The creation of a monster?

[greg334]

But Phil, you are in a different situation than many at FedEx.

See the value added does not go along with the expedited services as the norm, not at the rates they have been selling or adjusting.

AND you may not get those calls but I and a few others have from a dispatcher who has the customer on the phone asking where I am and how long I will be - and I was never late for a drop or a pick up.

What really gets me is this; many customers don't use the internet, some can't at work while others don't know how or have no access, so to expect this to be a selling point is good to a point but many customers who are impatient call to get answers, and this leads to the dispatcher calling.

 

[ATeam]

When you think of yourself, such phone calls from dispatch can be a pain. When you think of your customer, the same phone calls are opportunities to be of service, inspire confidence in the customer's mind and give the customer a reason to use your carrier again. I guess it's all how you look at it.

Your comments reminded me of some calls I had not thought of; the few we have received when dispatch and the customer are both on the line, wanting to know our ETA. In those cases, dispatch could easily take the attitude expressed by some in this thread. "This driver has never been late. You can relax. He/She will be there as promised."

I am glad our dispatchers do not do that. On such calls, my sense is dispatch is putting on a little show for the customer for marketing reasons. The dispatcher makes the call and relays the info to the customer. Better yet is when the dispatcher sets up a conference call between us, dispatch and the customer.

Being part of the show, we understand what to do and serve up true statements like, "Yes, we expect to arrive ahead of the delivery time by a couple hours. We have made all the fuel stops we need to and plan to drive straight through to the delivery. We expect to arrive between 4:00 and 4:30 local time, subject to traffic and construction delays. We have been checking the load and the freight is secure. At the moment we are westbound on I-70, approaching (town name). (Customer name), when we arrive, will you be there to meet us or should we ask for someone else?"

If the dispatcher is calling but does not set up a conference call, we give the same report to give the dispatcher some additional detail to share with the customer that is not available without calling. Our dispatchers are very good. We trust them to use our information in whatever way they feel best. In the interest of customer service, we are happy to receive such calls. (Note also that for teams, such calls are easier to handle. The one not driving is free to take the call while the driver keeps the truck rolling down the road.)

Again, if you think of yourself, such calls are a pain that can be spun to mean no one trusts you. If you think of your customer, these calls are an opportunity to market your self and carrier to your customer, which may well help you and your fellow contractors the next time the customer has expedited freight to ship.

Who will the customer be more likely to call next time around; someone that tells him or her to not worry, the freight will be there on time, or someone that serves up a phone call like the one described above?

Finally, Greg, no, our situation is not different than many at FedEx. We are one truck in the fleet of well over a thousand trucks. Like every other contractor in the fleet, we communicate with the same people at dispatch and serve the same customer base. The conference calls described above come both from White Glove dispatchers and Surface Expedite dispatchers.

One of the joys of working with the carrier we do is knowing that most of our fellow contractors understand customer service and can be relied upon to provide it. When one contractor does a good job, all contractors benefit. The same applies to other carriers as well. Expediters industry wide are known for their reliability.

Not to ramble on, well, OK, maybe to ramble on, let me share this. On Thursday, after business hours, I opened an account with a company by signing up online. While the company had no need to do so, and I had not asked, a representative in the office called me Friday morning to verify my information, e-mail additional info about the company services and ask if I had any questions. The e-mail arrived as the representative promised.

This is excellent service, above and beyond what I expected. I have barely begun to use the services this company provides but their extra phone call made me a customer for life. Unless the company gives me a reason to do so, I will be unlikely to even think about using a competing company in the future.

I like to think the extra services Diane and I provide have led some customers to think the same way about our carrier and fellow contractors. Even if I am deluding myself with such thoughts, the miles go by a lot easier than they would if I was stewing about how no one trusts me and what a pain it is to answer the telephone.

 

[CharlesD]

It's a pain as a driver to get constant calls, but as a carrier and driver, I make a point of giving a customer a location update every couple hours on a short run or during fuel stops on a long run. It's about customer service.

When it bothers me though is when someone wants an update not an hour after you just gave them one. I've had that happen a couple times, usually with a load that I've gotten from another carrier where I will call said carrier and update them on my location and then 20 minutes later someone else from that carrier will call me to find out where I am. Kind of irritating.

 

[Black Sheep]

The demand for tracking usually involves automotive or other assembly plants that, due to any number of circumstances, get themselves in a potential shutdown situation. The parts in question absolutely have to get delivered on time or the line shuts down and it costs them thousands of dollars per minute. The pressure comes from production control managers who are sweating bullets and calling their inventory analysts every hour wanting to know exactly where their parts are. These analysts in turn call the dispatchers for updates, or better yet, track it on the web themselves. The larger expedite companies such as FECC, Tri State or Panther have the qualcomm systems that automatically update the tracking software without any participation from the driver. The software also alerts the dispatch dept if the driver is behind in the progress he should be making during the trip. This might generate communication to the driver asking for a status update. As a general rule, all of the auto manufacturers and tier 1 suppliers in the US require their expedite carriers to have this tracking capability. Bottom line is, the dispatchers are calling drivers because they're being hassled by a stressed-out customer. If this stressed-out customer can't get tracking on their freight from Carrier A, they'll give their business to Carrier B who can and will track it efficiently.

