RE: Panther's Macro#8 should be given a humane dea
" sounds to me like the reason for the macro 8 problems lie in the drivers hands."
Nope. It's a symptom because of the Macro 8 problem, not the reason for the Macro 8 problem.
"Why are we griping about a problem we all are responsible for."
Because it's not one that the drivers have caused.
"If you all would just respond to the suggested reposition either with a yes or no answer instead of just ignoring it.macro 8 would be more accurate."
Nope. Not really. That's putting the cart before the horse. In some instances it might make Macro 8 more accurate, if ony slightly, but on the whole it's not going to make a hill of beans worth of difference until dispatch and the comptuer are on the same page.
The computer "thinks" in terms of 3-digit Zip Codes, not in terms of how many trucks are within 50 miles of an area. I once delivered to Genoa, like 5 miles from the truck stops south of Toledo at the Turnpike and I-280. On the way to the delivery I stopped at the Flying J and fueled up. At the J there were 2 Panther straight trucks (that I saw, anyway) and 7 Panther cargo vans (among several other carriers). I then went to the delivery and PODded out.
The suggested move I got was to Toledo, and it was showing 3 loads a day out of there. I ran a Macro 8 and it came back as ZERO vans in Toledo. Doesn't matter what those other vans answered on their own reposition suggestions - they could have said yes, no, KMA, anything, doesn't matter. Fact is, they were there, and the computer didn't know it, and it wanted to send me there, too, even though I was also there already. I called into dispatch just to make sure, and found out there were 11 vans in Toledo.
"I know we respond every time whether or not we like the suggested move or not if thats not the direction we think we need to go we answer it with a NO.but with that being said it does need a place where you can put where you do plan to relocate."
I respond one way or the other, too, even knowing full well it won't matter in the long run. It won't matter until the root cause of the problem is fixed.
First thing is the 3 digit Zip Code issue and the 50 mile radius of the position board markets. If you think you're in Toledo, and dispatch thinks you're in Toledo, but the computer thinks you're not in Toledo, nothing will happen until we're all on the same 50 miles out page.
Second step after getting that done is to then educated the drivers on the importance of responding one way or the other. Educating to the point where, if you fail to respond one way or the other within a 15 minute time frame, your status is automatically changed by the computer to OOS until you do respond. I mean, if you fail to respond at all, nobody knows what yer doin', and if nobody knows what yer doin', they really can't rely on you at that moment to be included in any kind of business plan, like, oh, i dunno, a load offer or something.
Third step is to get some kind of real, tangible incentive to get people to accept the reposition suggestion, like a paid move. If steps one and two are done, and everything is accurate, then accepting the reposition suggestion becomes even more important in the overall fleet positioning, and a paid move is worth the cost to keep the fleet properly positioned.
If you refuse the reposition suggestion, fine, you go where you want, on your dime. And, when you answer NO, a field should appear for you to enter the city and state to where you are actually going. Spelling counts, as the computer can't read your mind. If you spelled it wrong you should get a response saying that the computer can't find the city you typed, so type it again. If it is able to figure out where you're going, you should get a confirmation for that, too.
So the keys to all this working are:
1 - Dispatch and computer both thinking in terms of 50 miles out.
2 - Drivers mandated to respond one way or the other.
3 - If a negative response, let the computer know your intentions on where you are going.
4 - Once arrived at your destination, either one from the computer or one of your choosing, enter an arrival macro to let the computer know you're arrived at your intended destination.
5 - Paid moves to the suggested relocation.
Once all that's accomplished, a fleet manager can get a really good overview of what's what and can make better decisions on a more timely basis. It turns a fleet of disorganized chaos into a well functioning, living, breathing organism that is ready to respond to just about anything at any time.
"What I'm trying to say is don't knock a system down that was suppose to be put into place to help us if your not going to use it for what is was designed for."
No one's knocking the system as much as they're knocking a really bad implementation of a good idea.
"Thats no different then stating your views on politics and knocking down gov. officials that are put into office and you didn't even go out and vote."
Except that in this case, we weren't allowed to vote, and even if we did, the wrong names were on the ballot, anyway. <rimshot>
Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop
