Understanding the Load Opportunity

[LDB]

You might have gotten a little more of the results you wanted if this had been in the Fedex closet rather than the general area. That said, the idea is sound in principle and properly implemented would be a win/win situation. I am for it when properly implemented. Good luck with the debugging process.

 

[jaminjim]

You might have gotten a little more of the results you wanted if this had been in the Fedex closet rather than the general area. That said, the idea is sound in principle and properly implemented would be a win/win situation. I am for it when properly implemented. Good luck with the debugging process.

Leo what in the world is there to like about the system?

 

[davekc]

I would be curious as to that response as well.

 

[arrbsthw]

Sounds like they took the very simple system they had and
made a mess out of it.

 

[x06col]

And THAT honeymoon may be over for some more folks. I could only imagine what frustration some are going thru with others pulling the puppets strings. I feel as a rule, good folks. Ain't no excuses for stupid stuff. NONE!!

 

[davekc]

Hit the wrong button there Colonel. Shouldn't type when I am on the phone with a good show on.
Sorry about that. Hit my edit button by accident.

But, I know what you mean. Contrary to what Prince Phil may think, I wasn't going to respond to any of this until I was requested to by two fleet owners at the Fed and a individual O/O.
On that note, I will wait and see what these benefits are to the drivers. I wonder if it is the same benefit as slashing the FSC last year or the year before?

 

[LDB]

The benefits would be more time to get to the p/u if I'm 3rd and know about the offer initially rather than waiting 15 minutes for 1 to respond plus a few for dispatch to send it to 2 and another 15 minutes wait plus a few before they send it to me. Now it's 45 minutes later and I have that much less time until the p/u appointment.

The bigger benefit is with this system there is no need for the forced dispatch system we currently operate under. Anyone can say it's not forced but when you are 3rd on a 2 a day board it's forced or you drop to the bottom and maybe don't get another offer for at least a day, maybe two.

Properly implemented, which I clearly mandated originally, also includes no loss of board position for declining a load.

 

[davekc]

Some are posting they are waiting a hour before they know if they have been rewarded with the load? Not sure of a time saver. But, if board position or ranking and acceptance rating are thrown to the curb, it might have some value.

 

[mcbride]

Some are posting they are waiting a hour before they know if they have been rewarded with the load? Not sure of a time saver. But, if board position or ranking and acceptance rating are thrown to the curb, it might have some value.

I am not sure why I feel compelled to reply to this…I must be a glutton for punishment…but here goes…

The concept of the load opportunity in its purest form is fine. Load opportunities being dispatched to trucks in one express center. Problems arise in the following examples:

-----All trucks are equal size, all teams, and equally equipped trucks----


A Truck delivers in San Diego, California in early am. The drivers send in POD—they are assigned to the San Diego express center---they check into San Diego express center—they call the VRU for their position later in the day and are told they are the #1 truck in San Diego.

There are 5 trucks in the Ontario, California express center.
There are 3 trucks in the Los Angeles, California express center.
There are 4 trucks in the Bakersfield, California express center.

24 hours go by and they receive no load offers of any kind—another truck delivers---is also assigned to the San Diego express center---they check into the San Diego express center. The original truck re-checks their position status and they are still the #1 truck in that express center and they are told another truck has now checked into the San Diego express center.

Load opportunity picking up in San Diego express center area---picking up in 5 hours---is dispatched to all four of the above express centers---why? There are two trucks in the San Diego express center. Okay, original truck in San Diego accepts the load. Minutes later they get a message indicating they did not get the load. They are upset and call dispatch. They may get a couple of reasons why they did not get the load.

1. They are not closest truck. Well… they are in San Diego---they are the #1 truck?
They do have 5 hours to pick up the load; closeness should not be an issue?

2. The load went to a truck in another express center---why? The standard answer is they may have had more dwell time, ah so…what is the point of being within 50 miles of an appointed express center and being number #1 if loads are being dispatched to four express centers? If they want to avoid delays in accommodating the customer, why not just dispatch the load to all applicable trucks in the entire state that can make the pickup time?

IF, the #1 and #2 San Diego trucks refused the load and a truck in the other express centers elected to take it---so be it. The problem is not that the load was dispatched to these other trucks----the problem is that one of the trucks not checked into the express center got the load over the top of a truck within the express center. I don’t think anyone has a real issue with the load opportunity being dispatched out of their respective express center IF no trucks located in the express center elect to take the load.

