The Sinking Of The Titantic - FDCC

[layoutshooter]

This is a perfect example of why listening to one irritated contractor does not make a companies policy...

Nope, one irritated contractor does not make policy, nor should they. It is a real shame that policy, once set, is not enforced equally. Not that anyone who has been around would expect that. Life is not fair and neither are corporations. They are what they are and I have never seen a bit of difference in any of them. One just deals with what they pass out. Say your piece, then do what you need for you personal business plan.

 

[greg334]

Nope, one irritated contractor does not make policy, nor should they. It is a real shame that policy, once set, is not enforced equally.

I can't seem to get my hands around this one. What would give you the idea that it is not enforced equally?

 

[layoutshooter]

Nope, one irritated contractor does not make policy, nor should they. It is a real shame that policy, once set, is not enforced equally.

I can't seem to get my hands around this one. What would give you the idea that it is not enforced equally?

Let' see, there are WG trucks who do not do Canada or have limiters. I have a letter that states that a truck cannot remain WG or TVAL without limiters or without doing Canadian loads. it is what it is.

 

[chefdennis]

Layout wrote:

Let' see, there are WG trucks who do not do Canada or have limiters. I have a letter that states that a truck cannot remain WG or TVAL without limiters or without doing Canadian loads. it is what it is.

No Joe, that lrtter is obviously BS or you never got it to begin with because you are nothing more then "one irritated contractor" and unworthy of anyone being able to believe you....

Now if you pickup those "Purple Pom Poms..."

 

[layoutshooter]

Layout wrote:



No Joe, that lrtter is obviously BS or you never got it to begin with because you are nothing more then "one irritated contractor" and unworthy of anyone being able to believe you....

Now if you pickup those "Purple Pom Poms..."

LOL!! No Dennis, this is not personal, it's just how it as always been. Even in the government. There were "different rules" for certain people. Some of those "rules" made for "easier" promotions etc. That is how it is everywhere.

 

[greg334]

Let' see, there are WG trucks who do not do Canada or have limiters. I have a letter that states that a truck cannot remain WG or TVAL without limiters or without doing Canadian loads. it is what it is.

So this is a big deal?

Things change.

I had to deal with some pretty tough BS in my time there, one of them everyone here said never happened ever but it did so I left.

You do make money running to Canada, right?

So think of it this way, the less who will go, the more for you.

 

[TeamCaffee]

Layout wrote:



No Joe, that lrtter is obviously BS or you never got it to begin with because you are nothing more then "one irritated contractor" and unworthy of anyone being able to believe you....

Now if you pickup those "Purple Pom Poms..."

No this in not about Joe it about any contractor who is upset over a policy change with any company. When I am talking to or listening to a contractor who is upset with any company I take their information with a grain of salt.

I heard this letter went out to WG contractors and that most ignored the letter and life went on.

 

[chefdennis]

Team Caffee wrote:

I heard this letter went out to WG contractors and that most ignored the letter and life went on.

Wow..while it doesn't affect me personally in the least, I find it just a WOW moment that a company like Fed Ex lets their advisories and directives simply be ignored at the whim of their contractors....or maybe by only those "select few"....

 

[mcavoy33]

I find it just a WOW moment that a company like Fed Ex lets their advisories and directives simply be ignored at the whim of their contractors....or maybe by only those "select few"....

But in reality, they seem to. I mean on one hand, they send out a termination letter, a more senior manager recinds that letter and says its void, but yet Phil is still terminated. It seems they are not following their own letters.

I mean, he's chosen to accept it but the reality is, they rescinded it, so he should still be under contract. Technically, they are not following their directives at the whim of a contractor who has not left and is signed on with another contractor.

From what I know, Phil never submitted his letter because of the termination (which was subsequently recinded).

 

[nightcreacher]

Let' see, there are WG trucks who do not do Canada or have limiters. I have a letter that states that a truck cannot remain WG or TVAL without limiters or without doing Canadian loads. it is what it is.

Any tractor trailer over 75 feet long or wheel base is over 244 inches can get a 10000 dollar fine for being in canada.the big sleeper wg e units dont have to go

 

[davekc]

See. It wasn't just about how high you raised your pom-poms.

 

[xmudman]

But in reality, they seem to. I mean on one hand, they send out a termination letter, a more senior manager recinds that letter and says its void, but yet Phil is still terminated. It seems they are not following their own letters.

I mean, he's chosen to accept it but the reality is, they rescinded it, so he should still be under contract. Technically, they are not following their directives at the whim of a contractor who has not left and is signed on with another contractor.

From what I know, Phil never submitted his letter because of the termination (which was subsequently recinded).

Once again, as a newbie (pre-newbie to be honest) who's flying above his ceiling again, I may not have authority to talk, but:

Phil and Diane were fired over the phone. They asked, and answered a few questions, turned in their QC the next morning, etc. They did what they needed to do to finalize the divorce from FedEx.

Then they pulled the trigger on Landstar. *

Now, Phil & Diane get a letter from the Fed telling them they aren't fired after all. A letter that did NOT apologize for misunderstandings, ask why they were unhappy, anything like that. Just a letter telling them to ignore the other letter that had been mailed the same day. OOOH KAAY....

Well, guess what? It's too late. The purple pom-poms are on the gym floor and the cheerleaders have gone to another school. Will they cheer for the blue & white? We shall see. According to their blog, it looks good so far.

So unless the 13th Amendment has been repealed, or unless Phil and Diane signed their FDCC contract in blood, they are free to go, to do as they please. I, for one, wish them the very best! Even though I have never met them, I know from lurking on EO for five years that Phil & Diane are in invaluable asset to the expediting community.

