Panther is a scam.

[E-OneDog]

Well guys I agree with the OP in a way. Three of my nine years were spent at Panther and yes they are the worst at scamming the drivers for whatever they can. Whether its in the contract or their way of doing bisiness they are without a doubt the worst at digging money "out" of contractors pockets.

I lived in Colorado(or rather rented my house out and lived in the truck) so I didn't want to deal with plates. Now another company never charged me anything when I left because they put the plates on another truck but not Panther. Panther charged me what time was left on the plate. I left Panther in the first place because they refused to pay a promised deadhead out of Canada(and yes it was on the QC), so to put it bluntly that was the one and only time a carrier has ever shorted me.

Now I'm not with Panther and never will be again.

 

[cableguymn]

Well guys I agree with the OP in a way. Three of my nine years were spent at Panther and yes they are the worst at scamming the drivers for whatever they can. Whether its in the contract or their way of doing bisiness they are without a doubt the worst at digging money "out" of contractors pockets.

I lived in Colorado(or rather rented my house out and lived in the truck) so I didn't want to deal with plates. Now another company never charged me anything when I left because they put the plates on another truck but not Panther. Panther charged me what time was left on the plate. I left Panther in the first place because they refused to pay a promised deadhead out of Canada(and yes it was on the QC), so to put it bluntly that was the one and only time a carrier has ever shorted me.

Now I'm not with Panther and never will be again.

Same here. I didn't plate with them because I was in a cargo van. But they sent me out to BFE Wyoming.. Town of 1000 or so and one manufacturing company. Not much comes out of Wyoming that'll fit in a cargo. So when they where pushing (hard) the load on me and offering the moon, I said ok. Send me everything you just offered me on the QC and I'll do it.

I get the message showing first out in KC, deadhead pay to KC .18 spiff for loaded miles, and the other stips I asked for (can't say I recall)

I got 0.00 out of them when I dropped. Not even the 40% I was suppose to get. They said I was not in the proper area for that to come through but they would force it through. I said what about the deadhead run? They laughed so hard they almost dropped the phone. I pointed out it was on my QC and they basically said "ya, so?" The only offer they would honor was first out once I was in KC. Spiff never showed on the settlement report either.

I don't know if they meant it or not on the first out. My next stop was Minnesota. The QC was boxed and shipped signature required. I also removed all the stickers and used them to pack the QC (hey.. at least I didn't just toss it in a box and send it out right??)

They did take my WHOLE settlement check for that period and send me a bill for other stupid parting of the way fees. I didn't give um a dime.

 

[HockeyRob]

I was a owner for over two years at Panther and they get you comming in going with fees. Not only do they get big profits off the freight, but they like to make profits off the owners. Example I sold my last truck to a new contractor. They would not give him the rate I got until they removed the QC and charged me a $250 dollar fee. While you are a contractor they rape you with stupid messaging fees on the QC. I serviced their customers 100% for two years and they have the nerve to deduct in my final check some pads and straps that they claim to have bought. 200 dollars a week for base plates while the truck was being repaired for the new owner. By the way they also charged him $140 dollars a week. My advice is to stay away from these scam artists and they need to be taken to court. They are in business of using the contractors until they go broke and then suckering more people to take over. I was lucky to have a bunch of FedEx Ground trucks to keep me going. I actually made a lot of money in the future by getting out of this horrible business. I am sure all the carriers are the same, but Panther is the largest and should be ashamed of themselves.

My Friend, I could not agree more with you along this Topic! I had the Misfortune to Work for 3 Different Fleet Owners that are Leased on with Panther! One of their Fleet Owners STILL OWES ME around $800.00 that I WILL NEVER SEE! When I asked Panther to Make Certain that I got Paid, they REFUSED to make that Owner Pay Me what I am STILL OWED! The Second Screwjob they Pulled On Me was Hitting Me with an $850.00 Recovery Charge, for Getting a Spare Tire Installed on the Van I was Driving when I NEVER EVEN ASKED for Road Service, which FORCED Me to Work for 3 Weeks for FREE! And Finally They Put Me Out Of Service by Claiming "You did not Respond to a Load Offer (that I NEVER KNEW ABOUT) and then REFUSED to Restore My Board Position on the Board I was on at that time! Then they had the Audacity to Claim that I was "Abusive". If there is any Advice I can give to any Prospective Driver and or Fleet Owner it would be STAY AWAY FROM PANTHER!

 

[Pianoguy]

Panther is funny, There was a recent picture posted in the Lebanon Democrat , Lebanon TN showing some guy whizzing out the side door of their panther truck at the Roxy Theater. Snap ! No more trucks allowed in the lot. I guess when Ya gotto go make sure it's right in front of Channel 4 news !