Another problem that has occurred but is not a constant is the truck with the under 75 status. Sometimes they get the load---sometimes they don’t.

Another problem is if a load is going out to all #1 trucks in four express centers; do they all get a refusal if they turn it down? If not, how is it determined which #1 truck turned it down? If the refusal goes to the #1 truck located in the express center where the load is being dispatched from---how can this be right? If they are going outside of the express center for accepting loads then surely they must have to go outside of the express center for refusals….

 

[nobb4u]

OK just my two cents. Here is what is happening we are seeing loads that we probably would never have heard of under the old system, the offers would have gone out to one truck at a time. So probably 50% of the loads would never have reached us. If it is an offer or an opportunity I handle it the same way if it is profitable then I accept if not I decline.
As I always tell Bob things change and if you can't be flexible then you will break. So you have to learn to go with the flow. (you get better fuel mileage that way too.)
I feel like a lot of people try to over think things and some really don't have the right processing equipment for the job.
There are so many factors in dispatching a load it is very difficult to just look at the info that is available to us as owners and drivers that just because you are first in dwell time this means nothing. Do you have:
15 load bars
50 pads
a wide pallet jack
a narrow pallet jack
clearances
nuclear
explosive
10 D rings
decking
lift gate 2500# or 4000#
12'
13'
14'
15
24'
placards on board
Do you see my point as to why you get passed over?

 

[mcbride]

Do you see my point as to why you get passed over?

-----All trucks are equal size, all teams, and equally equipped trucks----

 

[nobb4u]

Actually it is not possible for all trucks to be exactly equal there are always going to be differences. Just like to cars sitting on a car lot, same make, model and year they may seem the same but there are differences and with FDCC some of those differences might only be a computer error(some of your equipt. might not be flagged correctly), but there will be differences.

 

[pjjjjj]

I feel like a lot of people try to over think things and some really don't have the right processing equipment for the job.

Since this is not in the FECC Category, and seems to be a free-for-all, I will add my 3cents. (That's what, 4cents in USD?) I think McBride has some really valid points that he deserves to have responses to. Perhaps this isn't the place, but he opened it up for discussion here.

No offence to you Nobb, but contrary to your comment above, I think perhaps too many under think things, and that's what some companies are perhaps counting on. If they're going to have a new policy, they should publish the new rules, and stick to them. I don't think many would have a problem with the setup, or whatever the rules turn out to be, if they knew exactly how it would work, every time.

When I was much younger, it was a very disappointing day in my life when I discovered that all the 'authorities' I had always thought of as knowing the answers, doing the right thing, having the knowledge, etc., were in fact just simply humans, like everyone else. People have learned it's necessary to take responsibility for their own fate, whether it's getting a third medical opinion, researching a reno project so you can be aware of the quality of work, knowing a thing or two about vehicle repairs so you don't get fleeced, etc.

It would be beautiful to be able to be blissfully ignorant and believe everyone is doing the right thing,and just have faith in everyone, but it just isn't that way any more. Seems these days, most will take advantage of others where there is opportunity to do so. Or perhaps it's not even taking advantage, perhaps the people we're supposed to trust, aren't thinking hard enough.

 

[pelicn]

McBride, we are not with the Fed anymore, and with the scenarios you have posted, the new dispatch system sounds very confusing. I still fail to understand how this new system can speed up the time for dispatching a truck.
If more than one truck has accepted the load opportunity then how long does a truck have to wait to roll before finding out "for sure" that they have the load?

 

[davekc]

Actually it is not possible for all trucks to be exactly equal there are always going to be differences. Just like to cars sitting on a car lot, same make, model and year they may seem the same but there are differences and with FDCC some of those differences might only be a computer error(some of your equipt. might not be flagged correctly), but there will be differences.

That is true with any company. It would seem strange to send you loads that you can't do whether equipment or qualifications? If would have to be a nightmare if they send trucks loads that they can't carry? What would be the point? Or who would want to be bothered? I wouldn't think that would be the case.
I think Nancy is saying they are all qualified to haul the load but they award it to a truck that is farther away.
Maybe they send it to a farther truck at a cheaper rate? Don't know?

 

[hdxpedx]

All new software needs to be tweaked.. use your cell until they match the load # to the offer on c-link.. MULTI-OFFERS =GOOD!!

 

[ATeam]

Maybe they send it to a farther truck at a cheaper rate? Don't know?

