the art of repositioning
- Thread starter dpinkard
- Start date
roflmao amen
Tennesseahawk
Veteran Expediter
The most successful relocations during my expedite career are to go as short as possible. When you separate yourself from the other trucks (and I don't necessarily mean your own company's trucks) you have put yourself in the best possible position. Now I'm not saying it will always work. And I'm not saying to sit in the middle of Wyoming. But here are a couple of areas I've situated myself, and where I was loaded...
Quincy, IL - same
Keokuk, IA - same
Greenland, NH - 50 mi away in NH
Albany, NY - Syracuse, NY
Lebanon, MO - Ft Scott, KS
Those are just a few. Running to another location burns fuel. Give your drop location a shot, unless you know someone else is sitting there.
Quincy, IL - same
Keokuk, IA - same
Greenland, NH - 50 mi away in NH
Albany, NY - Syracuse, NY
Lebanon, MO - Ft Scott, KS
Those are just a few. Running to another location burns fuel. Give your drop location a shot, unless you know someone else is sitting there.
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Relocating or changing the area you are going to sit and wait for your next load in takes time in the business to determine and can be totally different from one carrier to the next...
The ways to make your decision to move are as numerous as their are drivers...Some people will sit for 4-5 days or even 9-10 days in an area waiting...me I use to give the carrier 36 hours to either load me or i was moving..I am now making the effort to stay in an area 48 hours minimum because my carrier now pays me to sit that long..its a hard thing for me personally to do, especially when I am in an area that in my personal experience hasn't been real good for out bound freight..but its about letting dispatch work to find those loads...
Anyhow, after you have been with a carrier a while, you will see patterns in where their freight comes from and how long you usually have to wait. If you are on dispatches good side and your carrier doesn't whine and complain when you call in, then call and ask where they see freight but don't have any of their own fleet....If you are sitting with 5 other units from the carrier you are leased to and they normally do 2 loads a day from that area and you are #6 , why stay, move...
As was pointed out, talk to other drivers with your carrier...When I deliver to an area i haven't been before and it is a small backwater area, i'll ask the guys in recieving what direction I need to head to where there is more "industry"...that can be a good area for outbound freight...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't
One thing to keep in mind when moving is how far to move, and that depends on how far out from your location that dispatch is looking for freight...yea in alot of situations, the closest truck to the freight is going to get the load, but that is not always how it goes...if dispatch is looking within a 100 mile radius of your location and all things are equal in determining which truck is going to get the next load....if you are 5th down, it ain't going to be you...so to get out of that situation, you need to move outside that 100 mile radius.....
Another thing is who is paying for the move if anyone....I mean, you can sit and gain "dwell time" (the amount of time you sit and wait) of lets say 36 hours and you decide to move...well with alot of carriers, they will pay you X per mile to move, BUT it ain't never worth much and chances are you will lose that dwell time...now, if you decide to move on your own and not take the paid move, in most cases you take your dwell time with you...that can work to your advantage in some cases...you maybe bring 39 hours dwell time with you to a new area, and 2 hours later someone pulls into that area..but they brought 42 dwell time hours, they just mived ahead of you on the board.....but if they only have 30 hours, your dwell time from the other area still keeps you #1 in board position....also if you move to an area that already as 2 trucks sitting, but they both have less dwell time then what you are bringing to that board, you just moved in ahead of them...
As i said, it takes time t figure out when, where and how to move...but it can be and should be done when it is to your advantage...and as OVM said, changing carriers alot, makes it that much harder to figure out.....
Now, with all of that being said, an area that was good for outbound freight 6 months agao might be worthless today....
The ways to make your decision to move are as numerous as their are drivers...Some people will sit for 4-5 days or even 9-10 days in an area waiting...me I use to give the carrier 36 hours to either load me or i was moving..I am now making the effort to stay in an area 48 hours minimum because my carrier now pays me to sit that long..its a hard thing for me personally to do, especially when I am in an area that in my personal experience hasn't been real good for out bound freight..but its about letting dispatch work to find those loads...
Anyhow, after you have been with a carrier a while, you will see patterns in where their freight comes from and how long you usually have to wait. If you are on dispatches good side and your carrier doesn't whine and complain when you call in, then call and ask where they see freight but don't have any of their own fleet....If you are sitting with 5 other units from the carrier you are leased to and they normally do 2 loads a day from that area and you are #6 , why stay, move...
As was pointed out, talk to other drivers with your carrier...When I deliver to an area i haven't been before and it is a small backwater area, i'll ask the guys in recieving what direction I need to head to where there is more "industry"...that can be a good area for outbound freight...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't
One thing to keep in mind when moving is how far to move, and that depends on how far out from your location that dispatch is looking for freight...yea in alot of situations, the closest truck to the freight is going to get the load, but that is not always how it goes...if dispatch is looking within a 100 mile radius of your location and all things are equal in determining which truck is going to get the next load....if you are 5th down, it ain't going to be you...so to get out of that situation, you need to move outside that 100 mile radius.....