 

[cableguymn]

Panther is funny, There was a recent picture posted in the Lebanon Democrat , Lebanon TN showing some guy whizzing out the side door of their panther truck at the Roxy Theater. Snap ! No more trucks allowed in the lot. I guess when Ya gotto go make sure it's right in front of Channel 4 news !

Bright one, that driver is not.

 

[Zoli]

My Friend, I could not agree more with you along this Topic! I had the Misfortune to Work for 3 Different Fleet Owners that are Leased on with Panther! One of their Fleet Owners STILL OWES ME around $800.00 that I WILL NEVER SEE! When I asked Panther to Make Certain that I got Paid, they REFUSED to make that Owner Pay Me what I am STILL OWED! The Second Screwjob they Pulled On Me was Hitting Me with an $850.00 Recovery Charge, for Getting a Spare Tire Installed on the Van I was Driving when I NEVER EVEN ASKED for Road Service, which FORCED Me to Work for 3 Weeks for FREE! And Finally They Put Me Out Of Service by Claiming "You did not Respond to a Load Offer (that I NEVER KNEW ABOUT) and then REFUSED to Restore My Board Position on the Board I was on at that time! Then they had the Audacity to Claim that I was "Abusive". If there is any Advice I can give to any Prospective Driver and or Fleet Owner it would be STAY AWAY FROM PANTHER!

You had the contract with the owner ,not with Panther. Panther paid the load to the owner so ...case closed. For the road service the owner should pay not you or Panther. And finally ,they put you oos because you did not answer to your phone....

 

[scottm4211]

Sounds like a classic Brooklyn Screw Job aka "The Brooklyn Screwy".

 

[Turtle]

I should note that one time I was sent a load offer to the QC, and they did not call me. My status was Out of Truck on Pager, and I was, actually, out of the truck. I never got the call, and never knew about the load offer. When I failed to respond after 10 minutes, I was placed OOS. An hour later after eating and returning to the van, I read the QC messages and saw that I was OOS for failure to respond. It was confirmed that no call was ever made to me. I got screwed because someone else got the load, which I would have accepted, and I got stuck in Davenport late on a Friday afternoon with nothing else going out until Monday.

I'm still a little ticked about that one. But, hey, they gave me a First Out (even though I was already first out on the board), to compensate. So it's fine. <snort>


KurtB is not on my Christmas card list. A turtle never forgets. Turtle Recall.

 

[blizzard2014]

I should note that one time I was sent a load offer to the QC, and they did not call me. My status was Out of Truck on Pager, and I was, actually, out of the truck. I never got the call, and never knew about the load offer. When I failed to respond after 10 minutes, I was placed OOS. An hour later after eating and returning to the van, I read the QC messages and saw that I was OOS for failure to respond. It was confirmed that no call was ever made to me. I got screwed because someone else got the load, which I would have accepted, and I got stuck in Davenport late on a Friday afternoon with nothing else going out until Monday.

I'm still a little ticked about that one. But, hey, they gave me a First Out (even though I was already first out on the board), to compensate. So it's fine. <snort>


KurtB is not on my Christmas card list. A turtle never forgets. Turtle Recall.

I think Panther uses that as an excuse to give the other driver the load over you. Either that or dispatchers are simply too lazy to make a phone-call. When I worked at Panther I oncestartedup the van and beep - Load offer 700 miles "I was like hell yeah" and right when I was in the process of accepting the load - another beep "you have been placed out of service for failure to respond! lol. Now here is why I state that this practice is a conspiracy. Why? Humm, because everytime I was given some crappy load "a fifty miler or so" even when I would not respond for 30 minutes - they would not take me off the load and give it to someone else - they only promptly removed me from load offers that no one in their right mind would refuse. I don't miss the old days!

 

[HockeyRob]

I think Panther uses that as an excuse to give the other driver the load over you. Either that or dispatchers are simply too lazy to make a phone-call. When I worked at Panther I oncestartedup the van and beep - Load offer 700 miles "I was like hell yeah" and right when I was in the process of accepting the load - another beep "you have been placed out of service for failure to respond! lol. Now here is why I state that this practice is a conspiracy. Why? Humm, because everytime I was given some crappy load "a fifty miler or so" even when I would not respond for 30 minutes - they would not take me off the load and give it to someone else - they only promptly removed me from load offers that no one in their right mind would refuse. I don't miss the old days!