That's right, Dave. You don't know.

Do you really expect people to buy into your .... whatever? Think about it. If a truck is close and the load can be offered at one rate, offering a lower rate to a more-distant truck is unlikely to attract that truck to the load. The more-distant truck would not only have less money to work with from the outset, it would also have to incur higher deadhead expenses, because of the distance, to get to the pickup.

Again, you do not know. Groundless speculation does more harm than good in an Open Forum; not only is the Forum itself degraded, people researching the industry are unnecessarily burdened with the need to sort through it, but are given no factual information to work with.

It is better to talk about things you know about than things you don't, or things that you can factually substantiate. Or, if you want to know more about something you don't know about, put it in the form of a question that shows respect for the carrier and people who have chosen to affiliate with it.

No one else does what you do in this regard. I could easily pick and choose negative comments made about your carrier by people who contract with it. I could easily use those statements as "fact" and spin them in a direction that is uncomplimentary to your carrier. I could put the spotlight on them by repeating them over and over again. But I don't. I don't because running a competing carrier into the ground benefits no one.

I don't bash Panther (your carrier) because a bunch of people, I know, and a couple I count as good friends, have chosen to affiliate with Panther and are happy there. Out of respect for them and for a company that has clearly proven itself in our industry, I do not bash Panther. Would it be too much to ask for you to refrain from consistently casting FedEx in a dark light?

You are the only moderator that consistently makes insinuations, innuendos and vague statements that cast a competing carrier in a negative light. For an ordinary member with an ax to grind, I can understand the motivation. But for a moderator with a responsibility to maintain high standards in the Open Forum, using insinuations, innuendo and calculated vague statements toward a dark end are disappointing.

You would be no less of a man if you let FedEx alone. And FedEx will be no less of a company if you don't. But if you rise to a higher standard when talking about a competing carrier, there is at least one reader I know who will think better of you.

 

[ATeam]

I still fail to understand how this new system can speed up the time for dispatching a truck.
If more than one truck has accepted the load opportunity then how long does a truck have to wait to roll before finding out "for sure" that they have the load?

Time is saved because dispatch can send the same offer to multiple trucks at the same time. Before, an offer would go to one truck at a time, the truck would have 10 minutes to respond, and if the load was declined, the offer would go to the next truck. If three trucks declined the load and a fourth accepted it, it could take up to 30 minutes for the fourth truck to even see the offer.

Under the new system, say those same four trucks were all eligible for the load. The offer would be sent to them all at once. When the fourth truck took the load, the truck is booked and the customer is more quickly served, thereby reducing the chance that the customer will start calling other carriers to move his or her hot freight. If more than one truck accepts the offer, the offer is awarded according to the rank order the trucks have (dwell time, less-than-75 status, etc.).

I can only speak from my own experience about how long one must wait to find out if you actually got the load you accepted. It is two to three minutes max, and often less. If you reply by Qualcomm you find out almost instantly.

 

[davekc]

As mentioned, I was requested by several at CC to comment on it. So I did. It is in the general forum and NOT in the Fedex forum. Simple as that.

 

[greg334]

That is true with any company. It would seem strange to send you loads that you can't do whether equipment or qualifications? If would have to be a nightmare if they send trucks loads that they can't carry? What would be the point? Or who would want to be bothered? I wouldn't think that would be the case.
I think Nancy is saying they are all qualified to haul the load but they award it to a truck that is farther away.
Maybe they send it to a farther truck at a cheaper rate? Don't know?

I don't think it is about cheaper rates, it may appear that way but it is putting the idea that if the truck does not accept the load, they may not get another offer for a while. If you look at the most common truck, there has to be more work for this class of truck in most of the express centers.

Like McBride using San Diego where there is 4 trucks while they also send the offer to someone in the LA area, if it was a load that has to have say a reefer, then the people in San Diego without a reefer would not get the offer in the first place.

If they broadcast the offers to trucks outside the express centers while the closest trucks have not been given the time to decide, that is where I can see what I was told - they want to move the load first unless there is a customer request for the closest truck.

WG and the special Owners/trucks won't be affected as much as the common surface truck will be. WG and special Owners/trucks will still by getting called by someone if they select off Clink option.

FedEx is targeting the hard to cover loads where the rates are below what should be like some of these cr*ppy contracted loads, leaving the others out of the mix (WG, special owners/trucks).