BTW, the industry standard for drive time is based on 45 mph, and this is a reasonable estimate to offer the customer. Any company that has a written guarantee for service in place and promises anything much faster than this is really sticking their neck out.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

In FXCC's contract with partner carriers, they require you to call in a position update every TWO HOURS. That's a little overkill, IMO, but they are the customer, afterall.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I love the idea that a customer can check on where his freight is in the United States. We demand more money to carry rush freight the least we can do is let the customer see our progress and also see if we are experiencing any delays. We do not get calls from the dispatcher asking where we are as there is no need with the QUALCOMM. I cannot imagine running without QUALCOMM as to my way of thinking it is an asset to us, to our carrier, and to the customer.

When we experience severe weather conditions we will let FedEx Custom Critical know and we have had them beep us to often checking to make sure all is well. When this happens we have pulled over called them and asked them to quit beeping us and we will call in at pre determined time and let them know all is well.

Just for the fun of it and to check the accuracy I have logged on to the FedEx web site and checked our progress. Amazes me every time how accurate the system is.

 

[Turtle]

I'm with Phil on this one. 100%

A customer tracking their freight while on my truck, by and large, doesn't affect me in the least, and when it does affect me its not in any negative way. If it gives the customer peace of mind, that's OK by me.

On certain critical shipments from a couple of particular shippers, they will get my cell number in case they want to call me to check on my progress. They rarely call, but it's fine if they do.

And like Phil, I will usually point out our PRO number and let the shipper know it can be tracked online.

Oh, and...

Why can't dispatch look at the drivers stats? If the driver has never been late on a load, then it's a pretty good guess that they aren't going to be late for that one.

That's a very good question. That one's been at the top of the "Action Items" list since Day One. They managed to get on the screen how many hours a van driver has on the virtual "van HOS clock", but they can't seem to be able to figure out how to differentiate between the professional driver and the moron.

 

[CharlesD]

In FXCC's contract with partner carriers, they require you to call in a position update every TWO HOURS. That's a little overkill, IMO, but they are the customer, afterall.

That is in the contract, but in my experience they've never been that picky about it, not as picky as some other carriers I've done loads for. I did a 1300 mile run for them a couple weeks ago and they never bugged me once. I think I called them every time I stopped for fuel.

 

[davekc]

Even when we do a broker load, Panther issues a pro number to it so the customer can track their freight.
For independents, you can now give your number with a gps phone and they can track you that way.
Just a matter of whether one would feel comfortable giving out their number.

 

[nightcreacher]

i just had a two stop delivery in memphis tn,i arrived at the 1st customer 3 hrs early,the second stop new i was at the 1st stop,as it was part of his load we dropped off.when he called to find out where his load was,dispatch told him i would be at his place at 1900,the original delivery time for his stop,as he was getting off the phone we arrived at his location,he said he couldnt see why we were'nt going to be there til 1900,its a computer thing.no one pays attention to whats going on,just what the computer says.making 4 hour call ins is a thing of the past,yes years ago it was very annoying,love my qualcom for that,and if the customer wants to find out where his load is by looking it up on his desktop,great,just another sales promotion

 

[arkjarhead]

Let me ask you this. Do you ever worry that the information might get into the wrong hands, and you might have some people tracking you that you really don't want tracking you? Or does you carrier have some kind of safeguard against that?

Turtle,
One good thing about tracking is it ensures "no tortise gets left behind". Sorry, I had to say it. Sorry if no one else thinks it's funny, I got my laugh.

 

[mjolnir131]

now this might be crossing the line if not it's tip toeing right there. a couple times when i have overheard the dock forman or somebody on a phone talking to somebody and the phraze"yes i'm sure i'm standing here looking right at the truck", bow i'm already there like 2 nd a half hours before scheduled delivery but i will walk up to that person on the phone get his attention and say something along the lines of "HI , would have been here an hourand a half ago but some idiot keep calling to find out where i was,and that always slows us down alot" make sure you say it load enough so the person on the phone can hear you i have only done it twice ,once for a run to the TVA plant on the duck river and one time running armored doors for humvees or MRAP not sure which it was used for.

and yes i can assure you if the info is out there that it will indeed fall into the wrong hands at some point or another. one of the great misnomers of our time is secure server

 

[x06col]

Bottom line as I see it, there must be/have been "some" marginal performance somewhere in the chain for a customer to be that anal about the where's of their move. Even so, it only takes a moment to flip the phone open and give some "real time" info to the caller. As far as the distraction part, i'm convinced the whiners on this thread have taken calls, and been distracted for wayyy less a reason than providing a customer with some info.

