Panther holding back O/O's
- Thread starter Twizted1
- Start date
Your horses are only stopped for you! They look like they are moving on to me.
We have also sat watching loads being dispatched, drivers calling in, and loads being called in. What an eye opener to see all of this. We put on head sets to listen to the calls between customers and also when drivers were called by dispatch and also when drivers called in.
Next time we are at the office we will once again sit with the dispatchers and watch how the load opps are sent out to the trucks and how the replies come in.
The more we have done this the more comfortable we with how FedEx dispatches loads and why the loads are given to certain trucks. The more you can learn about how the system works the better you can understand why things happen the way they do.
I agree if you are in the area stop by the office and set with the dispatchers. If you are at the office in Green I am sure you will get a meal in the cafeteria and that food is great!
We have also sat watching loads being dispatched, drivers calling in, and loads being called in. What an eye opener to see all of this. We put on head sets to listen to the calls between customers and also when drivers were called by dispatch and also when drivers called in.
Next time we are at the office we will once again sit with the dispatchers and watch how the load opps are sent out to the trucks and how the replies come in.
The more we have done this the more comfortable we with how FedEx dispatches loads and why the loads are given to certain trucks. The more you can learn about how the system works the better you can understand why things happen the way they do.
I agree if you are in the area stop by the office and set with the dispatchers. If you are at the office in Green I am sure you will get a meal in the cafeteria and that food is great!
Oh man, talk about good cafeteria food. It's unexpected to find that in there, at least to me. I got to sit in dispatch at Fedex for about 30-40 minutes when I was there. It's a less hectic pace than Panther, at least on that day, but there's no favoritism going on there that can be seen, even if you are ignoring who you're sitting with and secretly observing someone else to get the most honest picture possible of whether there's favoritism or not.
I do appreciate your honesty and also knowledge of the inner workings of panther.I hope, maybee the higher ups could respond and enlighten us all.I will make a trip to seville either to see dispatch in action or turn in my QC in the near future.You would think teams in general would be gold in there eyes.
Twizted1: the problem isn't that Panther doesn't appreciate teams, it's that there are just too many cargo vans competing for the loads available. Driving a van is (relatively) easy, which makes it attractive to a much larger pool of O/Os & drivers than the bigger trucks, and consequently there are probably always going to be more vans available than freight to keep them running. It's the nature of the business, and unless you can work very smart, or are very lucky, I think the really good weeks are outnumbered by those that aren't. They were for me, anyway, when I was a van O/O.
Cheri,
I do understand that the industry is saturated with vans and it would seem that getting into a van would be a easy job to some.I just dont understand why they advertise,how they need teams,favore teams,when they dont run them any different than a solo.Makes no sense to me why bother even having teams in a van at all?Doesnt the swap out fees justify having teams? also,the freight is sopposedly inclusive to that truck one way?Another pointer would be that a team in a cargo van would work there way up to a bigger truck if treated fairly at that carrier.I have a very sour taste in my mouth from the latest events and ready to move to a carrier who appreciates a team!!!
They advertise for teams because it's to their advantage to have teams available for the long runs. They really don't care whether you would 'move up' to a larger truck, (if you earned enough money to do so), they care about covering all the loads they might get. Which means having more units signed on than are needed on any given day (some of which will be out of service).
I personally would think that turnover is a very bad (and costly) problem, but apparently, many carriers consider it preferable to doing what it takes to retain the good O/Os & drivers. And as long as there are newbies ready to jump in, they have no problem signing them on. Until the labor market changes, (which aint happening any time soon), the carriers have an almost endless supply of folks ready to sign on, most of whom won't stay more than a few months.
I keep remembering an interview in one of the trucking mags, where the president of Panther was bragging about his ability to pull 50 cargo vans to a shipper, on an hour's notice. In order to accomplish that (probably once in a lifetime deal) he needed to have 50 vans available, and that there were, says it all, for me.
I personally would think that turnover is a very bad (and costly) problem, but apparently, many carriers consider it preferable to doing what it takes to retain the good O/Os & drivers. And as long as there are newbies ready to jump in, they have no problem signing them on. Until the labor market changes, (which aint happening any time soon), the carriers have an almost endless supply of folks ready to sign on, most of whom won't stay more than a few months.
I keep remembering an interview in one of the trucking mags, where the president of Panther was bragging about his ability to pull 50 cargo vans to a shipper, on an hour's notice. In order to accomplish that (probably once in a lifetime deal) he needed to have 50 vans available, and that there were, says it all, for me.
I will say this Cheri1122 and TerryandRene are the pro's when it comes to vans.
cheri.....define good weeks and bad weeks....
is that your good or my good or turtles good or my bad?
i get sooo confused....
in the van world one can't measure good or bad in such a small time frame...you know that...aggregate average is the only way to measure.
is that your good or my good or turtles good or my bad?
i get sooo confused....
in the van world one can't measure good or bad in such a small time frame...you know that...aggregate average is the only way to measure.
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cheri.....define good weeks and bad weeks....
is that your good or my good or turtles good or my bad?
i get sooo confused....
in the van world one can't measure good or bad in such a small time frame...you know that...aggregate average is the only way to measure.
On a good week, I can barely make my van payment, and I have to live on flying "J" corn dogs and burritos. On a bad week, I can't make my van payment, have to hide out from the repo guy, and I have to go to the local soup kitchen for food. lol
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Just kidding; but you get the point. Good and bad can be defined differently by different people.
A good week is when you've earned more than spent, and kept the shiny side up.
The latter was no problem, but the former was a bit tougher for me, in a van.