Another thing is who is paying for the move if anyone....I mean, you can sit and gain "dwell time" (the amount of time you sit and wait) of lets say 36 hours and you decide to move...well with alot of carriers, they will pay you X per mile to move, BUT it ain't never worth much and chances are you will lose that dwell time...now, if you decide to move on your own and not take the paid move, in most cases you take your dwell time with you...that can work to your advantage in some cases...you maybe bring 39 hours dwell time with you to a new area, and 2 hours later someone pulls into that area..but they brought 42 dwell time hours, they just mived ahead of you on the board.....but if they only have 30 hours, your dwell time from the other area still keeps you #1 in board position....also if you move to an area that already as 2 trucks sitting, but they both have less dwell time then what you are bringing to that board, you just moved in ahead of them...
As i said, it takes time t figure out when, where and how to move...but it can be and should be done when it is to your advantage...and as OVM said, changing carriers alot, makes it that much harder to figure out.....
Now, with all of that being said, an area that was good for outbound freight 6 months agao might be worthless today....
Dispatcher03
Not a Member
I wouldnt exactly put that in stone like that greg... not bashing on you, just providing my input so the new drivers dont take that too sternly. It depends on the driver and the dispatch, the time of year and where you are sitting. And, to add to the more importantly, if you are new to expedite. We have a couple of new tractor trailor guys coming over from other companies not in expedite. These guys are used to shutting down at 20:00. and not being on another run until no sooner than 06:00. So they wont take loads just yet picking up in the middle of the night. Thats atleast 20% of your chance of getting out of an area within 24 hours gone right there. The other 80% can quickly get dwindled down from where you are at, and the current situation with roads and freight. Like for right now, If I had a guy in Atlanta, we cant book a load for him picking up north of him, as there is a road closure on 285 and 75., and there is 4 in. of snow on the roads. I know this because we have a guy on a load stuck there now.
But other than those reasons, yeah there is no excuse to not have a load as a tractor driver within a day or so in one area.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
That works well for me as well. It's a new day and time and not many drivers will talk to one another like the old days. Now a days you have to be careful who work with.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
And sit there for 2-5 weeks waiting for a load!!
In 2005 I took a load from Orlando, Fl to El Paso Tx. Sat in El Paso for 7 days, then dead headed to Laredo. I did get out of Laredo that same night to Michigan.
Everyone should spend a week in El Paso or Laredo, you can learn a lot.
fortwayne
Not a Member
I agree with Chef! It takes some time to learn when to move and when to say. In addition, like the Chef said - it varies from carrier to carrier.
I was told to take a load from Michigan to CT and I was not happy about it since it was always a dead area with another carrier.
Well, I dropped and 3 hours later they had me a load back to Michigan.
I don't like sitting - period, unless I want to sit, relax for awhile, etc - but I want to make that choice.
But, it is one of the beast of the industry and you have to learn how to master the beast to make money in this business.
I was told to take a load from Michigan to CT and I was not happy about it since it was always a dead area with another carrier.
Well, I dropped and 3 hours later they had me a load back to Michigan.
I don't like sitting - period, unless I want to sit, relax for awhile, etc - but I want to make that choice.
But, it is one of the beast of the industry and you have to learn how to master the beast to make money in this business.
one of things that got to me is they would put a white glove lock on you or ppg lock
i would ask them why are they putting a lock on me and they would say in case we need a truck we will have a truck
i would tell them take lock off or they will have no trucks in the area they would ask cause i'm out of here
i would ask them why are they putting a lock on me and they would say in case we need a truck we will have a truck
i would tell them take lock off or they will have no trucks in the area they would ask cause i'm out of here
A very helpful and concise guide to the art of repositioning is the: Kama Sutra Expediters Edition translated by Raj "Midnight Cowboy" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VātsyāyanaVatsyayana-Bodine. Easy to read and fully illustrated.
Hightech_Hobo
Expert Expediter
Seeker man....
Do you need 100 feet of shore line...??
...Perhaps a left handed broom??
Do you need 100 feet of shore line...??
...Perhaps a left handed broom??
seekerman
Expert Expediter
Lol. Not at the present. I'm a prime example of those of us who are looking for an easy way to get the information they need and are susceptible to the fine art of writing copy designed to appeal to the American consumer. And I'm a boob. Get em off guard and when they're in a hurry and you've got your product. Moot was clearly a writer of advertising copy in an earlier life. It doesn't matter what says; if you put it in the right place and make it sound like it's gonna solve all the guy's problems, you've got a sale. But just out of curiosity, where's the shoreline........and does it come with the broom?
And sit there for 2-5 weeks waiting for a load!!
AH,,,come on now,, I reassemble that
remark,lol,,did a ten day deal once,,,but and but,,,,it was my first time,,wasnt bad,,met some nice folks there, met their dogs, fed the deer a the J late in the evening and wally the raccoon came out for cookies just for me, so all in all , it was ok, but, in the summertime,,no thinks,,way to hot...............