your way to a pick up and the load cancels. If you have a positive view of the company it will be "Oh well, that's expediting. This happens to everyone." If you are feeling mad or otherwise negative toward the company, it will be, "SEE! SEE! See how those people are!!! This happens all the time! They don't give a **** about me! I hate this. The stress is too much!"
How important is the canceled load really? To know that, you have to know how often it really does happen. That's where high-quality quantitative information is important.
When you are feeling stress and considering a carrier change or new career, it is important to get as clear as you possibly can about how you actually feel and why (qualitative), and about what is actually happening (quantitative). The more clear you are in each area, the better your decision will be.
It sucks to be unhappy with your carrier and/or circumstances but it is exciting too. It is a time when you can look deep inside yourself and ask, what do I want really? Clearly, something is wrong now. What's going on? Why am I unhappy? Why is this not working? What are my options and where what can I do right now to make things better? Do I really need to change carriers or carriers, or do I only need to change my mind?
