Panther Squuezing fixed fsc??

[hondaking38]

wow it sure seems that they want everyone to get on the fixed fsc...must be more profits for there purses...the last 2 days they have been offering my vans and friends vehicles rediculous fsc rates...16 and 14 cents....now when no other vans are around its not anywheres near that....everytime we question the dispatchers about it they say get on the fixed fsc program...must be getting a sales bonus off it,because there replies have never been that quick before....and yepp fuel went up 25 cents a gallon already here in michigan...turn the load down or go out of business...cheaper to sit at home!!!

 

[blizzard2014]

Yeah, I think Panther is going off the Express-1 model now. I'm not so sure how much extra revenue Panther or Express-1 gets off the fixed fuel surcharge program, because you have to take into account that there are good customers and bad customers out there. So if panther agrees to pay every cargo van 28 cents a mile and one customer pays a 13 cent fuel surcharge, while another pays a 45 cent per mile fuel surcharg, the average comes out to be a little over 28 cpm for the surcharge. Please, feel free to correct my fuzzy math on this. But, it is pretty close in this example; real life numbers might be quite a bit different. I will tell you one thing though, Panther pays at least 8 to 10 cents higher on their fixed surcharges for cargo vans. That's my two cents people.

 

[easyrider2697]

wow it sure seems that they want everyone to get on the fixed fsc...must be more profits for there purses...the last 2 days they have been offering my vans and friends vehicles rediculous fsc rates...16 and 14 cents....now when no other vans are around its not anywheres near that....everytime we question the dispatchers about it they say get on the fixed fsc program...must be getting a sales bonus off it,because there replies have never been that quick before....and yepp fuel went up 25 cents a gallon already here in michigan...turn the load down or go out of business...cheaper to sit at home!!!

I guess some will never understand...FSC is in place to ease the cost of high fuel, not pay for it all, sure it would be nice for companys to pay for it all and in some cases it does, BUT most of the time it dosent...at the rate of 14-16 cpm in a cargo van that should make you price of fuel around .80 to a 1.00 a gallon for all you loaded miles( or do you expect them to pay for your relocation and deadehead and joyriding ?), ...this is based on 4.00 a gallon and 20 mpg in a CARGO van. If you are struggling now and having issues with FSC that pays for over 75% of your fuel, maybe your in the wrong situation...people need to quit relying on FSC to do all their driving, it is paid to help you for the run you are on...nothing else.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

At least in the case of E-1 the FSC covers 100% of the fuel costs for a Sprinter that gets more then 21 MPG...what more do we need...make a profit? which at 24-26 mpg I actually put money into my pocket.

 

[arkjarhead]

At least in the case of E-1 the FSC covers 100% of the fuel costs for a Sprinter that gets more then 21 MPG...what more do we need...make a profit? which at 24-26 mpg I actually put money into my pocket.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

 

[chefdennis]

Gee I only been actually hauling freight for 2 weeks and i understand "easys" explaniton, actually, I understood it before I started!! The fuel surcharge is smiply an "Offset", it was never meant to pay for all of your fuel, but if you ar in the same situation as OVM, you are ahead of the pack!!

I simply know I need "X" to move my van, if a load pays that or more, its down the road i go.

 

[ATeam]

I simply know I need "X" to move my van, if a load pays that or more, its down the road i go.

You understand this two weeks after being in the business (and actually before you entered). Bravo! There are people who have been in the business two years and 10 who have not figured it out.

 

[easyrider2697]

You understand this two weeks after being in the business (and actually before you entered). Bravo! There are people who have been in the business two years and 10 who have not figured it out.

Phil (Diane)...the bad part is...some never will.

 

[chefdennis]

A Team wrote:

You understand this two weeks after being in the business (and actually before you entered). Bravo! There are people who have been in the business two years and 10 who have not figured it out.

Well Phil , I don't know if i should say Thanks, or duh.... i found in business (any business and i have a few now , have sold a few and closed a few because I lost money) it is all about making a profit. you aren't going to make that "home run" amount on each load, yea you will get hose from time to time, but the majority of them will either cover expenses or make a few bucks. You can't look at each load and judge you total buttomline, you take ALL loads that are over your "Nut" and get down the road. You can't judge your business on a load by load basis. you can't even judge your business on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, you look at it on a quarterly basis.

I went into this business with a business plan based on 18 months. That means, I'am willing to support this business out of my pocket for 18 months, it doesn't have to make a dime in profit ( it better and i 100% believe it will) in the 1st 18 months. I'll then look everything over and see where I am and if I am going to add a sprinter. You see, I have no thought of ending this business after that 18 month time frame, It will be a decision to either add another truck or stay with just the van.

This van will make money, and it will NOT be based on how much I get from the FSC..........

Oh, and Thanks Phil!

 

[LDB]

It's fairly common I believe to expect 6, 9 and 18 mpg from tractors, trucks and vans. FSC is meant to bring the cost of fuel under load to $1.20 a gallon or in some cases $1.25. There may be a few carriers using other figures but I believe $1.20 is most common. If the price of fuel is $4.20 the fsc is meant to cover $3. That would be a fsc of .50, .333 or .167cpm depending on the size of the unit. If your vehicle is more efficient, or you are wise enough to slow down, you'll better those numbers and as already stated in some cases you may even make a profit.

