tri-state rate per mile
- Thread starter redhotxpress
- Start date
Yes, I think "refusal guidelines" or any sort of penalty could be considered a form of "forced dispatch". I think if we look at the big picture, though, in most cases there is a reason for it. Carriers have to keep their customers happy if they want them to renew their contracts, and they have to keep those customers renewing contracts so that there are loads for us drivers. It may sometimes fall to all of us, regardless of who we drive for, to do our part in keeping the customer happy. Sometimes good customers have "bad" loads. I'd rather take a load that wasn't exactly ideal every now and then than not have any loads to take at all.
We have never been offered a load that we felt was bad enough to refuse that was also "good" enough to result in our being put on "refusal" status if we had. Yes, we've refused loads for low miles for a team and for too much deadhead, etc. (with no penalty), and we've taken loads that barely met limits that would have gotten us into "refusal" status if we'd declined them. However, we've generally taken those not-so-ideal loads for other reasons. Sometimes they may be very early in the day and we're going to a board that is busy, where we'll be high on the list, and will likely get another load later. Or maybe we just want to get to a board that we think has better loads in general...maybe more team loads or more frequent loads or more likely loads from a customer that pays a higher FSC or more likely loads with almost no DH. There have also been a few times when we've taken loads we could have refused. Sometimes it has been because dispatch really needs someone to cover that load. We find that when we make a special effort for dispatch, they're pretty good about doing their best to make a special effort for us when we need it. And again, its about all of us needing to do our part every now and then to help keep the customer happy.
Also, when we've accepted loads that we could have refused without penalty it has been for the same reasons that we've accepted loads that might have been considered borderline, and my drivers only accept loads like that after talking to dispatch. One thing we feel is a big plus is that we're always able to get through to dispatch immediately - no "hold" time! We can usually get through to our fleet coordinator with no wait, too. Being able to discuss a specific load before accepting has been a big help in making a decision. We may find out when we call that things are very slow on our board and they don't expect anything better to come along (and yes, in watching the board through the rest of the day, it has generally proven to be true), or we may be told that they're expecting some really good loads from the board we're moving to. Knowing whether or not the load will pay off for you personally in the long run makes a big difference in deciding whether or not to accept.
We have never been offered a load that we felt was bad enough to refuse that was also "good" enough to result in our being put on "refusal" status if we had. Yes, we've refused loads for low miles for a team and for too much deadhead, etc. (with no penalty), and we've taken loads that barely met limits that would have gotten us into "refusal" status if we'd declined them. However, we've generally taken those not-so-ideal loads for other reasons. Sometimes they may be very early in the day and we're going to a board that is busy, where we'll be high on the list, and will likely get another load later. Or maybe we just want to get to a board that we think has better loads in general...maybe more team loads or more frequent loads or more likely loads from a customer that pays a higher FSC or more likely loads with almost no DH. There have also been a few times when we've taken loads we could have refused. Sometimes it has been because dispatch really needs someone to cover that load. We find that when we make a special effort for dispatch, they're pretty good about doing their best to make a special effort for us when we need it. And again, its about all of us needing to do our part every now and then to help keep the customer happy.
Also, when we've accepted loads that we could have refused without penalty it has been for the same reasons that we've accepted loads that might have been considered borderline, and my drivers only accept loads like that after talking to dispatch. One thing we feel is a big plus is that we're always able to get through to dispatch immediately - no "hold" time! We can usually get through to our fleet coordinator with no wait, too. Being able to discuss a specific load before accepting has been a big help in making a decision. We may find out when we call that things are very slow on our board and they don't expect anything better to come along (and yes, in watching the board through the rest of the day, it has generally proven to be true), or we may be told that they're expecting some really good loads from the board we're moving to. Knowing whether or not the load will pay off for you personally in the long run makes a big difference in deciding whether or not to accept.