Bruno: I was NOT a pro, clearly, or I'd still be driving the van, eh? I am doing much better in a straight truck, and anyway, as Highway Star says, it IS a nicer place to sit.
The latter was no problem, but the former was a bit tougher for me, in a van.
Bruno: I was NOT a pro, clearly, or I'd still be driving the van, eh? I am doing much better in a straight truck, and anyway, as Highway Star says, it IS a nicer place to sit.
A good week is when you've earned more than spent, and kept the shiny side up.
The latter was no problem, but the former was a bit tougher for me, in a van.
Bruno: I was NOT a pro, clearly, or I'd still be driving the van, eh? I am doing much better in a straight truck, and anyway, as Highway Star says, it IS a nicer place to sit.
Well, You know more about vans than I do. And yes you are a Pro in my eyes
Take credit where credit is due. Your a great person and I'm glad your part of EO land.
Thanks, Dave.
EO Land? Sounds like a sitcom, eh?
We've got a whole crew of smartazzes, and a chaplain, and an administrator who probably rips his hair out on a regular basis, [reading some of the comments here], and a few who try their best to remind us that WE ARE PROFESSIONALS dammit - act like it!! We even have Iceroadtrucker, who might seem a bit odd to outsiders, but we wouldn't trade him for anyone, ya know? Yep, we're a pretty good ensemble, I think. Because we ARE professionals - and we have enough confidence in ourselves to laugh at ourselves.
And if we weren't all drivers, I bet we'd even have a still running, for martinis.
EO Land? Sounds like a sitcom, eh?
We've got a whole crew of smartazzes, and a chaplain, and an administrator who probably rips his hair out on a regular basis, [reading some of the comments here], and a few who try their best to remind us that WE ARE PROFESSIONALS dammit - act like it!! We even have Iceroadtrucker, who might seem a bit odd to outsiders, but we wouldn't trade him for anyone, ya know? Yep, we're a pretty good ensemble, I think. Because we ARE professionals - and we have enough confidence in ourselves to laugh at ourselves.
And if we weren't all drivers, I bet we'd even have a still running, for martinis.
Thanks, Dave.
EO Land? Sounds like a sitcom, eh?
We've got a whole crew of smartazzes, and a chaplain, and an administrator who probably rips his hair out on a regular basis, [reading some of the comments here], and a few who try their best to remind us that WE ARE PROFESSIONALS dammit - act like it!! We even have Iceroadtrucker, who might seem a bit odd to outsiders, but we wouldn't trade him for anyone, ya know? Yep, we're a pretty good ensemble, I think. Because we ARE professionals - and we have enough confidence in ourselves to laugh at ourselves.
And if we weren't all drivers, I bet we'd even have a still running, for martinis.
What group am I in lol. lets see the bad speller group. lol
That sour taste is from chewing on the unrealistic financial expectations of team expediting in general, and of team van expediting in particular, and then having to swallow the fact that you won't get special treatment because you are a team. Sorry. They can't manufacture "team" loads just for you.
The load comes in, they try and get it covered. Period. If, by chance, you are near the shipper and it's a "team" load, then you might jump other solo vans to get it. Maybe. They they aren't going to jump over you if a "solo" load come in merely because it's not a "team" load. They're going to offer it to you, same as any other vehicle of that size.
Unless, that's what they do to you. You're sitting there, a 600 mile run comes up, "Nope, they're a team van, can't put a 600 mile run on a team van, let's save them for a really long team load so they'll be happy." Is that what you want? No. You want them to magically come up with team load after team load just for you. And when there are no team loads, load you first ahead of the solo drivers, cause dammit you're a team van and you deserve it! "All hail the team van! Harumph! Harumph! Harumph!"
"I didn't get a harumph out of that guy."
If you truly want special treatment, team in a straight truck. Straight truck teams aren't golden to a carrier, but they are royalty. Straight trucks teams won't be loaded 24/7, though, but a straight truck team will jump a van, solo or team, in a heartbeat. Carriers want to keep those straight trucks teams loaded and happy. Vans, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen, solo or team.
Turtle....now you are talking Panther specific...right?
It don't work that way at E-1....
It don't work that way at E-1....
PalletJack
Expert Expediter
Just how is it at E-1 if it is not like turtle explains the procedure of every other expedite co talked about on the EO?
Well, yeah, of course I'm talking about Panther. That's who both I and Twizted1 run for. Other, smaller carriers, have fewer loads and fewer trucks to deal with, so they can play favorites a little bit more with respect to even being able to pick and choose who gets team versus solo runs, mainly because they can pick and choose the loads a little better in the first place. Panther can, and does, do it somewhat with straight trucks, because there aren't as many of those and they can pick and choose a little bit. But with cargo vans, they simply have too many vans and van loads to be able to do that kind of thing. We can now see online how many teams are on a given board. Well, for straight trucks, that means a lot. For vans, not so much.
Once I was first out in Laredo, only one there. Next day a second rolled in, a solo. A little while later a third, a team van. The team van was positive they'd get loaded out before us, because they were a team. Whoops.
Even at E-1, though, I can't imagine a team van sitting someplace for a day or two, then a solo comes in with 30 minutes of dwell time and gets a 400 mile run over the team. More than likely, they're looking at bid boards and bidding accordingly.
Once I was first out in Laredo, only one there. Next day a second rolled in, a solo. A little while later a third, a team van. The team van was positive they'd get loaded out before us, because they were a team. Whoops.
Even at E-1, though, I can't imagine a team van sitting someplace for a day or two, then a solo comes in with 30 minutes of dwell time and gets a 400 mile run over the team. More than likely, they're looking at bid boards and bidding accordingly.