Panther is using the $1.20 per gallon model I believe and as long as they are doing that and using the national average price of fuel in their calculation they are not cheating they are doing everything correctly.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Chef... quarterly may be too much of a range for most to look at. Maybe best for large fleet owners. Monthly is probably best for the typical o/o.

 

[chefdennis]

Tenn, While looking monthly certainly isn't a bad thing, the business is not real stable at this time and the longer you can go the better you will be. If a O/O has to make decisins based strictly on a month by month basis, they probably made a bad decision in the 12t place.

While I totally understand that alot of people don't get into business as i did and they do need to have this business pay their household bills, but why would anyone get into any business without the cash flow to carry the startup for a minimum of 3-6 months? If you are ok for the 1st 3-6 months, then looking monthly isn't necessary.

One bad month, shouldn't make or break a business.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Like you said, most have to take into consideration their monthly bills. No, most do not get into this with 3-6 months reserves. Therefore, monthly is the logical choice. Yes, if you have a large reserve, then quarterly may be appropriate. But realistically, a reserve is not in the picture for the majority of those getting into the biz; nor is it for those who have not had consistent luck.

Personally, I struggle at times to pay the bills and co-driver, and pull enough of a profit to continue onto the next month for fuel. Each month, it seems I get a little farther ahead. So, in time, I'll have the flexibility to choose quarterly. But, chances are, that won't be until I get another truck. In a perfect world, I'd have three running as well as my one is. But I suspect that's why the Col sold his company... cause perfect is likely fantasy.

 

[chefdennis]

TNHawk wrote:

No, most do not get into this with 3-6 months reserves.

While I have no reason to doubt you at all, that totally amazes me from a business standpoint. I can understand that if you are driving someones else's truck, but if you are a O/O even in a van, not to have a minimum of 3 months reserve seems to be a mistake roght from the start.

Maybe that is one of the reasons people just don't make it in this business. Any type of professional business advisor would never recommend that and no business plan would ever get past a loan officer without a reserve of some type...any business needs cash flow especially during the startup and the 1st 3-6 months id critical if a person is to make it in any business.....And i speak from experience, in my younger days, i have started businesses on a shoestring and not made it, more then once...........I guess it is those early business failures that have lead me to my way of thinking and what are now my "normal" business practices, like a good reserve to start, and not needing any business to pay for my household bills being willing to supporta business for a certain anount of startup time and letting the business strictly support itself for a pre-determined amount of time

 

[LDB]

Chef, what are you nuts or something? All you need to enter this business is a vehicle with a quarter tank of fuel and enough money for big macs until the end of orientation. After that you're going to start running 3k miles a week solo and 6k miles a week team and money is no problem from then on. If you have a full tank of fuel and a week's worth of big mac money you're way ahead of the game already. EVERYONE knows that. That's why they jump into this business with no money and no research. Seriously though, while I agree on a 3-6 month cushion a lot of folks won't have that much. Also, a monthly p/l statement is a good idea to allow annual comparisons as well as telling when to work and when to take off to tend to other things. Quarterly reckoning won't give enough detail for that.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I agree having a reserve is a good idea. And yes, if I had an inheritance left to me, I'd have a good reserve, as would most.

But I'm sure you've also heard about best laid plans. Got pretty far ahead last month, then had two repairs totaling 5 grand. It's normal for things NOT to go your way. If they do, you're lucky. I was lucky that we had a good month before the repairs, or I'd be just another statistic.

 

[dcalien]

Seems reasonable to me that Panther would not push it if it did not benefit them. I am averaging well over what the fixed fuel surcharge would have paid me, and I will keep doing it that way as long as I can.

 

[LDB]

I'm sure it doesn't cost them money or they wouldn't offer it. Part of the reason for it is to try to help those who have trouble managing and/or being comfortable with varying rates of fsc. To the best of my knowledge they are not working it like the congress where they dip into that pool of money for anything else. If there were a large enough string of jobs from all the bad fsc customers at once they would have to subsidize the pool to pay the better fixed rate. While it's a little bit of a gamble the odds are weighted toward the house. The key with it though is that it is set to give a level price on fuel of $1.20 a gallon. If a guy has a well speced truck and keeps his foot out of it and gets 11mpg instead of the 9mpg used for the calculation then his final cost for fuel is 54 cents a gallon on the fsc miles, based on my previous $4.20 example.

 

[Moot]

...this is based on 4.00 a gallon and 20 mpg in a CARGO van.

How did you come by these figures?

I'm sure it doesn't cost them money or they wouldn't offer it. Part of the reason for it is to try to help those who have trouble managing and/or being comfortable with varying rates of fsc.

I believe the real reason for the weekly adjusted f.s.c. is so the carrier can cover all the loads. With f.s.c. out of the equation the only significant variables are miles and destination.

 

[davekc]

We do much better without it. I think it does help the fleet owners who pay for fuel, and have steering wheel holders for drivers that will take anything regardless of the FSC.