rmctt2, yes i can give a run down. i do mention where we are at in posts if it is pertinent but since we have moved i just have not found it important til your question. we are currently leased to rjr. we were with t-state from 8/1/06 till 3/23/07. before that we were with conway for six years and spent six months with bolt and four months with panther the latter two as a single right after i started in the business. we do not like to company hop so i dont look to hard at the first two as i was trying to survive as a single, wait for the wife to come on the truck and find a home which we did at conway. we have been very successful in expediting over the years and dont want to be derrogatory towards t-state, but we just could not make a go of it. we have always made a profit of some kind and we did not just go to sleep one night and have everything .we have learned run out our ear on the pillow. we know exactly where all our profit was going. t-state was just not the place for us. we could not put things in the green and we tried many different styles. we took the good and the bad. we tried taking everything they offered and doing what they told us. then we went back to our tried and true method which had always worked in the past and is currently working here at rjr but that was only a smmall improvement. our profits were being lost on mileage shortages on dh, some of the loads that were contract customers, a big loss anytime you got a empty move and loads that were just not profitable and their unwillingness to give anything other than 10.00$ to help out even when they openly admit that they have no other truck or have called several others and no one else would take it either. i kmow everyone has profit margins to work for but that includes me also,if you run at a loss most of the time you wont be running long. i never asked for a outrageous amount just enough to make it break even so i would not lose money but never had any luck. so that is why we left. this may not be the case for everyone and it is not the case for some if not all fleet owned trucks at t-state but it was for us and several others that left in the month of march. other o/o do great as some i have spoke to have told me and i know that the fleet trucks or at least most of the fleet owner trucks do well because of the agreement they have to keep their trucks loaded 70% of the time. i know that will bring some response but before you do if you are a t-state fleet owner make some calls do some homework before you come at me with a reply. just info from good reliable sources and from speaking with some other owner o/o and having them tell me and from where they got it, obviously not a well kept secret. but in long that is it , and as always i wish everyone good luck no matter who you are with or even if you are making it at t-state and i could not. i am a true believer that there is a home out there for most and some never find one but thats the beauty of it all in that we all can do as we see fit and as we need to make in this crazy business we have all chose for our careers. once again thanks to you all, tnt
All of them have some form of coercion to cover the loads. I would rather have a refusal program initiated so I know where I stand. Immediately dropped to the bottom by refusing ANYTHING with PTWT means you will effectively wait for 8 hrs or more to take a late load after you sat all day. With T-state a 250 mile refusal rule is fairly generous. Frankly, as a solo I would take that, and re-position for the next one, especially on a Mon.
It's also forced dispatch to refuse to run Canada at PTWT as you will sign a contract getting $0.05c less per mile. So you run Canada, and there are 20 trks ahead of you. If you leave & DH out, you are offered a load right back, refuse, go to the bottom. All of this counts against your acceptance rate. If you fall below 80%, they tell you right in orientation, you can be skipped over in your position. That's a whole lot of coercion.
I was also told by a former employee at PTWT that the atmosphere inside is brutal. She was reprimanded for telling a fleet owner that he could get the $0.05 now since his new driver would run Canada. Screens would also pop up warning her to let someone sit and rot. That's a lot like Landstar's favortism system.
So anyone who thinks you don't run forced dispatch, guess again. The loads have to get covered, acceptance counts, etc, but I will take honesty every time.
It's also forced dispatch to refuse to run Canada at PTWT as you will sign a contract getting $0.05c less per mile. So you run Canada, and there are 20 trks ahead of you. If you leave & DH out, you are offered a load right back, refuse, go to the bottom. All of this counts against your acceptance rate. If you fall below 80%, they tell you right in orientation, you can be skipped over in your position. That's a whole lot of coercion.
I was also told by a former employee at PTWT that the atmosphere inside is brutal. She was reprimanded for telling a fleet owner that he could get the $0.05 now since his new driver would run Canada. Screens would also pop up warning her to let someone sit and rot. That's a lot like Landstar's favortism system.
So anyone who thinks you don't run forced dispatch, guess again. The loads have to get covered, acceptance counts, etc, but I will take honesty every time.
bernieh48
Veteran Expediter
If your with FedEx and you think they don't penalize you at all for refusals then you are fooling yourself. Put yourself in a dispatchers shoes for one minute. You have a customers on the phone that needs a load picked up right away and you have 2 trucks with the same equipment sitting in that express center that can haul that load. You pull up both trucks and see that the first truck has a 60% acceptance rate and the 2nd truck has a 90% acceptance rate who would you choose knowing this load needs to picked up quick. Naturally you would pick the 2nd truck as they will most likely accept it and be moving right away!
Now see where your acceptance rate can penalize you without you even knowing it? And if you think it doesn't happen your crazy.
Now see where your acceptance rate can penalize you without you even knowing it? And if you think it doesn't happen your crazy.