Problems with Panther

[unorthodoxneon]

I've been having some issues with panther ever since i started with this company but pretty much either a)was unaware of most of it or b)wasnt that big of a deal. Well what i have been noticing alot is that i've been having a ton of loads "cancel" on me and then when i go and look up the pro status on their site my "cancelled" load grew legs and i guess started walking to its destination. Now the reason for this i've heard is because of a few reasons. one being they tried getting a truck that was closer they said no or didnt respond and they offered it to me and i accepted and the other guy gets back with them and wants the load. Also which i feel is a big factor is that our truck makes more per mile then some trucks, its fully loaded with pads and straps, liftgate, tag axel, ect to be "elite" and so some of the loads are being sent to the truck that make less in order to fatten up their wallets.

Is anyone else having this problem or notice something going on? The issue has really really (and i mean really) gotten on my nerves along with a long list of other issues and is to a point i want to just walk away from this job.

 

[unorthodoxneon]

ALSO NOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


PLEASE KEEP THIS POST ON TOPIC DONT GO BASHING PANTHER OR SAYING WHY SO AND SO IS SO GREAT. IF YOU CANT ANSWER MY QUESTION OR GIVE ME "FRIENDLY" ADVICE KEEP YOUR FINGERS OFF THE KEYBOARD!!!!

Sorry if that seems rude but i know how things can get

Thanks,
Randall Wieckowski

 

[pelicn]

We've had loads cancel, but we haven't had the experience that you describe. Sorry to hear your having problems.

 

[unorthodoxneon]

I'm sure loads to cancel for the company is shopping around for cheaper shipping. I understand and thats how business works. But to happen inside one company makes me wonder. Next time run the pro number against their website and see if it did cancel or not.

 

[FAMILYEXPDT]

I am curious as to how you are running the pro number against their web site...yes we have loads cancel....so please tell me how you do this? I have pro numbers for canceled loads.


-charlotte

 

[Moot]

Go to Panther's web site and click on "track shipments", enter the full pro number i.e. 2007....... What I find interesting is when the order was created. Amazing how a load can be booked 24 hours in advance and yet the driver gets 90 minutes to a 75 mile away pickup.

 

[Falligator]

I drive for panther, but haven't run into the same problem as you. however, i don't want to get myself into trouble, but I have noticed that if a driver doesn't respond w/i a few minutes of getting the load offer ie: by moving down the road on it then they end up giving this load to another driver. I don't know why they do this and I had one dispatcher call me....I don't remember her name but it was a good load (for a cargo van) going to S. Carolina on a Saturday, and it was dropping on Monday. She told me that the other driver didn't respond quick enough for her and gave it to me. I told her I would accept it but didn't want to step on the other driver's toes at the same time. But like you said I have heard of other drivers telling me the exact same thing that you said about loads cancelling and they made a higher per mile rate.


ShawnF
11997

 

[slfisher45]

I have had loads cancel and I check the shipment tracker to see what I may. The last load cancelled on me was legitimate, with a very wierd twist. It didn't cancel.
What happened was I was not the first offered the load. When that happens it means there isn't the ideal lead time on the load. I was maybe the third or fourth asked. I accepted the load knowing I would have to travel fast to get there. No interstates over the 100+ miles.
35 miles into the load it was cancelled. I stopped in a quaint little burg to determine what I should do. Between the cancel and my stopping it took some time because I was on a two lane hiway and needed a place to stop.
When I stopped I QC'd to find out why the message stated it was cancelled and it didn't say I was getting paid a dry run with a first out. The response was ,I hadn't moved yet.
I texted them to compare two locations. Check where I was when I accepted the job and where I was when it cancelled.
At that point I checked the pro on the tracking system and found it had been picked up.
I asked the obvious question and over a period of time, they told me I would be late for the pickup and another truck closer pod'd (proof of delivery) sooner than expected. It was easier to tell me it cancelled. I told them I can handle the truth and I agreed that was
an acceptible decision altho they handled it wrong.
I did get my dry run pay and a first out.
Trucks are leased on to Panther at O/O rates or fleet rates. O/O rates are generally $1.20 per mile for a D truck. Elite trucks get appropriate rates for elite loads.
Panther's creed is; On Time, Every Time, Any Time, Any Where. The game playing doesn't have a place here and I think maybe the cancelled loads are just that.

As far as what was yesterday and what is today doesn't always equate.

Panther advertised in my old newspaper in Grand Rapids MI for
Grand Rapids Press

http://tinyurl.com/2lfewq

Source: Multiple Michigan Markets

Employer: Panther Expedited


Location: Grand Rapids, MI United States

Last Updated: 8/26/2007

Please see Job Details for Apply instructions.




Job Description
Drivers TEAMS WANTED 44¢/mi - Straight Truck

 

[highway star]

It's easier to lie? Yeah, I suppose the time it would take for 2 or 3 more sentences was pretty critical at the time. Yes, I'm sure that must be the case.

Closed circuit to, well, you know who you are: Not that you had any doubt about your decision, but if you did I think it would be gone now.

 

[greg334]

Now I am just trying to clarify this.

You get offered a load

This load was offered to another truck and it did not respond to the offer fast enough.

You accept the load

You prep and start rolling

You get…. say 20 miles into the load and then you get a load canceled over the QC

You call and find out that the first truck responded to the load offer and accepted it so you have the load taken from you and given to the other truck.