Mud
(Mom named me Harry)

* I am not privy to the chronology of events leading to the switch. They are none of my business, outside of what has been made public by Phil on the blog. Plus, I could be wrong; it's happened before, just ask my wife I am now returning to my own flight level before I crumple and crash....

 

[greg334]

Not to rock the boat or anything like that but I would think that they would not just send out a letter but actually have a call with a number of people explaining things when the problem was discovered.

 

[ATeam]

This is a perfect example of why listening to one irritated contractor does not make a companies policy...

I'm not sure that I correctly understand your meaning Linda, but Joe was not wrong when he said that speed limiters were required for WG TVAL trucks.

That news did not come from an irritated contractor speaking up on EO. It came by a letter sent by the company to our house. I remember it vividly. If you failed to put a speed limiter on your truck and failed to send documentation of it to FedEx Custom Critical, your WG status was at risk. The policy was clearly stated and it came from the company.

 

[ATeam]

I heard this letter went out to WG contractors and that most ignored the letter and life went on.

You heard wrong.

 

[ATeam]

But in reality, they seem to. I mean on one hand, they send out a termination letter, a more senior manager recinds that letter and says its void, but yet Phil is still terminated. It seems they are not following their own letters.

I mean, he's chosen to accept it but the reality is, they rescinded it, so he should still be under contract. Technically, they are not following their directives at the whim of a contractor who has not left and is signed on with another contractor.

From what I know, Phil never submitted his letter because of the termination (which was subsequently recinded).

Don't read too much into the two letters or the fact that Diane and I sent none. Both letters came without explaination, from the same person (not two people with one more senior) on the same date.

What does it mean? As a practical matter, nothing.

I regard it as an insignificant moment of corporate wierdness for which no explaination will ever be made. It says nothing about company policy or the will to enforce it. It is simply something strange that happened and was over as quick as it began.

Poof!
Two letters?
What was that?
I don't know.
That is wierd.
Yes it is.
So, what do we think about it?
Don't know and don't have to know.
Do we respond?
No. It does not matter. Landstar orientation starts soon, we have our new carrier to think about.

To those who are eager to paint FedEx Custom Critcial as a sinking ship, I invite you to pause to think deeply about what you are doing and why. How does it help you to down that company? How does it help others?

 

[dabluzman1]

I don't know about the ones, I only know about this one, namely me. Our truck has been fully paid for since 2008 and we have enough money in the bank to sit for six months or more if we had to. My complaints were not inspired by a need to make a truck payment.

Diane and I could match the gross revenue numbers posted by dabluzman1 and jackdixon_2000, but to do so, we would have to lower the rate per mile (all miles) we were willing to accept. Because we have seen high-paying freight volume decline at FedEx Custom Critical, we lost the luxury of running higher paying loads one after another.

Not really sure I put $XXX on a per mile.
But to help clarify my situation I spoke to Pat Hopkins the owner of the truck we drive.
Our all miles breakdown is $1.89/mile.
That is a little lower than last year but he said our DH miles are
higher this year.
With 133k on the books this at $1.89/m all miles we wont have to lower our standards we just continue to run. I am projecting
250 to 260k for the year.
What our record show was a decline in rates about 14 to 16 months ago. Military took a huge dump. Tval held its own.
BUT, this year we are seeing the rates starting to climb.
WOW, I must be one of those cheap frt guys.
Sorry for driving your rates down A Team.

MAN THE LIFEBOATS.......eheheheheheh

 

[ATeam]

Not really sure I put $XXX on a per mile.
But to help clarify my situation I spoke to Pat Hopkins the owner of the truck we drive.
Our all miles breakdown is $1.89/mile.
That is a little lower than last year but he said our DH miles are
higher this year.
With 133k on the books this at $1.89/m all miles we wont have to lower our standards we just continue to run. I am projecting
250 to 260k for the year.
What our record show was a decline in rates about 14 to 16 months ago. Military took a huge dump. Tval held its own.
BUT, this year we are seeing the rates starting to climb.
WOW, I must be one of those cheap frt guys.
Sorry for driving your rates down A Team.

MAN THE LIFEBOATS.......eheheheheheh

You are making jokes, but now having the numbers from your very own fleet owner -- also a friend of mine who I speak to from time to time (we once drove one of his brother's trucks) -- you see the rate and price per mile declines we are talking about.

Financially, the numbers you cite are the very reason Diane and I left FedEx Custom Critical.

This is a time in the trucking industry where driver shortages and capacity shortages are beginning to manifest themselves and show up in the form of higher rates. Yet at FedEx Custom Critical, we saw a new competitor rise in the form of newly-purchased company-owned reefer trailers. The effect was a decline in our rates as the better paying loads were preferentially dispatched onto that equipment while our truck was being passed over. When we saw the impact on our spreadsheet we left.

As I stated above, If Diane and I have to settle for the lower rates you yourself cite, we prefer to do so with a carrier that is not so tightly wound, more fair in its dispatch system, more respectful of its contractors (we are quickly learning) and where the same or better money can be made.

Full disclosure: We BELIEVE the same or better money can be made at our new carrier but have yet to haul our first load with them (we just completed orientation yesterday). We will know the facts six months from now when we have enough new-carrier numbers on our spreadsheet to make a meaningful comparison.

 

[skyraider]

Im in a van, but then are many of us. The world of straight trucks in ur case is way to complicated for me, but we choose what we choose. Good luck with ur career at Landstar.

 

[mcavoy33]

I guess I should have put a few smiley faces in my post.