You had that happen to you as well? I almost forgot about all of the Lousy Loads they Tried to Saddle Me with only for them to Not Take Me off of them even after I Refused! Not to mention doesn't it seem rather funny that Panther Still Allows Their Dispatchers to Own Trucks that Run Under Panther's Authority? And we all know where the Good Loads With Good Mileage & Good Money Go To!

 

[Turtle]

Not to mention doesn't it seem rather funny that Panther Still Allows Their Dispatchers to Own Trucks that Run Under Panther's Authority? And we all know where the Good Loads With Good Mileage & Good Money Go To!

Considering Panther's rules about dispatchers (and any office management or staff) owning trucks, that's a pretty serious charge. Serious enough that you'll need to provide proof.

 

[Bruno]

You had that happen to you as well? I almost forgot about all of the Lousy Loads they Tried to Saddle Me with only for them to Not Take Me off of them even after I Refused! Not to mention doesn't it seem rather funny that Panther Still Allows Their Dispatchers to Own Trucks that Run Under Panther's Authority? And we all know where the Good Loads With Good Mileage & Good Money Go To!

I would say you have no clue what your talking about. Not one employee at Panther has a truck on with Panther. You drove for a fleet owner that had a contract with Panther, NOT YOU. We have been with them almost four years and before that we was with our old carrier for fourteen and I have seen this at both carriers. No carrier will get in the middle between the sub contractor and the contractor that is lease on with the carrier. The person that owns the truck is who they pay, and then the owner pays the sub contractor. If they tried to pay to sub contractor they could be sued. It just sounds like your mad at the wrong person. You need to get upset with the person that didn't pay you not Panther.

 

[RETIDEPXE]

Cudoos to Panther from this ST truck team owner, finishing out our best month yet in 5 yrs w/ Panther. After this evenings delivery this team will have done just short of 7,000 loaded mi.s in the past 7 days.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a common thing to do this many miles, and Panther has it's quirks, but we've learned to make it work for us in a positive way. Now if we can make it thru next month without a major repair, hah.

Also, all the complaints concerning the measly charges for this or that, get over it!, It's not a conspiracy against little ole you and had you bothered to read or ask questions at sign-up, the little p*ss ant charges would not be a surprise to you. If $850 is deducted and that is three weeks pay, your in the wrong business, that's chump change that can be easily covered overnite with the right load. OK, I'll get off my soap box now.

 

[LDB]

It may be "chump change" to some but it's as much the principle as it is the amount. When the service provider charges $4.95 a month and the carrier raises the price to $8.67 a month to the operator, yes, it's chump change but that's still $44.64 a year. Why should I pay that much above the actual cost? Better yet, the $96.72 a month more than actual cost on another service from the same provider which adds to $1160 a year. That's $100 a month times how many operators? Yes, it's in the contract. Yes, you know about it ahead of time or at least should. That doesn't make it right but it does make it about a MILLION dollars a year they are taking out of pockets they shouldn't be dipping into.

 

[ts675]

I'm not going to play cheerleader but really come on. If you feel the contract is unfair, then don't sign it. Go somewhere else. I have made a pretty good living with Panther. Sure there are things I don't like,but when it comes down to it, I choose to stay because the positives outweigh the negatives for my truck. I never understood when contractors complain so much, why they don't just lease on someplace else and make themselves happy.

 

[skyraider]

Lets see now, last month it was LRT and Whirlwind bashing , ah, the beat goes on. PS. is anyone holding a gun to your head to be an expediter, I dont think so. Just getter done.

 

[greg334]

Leo, you are paying for the access to revenue through their company. If you are making a profit and complain about the way the run their business, then you are not doing much to off set those charges

 

[sirgregory46]

Its been awile. But they told you at orintation that when you end you contract with Panther you will have to pay a QC admin fee of 250 to 300. No matter if you take it out or you do it yourself and fedx it back. It sucks but they do tell you up front. That was a couple years ago so they may have change some stuff.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

It may be "chump change" to some but it's as much the principle as it is the amount. When the service provider charges $4.95 a month and the carrier raises the price to $8.67 a month to the operator, yes, it's chump change but that's still $44.64 a year. Why should I pay that much above the actual cost? Better yet, the $96.72 a month more than actual cost on another service from the same provider which adds to $1160 a year. That's $100 a month times how many operators? Yes, it's in the contract. Yes, you know about it ahead of time or at least should. That doesn't make it right but it does make it about a MILLION dollars a year they are taking out of pockets they shouldn't be dipping into.

Leo...First of all...do you even have a truck/van at Panther still?

 

[LDB]

I no longer have trucks with Panther however I never specified Panther. I spoke of the practices in general, as practiced by the majority of carriers.