OK now opinion time – not to be rude but if you don’t want the opinion, just skip the rest.

I see this as form of babysitting, nothing else.

I mean that regardless which company we are talking about, in the above example the time to offer the load, to have the load accepted and then to pull the load from the truck who accepted the load is a waste of resources all around. The load is covered, there is a truck enroute to pick it up and the customer is being serviced, the time it takes to make the changes actually prevents the dispatcher from moving on to the next load and making more money. The issue of taking a few minutes on a bunch of loads to make these changes adds up and becomes unproductive.

Now I know that this will make no sense to a lot of people and knowing that many of these companies just don’t train the dispatcher properly, especially to use the time they have in moving as many loads as they can and trusting the owner or driver to do the job they are contracted for. I say this from experience, not talking to a dispatcher or two, but working in the environment as a dispatcher in an expedited freight company would be nothing for me.

 

[slfisher45]

Charlotte, I believe there is a time frame to check those pros. Dispatchers can check, however.

 

[davekc]

Amazing how a load can be booked 24 hours in advance and yet the driver gets 90 minutes to a 75 mile away pickup
=====================================================
There is likely a few reasons that happens. Most of it depends on where you are at. If you are one of a few trucks on a particular board, they are waiting on a possibly more profitable load, or a key customer is in that area that they think may have a load that they don't want to broker to a competitor. If a better load pops up, they will take the lesser of the two, and broker it off. That is just good management. I would do the same thing knowing I am running down to the wire on the lesser load. If the potential for something better is there, why not take advantage of that?


With regards to cancellations, we had a couple this month over several trucks. One we went the 10 miles to the shipper, but isn't wasn't going to be ready for quite some time. That kind of stuff happens. Still got dry run pay out of it. In our particular case, I don't see an increase or anything that I would deem questionable.

If the load cancels, you can enter the pro and it will show. Only difference is the pickup and delivery will be same, as it doesn't say cancelled.











Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[x06col]

Predators do require lots of groceries. Many, many snacks are needed for sustinance.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Col... is that your way of saying Cannon Fodder?

-Vampire Super Slooth Trucker!!!

 

[are12]

In the 3 1/2 years with Panther, we have not had many loads that cancelled on us. None recently, that I can remember. So, I guess I can't be much help.

 

[randb]

My wife and I have been driving for Panther since April of this year and have had several loads cancel. We never asked why and never knew how to check anywhere to see what happened to them. We never even thought to. But I will tell you this. We delivered a load to the consignee and the consignee asked us if we were going to pick up a load they booked with Panther just a few minutes before we arrived. We said we knew nothing about this. The consignee, now the shipper, called Panther and asked if we could take the load as we were already there. Panther said no. They already had a truck on the way and it would be there in 2 hours. So, If you think there is any nonsense, shenanigans, tomfoolery, incompetence, fiddling around, buddy system, deceptions, favoritism or any behaviors along these lines at Panther, I would have to disagree.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

R&B... while I can understand your frustration, I can see Panther's position on this. When you dropped, you went to the bottom of the board for that area. Granted, you could've been pre-dispatched with this load. But you don't know everything that was going on at the time. How many trucks were in the area? How long had the other truck been sitting? etc.

In a perfect situation, you would've dropped and been loaded up right away. Seems like simple logic. But you're dealing with a company that (hate to put it this way) isn't logical... at least from a driver's standpoint. I'm sure there's a method to their madness, why they'd pay someone dh when there's a truck right there. Sometimes they skip over customer convenience to do things their own way.

Now... I'll agree with you on this part. They aren't consistant. If you had the right dispatcher, you might have gotten that load. Sometimes the closer bird get the worm, and sometimes he has to wait till everyone is gone in front of him. It's the same with most of the bigger companies. But I'm guessing a customer that needs a hurried pu will get the closest truck. Or, it could be what's in the coffee at hq. Glad I don't hafta figure it out.

-Vampire Super Slooth Trucker!!!

 

[terryandrene]

R and B

Your carrier, my carrier, and many others continuously repeat their mantra, "We must take care of our customer", while they are encouraging us to take an unwanted load. Yours is a perfect example where the right thing to do for the Owner/Operator was the very wrong action necessary to "take care of the customer".

None of us want to deadhead two hours to make a pickup, none of us want to be passed over in favor of a less deserving driver, and none of us wants an empty drive-away from a customer that wishes to use our truck.

The solution that will keep each of us happy seems to be simple. Consistency within the dispatch arena where each of the dispatch agents equally represent the carrier's policies. Comply with the customer's wishes when appropriate and provide equal opportunity to each and every contractor.

 

[unorthodoxneon]

I've talked with a few other o/o's and even fleet owners that are higher in the pay scale and they told me the exact same thing. And even said one of his drivers was sitting with another panther driver when they offered him the load that his driver was already put on and then told the driver the load cancelled and the guy next to him took off.

EDIT: BITES TOUNGE ON THE REST OF HIS POST!!!

 

[kangar0085]

The worst that has has happened to me in the cancelations department was I went to the shipper the boxes couldn't fit so I got my dry run and first out rolled trough Nashville and up to Louisville when I realised I was still locked in on that pro three hours after it dry ran. I was pretty upset but the dispatcher who made the mistake admitted to it and was very apologetic.