 

[nightcreacher]

whats the big deal about customer trackng their freight,ups and fed ex express has been doing it for years,every envelope has a tracking number,so now it is made easier for the customer to track their shipments too,great plan

 

[mjolnir131]

Bottom line as I see it, there must be/have been "some" marginal performance somewhere in the chain for a customer to be that anal about the where's of their move. Even so, it only takes a moment to flip the phone open and give some "real time" info to the caller. As far as the distraction part, i'm convinced the whiners on this thread have taken calls, and been distracted for wayyy less a reason than providing a customer with some info.

oh i know full well what couses it and don't tell dot but the QC tracking can be a little off, have had two diffent dispathers while talking to me see my little blip on the map jump over 100 miles he first time it happened to me the guy was like what did you just do i told him i just pulled off the interstate why? his responce you just jumped 200 miles i told him it was a longer exit ramp but i did not think it was that long(clever banter like this is lost on dispatch in most cases)
you couple somebody (a manager) who has gotten burnt before or has a bad preformance problem with a system that is having a few issues and your set up for an hour or longer of fun.and yes it is way more distracting then anything else you can do

now i run around 100% on time and have had a dispather want be to drive 300 miles back down the direction i had just came to switch out a load becouse there was no way i was where i said i was(later whei did have time i cheked to where they though i was and i would have been about 10 min behind schedule if i acually had been in that location. the system must have finnaly cought up becouse she said oh crap never mind continue on and hung up.

the law says your suppose to chek your load every 150-300 miles just send them a message at those times and ussually they don't bother you then

i think alot of the problems occar when you get a mid level manage who expects things to reat like a vidio game

 

[pelicn]

Why can't dispatch look at the drivers stats? If the driver has never been late on a load, then it's a pretty good guess that they aren't going to be late for that one.

I'm quoting myself? Now how silly is that? The reason: I thought of something else related....

We've noticed that we get the calls/messages from dispatch about running late etc. when we are on a general dispatch load. Just to be sure I looked back through our records, and not a single time have we had a message while on an Elite Load, only when on a general load. Interesting.......

 

[greg334]

whats the big deal about customer trackng their freight,ups and fed ex express has been doing it for years,every envelope has a tracking number,so now it is made easier for the customer to track their shipments too,great plan

Steve,
This is alright but here is a very important point that I picked up on when I was sitting at GM listening to the customer’s concerns. The system to track things is a good thing to provide but the pressure that is brought from the management of the company to make sure every customer is happy, regardless who they are, always ends up pressuring the driver in some way or another.

This is one of the issues behind my comments.

As a driver, I feel that answering a cal or two during along run is alright but answering the late inquiry on the QC is another when the dispatcher wants me to stop and put the information in, this happened a couple times and by the same person at FedEx.

The other is simply a matter of trust.

Sure this is a selling point for many of the companies who are dealing with some really aggressive competition but in truth, a lot of customers who are constantly checking the system for updates are doing so because the company can’t/won’t/unable to build that bond of trust with them. I know for some this makes no sense but how many have dealt with finding solutions for bad situations with good customers outside of this industry to maintain that trust. Customer service is not just dependent on us, we are such a small part of it and at the same time we are the key.

One thing that is missed here is the fact that the system used is not infallible, regardless if it is Qualcomm or something else. Technology is not 100% accurate and outside of Qualcomm, other systems are all subject to a support system outside their control. I looked at a few that use Cell systems and know that these two will not work in come places of the country like Qualcomm has dead zones.


AND finally –



Yes Phil, WG trucks/drivers seem to be a bit different from the rest of the fleet. Just like the elite at Panther, there are some above and beyond expectations that are a given in your situation so I would say you are different than the surface people but even in surface there are distinctions. By the way being different is not a bad thing.

 

[RLENT]

Since I started expediting I can probably count the number of times I have actually been called by Dispatch for position/location updates on a single hand - and if you add in inquiries via the Qualcomm I'd certainly be able to cover it with both hands .... even if I were missing a digit or two

Out of those times, I only know of maybe 3 or 4 calls where the customer had actually called in regarding my progress .... on two different loads.

That's for two different carriers over 15 month period encompassing around 250+ loads. I certainly don't feel as though I'm being harassed. That's one thing I have enjoyed about working with both of these carriers - they pretty much leave you alone, unless you are obviously looking late.

On my last load I got a QC message stating that I was showing around 1/2 hour late and asking if I would be able to make up the time ...... I looked at my GPS and it was showing me to be around 20 minutes early on the protect - so I told 'em that. 'Nuff said. (BTW, I consider 20 minutes early to be cutting things way too close - I'd rather always arrive at least 1 hour early where possible)

From this last instance it's pretty easy to guess that the QC is not really a completely "real-time" system ..... I know from examining my own QC traffic, the system at my carrier is not polling the truck for it's location every minute ..... therefore it's realistic to assume that any calculations a computer system is making about your current position, average speed, etc. may not be entirely accurate, at least in terms of anything but simply an average since you left the shipper .... and so dispatch may become unnecessarily concerned, where in reality they needn't be. If they call or QC me, I indulge them .... no big whup