What is the FedEx CC Load Board?
- Thread starter ATeam
- Start date
I used to be with them, supposedly it going to be a board for Fed-Ex drivers to look over and they can pick what loads they want. Its only suppose to be for surface frieght and its still at a set price, so no trying to get extra money.
I have been on the Beta team for the new Fedex CC load board and found it to work fantastic. The board will be for B,C,D,E and white glove. Rates are set per the current flat rate with the condition that Fedex will only pay DH for the first 100 miles and the class rate. This only applies to loads taken off the load board. Normal dispatch criteria will still apply before load is allocated. Dispatch have to approve load first. So, if you take a van load with a D truck, you will get the van rate. It's your choice. I have been able to stack loads, but realize that will change, once all trucks have access. I can see loads up to about two weeks in the future and find it especially helpful when I know I will be home this coming weekend and want a load next Monday. The normal dispatch will still continue as always and the load board is just an additional tool. I have a shortcut key on my phone and the load board layout is really nice, simple and complete with all relevant information to the load offer.
Thank you to the drivers that always want to negotiate, this system always worked well, but unfortunately the ones that where unrealistic in their expectations are the ones that caused us all to be on a flat rate today.
Thank you to the drivers that always want to negotiate, this system always worked well, but unfortunately the ones that where unrealistic in their expectations are the ones that caused us all to be on a flat rate today.
I think the load board is a great idea. It will eliminate a lot of bull. Some drivers want to run short loads, some drivers want to run longer loads, some drivers want to go to certain geographical regions, and some drivers are trying to get home. Instead of dispatch wasting their time trying to get certain drivers to take loads that they don't want, they can get the right loads covered by the right truck and then broker the rest of them back out to other carriers. I think Panther could benefit from some sort of load board of this sort. Let the drivers run the loads they want to run the way they want to run them. Then you are truly an independent contractor. The carrier just throws the loads out there and lets the contractors pick and choose what loads they want to run. I like this sort of concept!
All load boards are speed based that I know of...
I like the idea of the load board to get home or to leave home to get to a better area and you can plan it so you know when you will be leaving home and what you are picking up.
The idea that a driver can see loads and that they can pick what they want or not pick anything. If this gets big enough or maybe it all ready is they could stack out their week and know exactly what they are doing or to stay in a certain area.
I like the idea of the load board to get home or to leave home to get to a better area and you can plan it so you know when you will be leaving home and what you are picking up.
The idea that a driver can see loads and that they can pick what they want or not pick anything. If this gets big enough or maybe it all ready is they could stack out their week and know exactly what they are doing or to stay in a certain area.
This new FedEx CC load board may help expose the myth that all FCC freight is expedited freight. The truth is many of their loads are booked well in advance and there is no good reason to wait for the last minute to dispatch such a load to a truck and to insist that the truck rush to the pickup.
When we were at FedEx CC, no such load board existed. When we moved to Landstar, we gained access to their load board, which we sometimes used when agent-dispatched freight was not available. A welcome difference we noted between the two companies was that at Landstar, it was rare that a load would cancel, even if booked a few days in advance. A load board at FedEx CC may work well, but only if the loads you agree to are reliable. If drivers find that loads booked in advance are as likely to cancel as not, the reputation of the board will suffer.
Things may have changed with the rate of canceled loads at FedEx CC since we left, but when we were there, certain shippers were more than happy to book a truck because they paid next to nothing if they later canceled the load. For them, they were happy to risk small amount of money they would pay on a canceled load because the risk of not getting a truck if it was actually needed was higher. Naturally placing their own best interests ahead of the trucker's, they made this logical choice, but also left the driver screwed out of time and pay for acting in good faith in accepting and being prepared to do the run.
If the issue of canceled loads is not well addressed, FedCC creates the incentive for shippers to continue in this fashion.
It was truly interesting to see when we moved to Landatar that agents would sometimes advertise loads a month or more in advance and drivers would accept them, confident that the load would go.
Another difference between the two companies was the stories we heard from other drivers at FedEx CC about loads they accepted in good faith that were later canceled only to be mysteriously serviced by another truck that was later dispatched on the same load. That never happened to us at Landstar and we never heard any such story from Landstar drivers.
A load board is only as good as the intigrity of the company that runs it.
When we were at FedEx CC, no such load board existed. When we moved to Landstar, we gained access to their load board, which we sometimes used when agent-dispatched freight was not available. A welcome difference we noted between the two companies was that at Landstar, it was rare that a load would cancel, even if booked a few days in advance. A load board at FedEx CC may work well, but only if the loads you agree to are reliable. If drivers find that loads booked in advance are as likely to cancel as not, the reputation of the board will suffer.
Things may have changed with the rate of canceled loads at FedEx CC since we left, but when we were there, certain shippers were more than happy to book a truck because they paid next to nothing if they later canceled the load. For them, they were happy to risk small amount of money they would pay on a canceled load because the risk of not getting a truck if it was actually needed was higher. Naturally placing their own best interests ahead of the trucker's, they made this logical choice, but also left the driver screwed out of time and pay for acting in good faith in accepting and being prepared to do the run.
If the issue of canceled loads is not well addressed, FedCC creates the incentive for shippers to continue in this fashion.
It was truly interesting to see when we moved to Landatar that agents would sometimes advertise loads a month or more in advance and drivers would accept them, confident that the load would go.
Another difference between the two companies was the stories we heard from other drivers at FedEx CC about loads they accepted in good faith that were later canceled only to be mysteriously serviced by another truck that was later dispatched on the same load. That never happened to us at Landstar and we never heard any such story from Landstar drivers.
A load board is only as good as the intigrity of the company that runs it.
Remind me again how long you have out of Expediting?
We have had two loads cancel just this week with Landstar. Both loads taken with good faith and no money to us for load canceling.
We have had two loads cancel just this week with Landstar. Both loads taken with good faith and no money to us for load canceling.
Diane and I left expeding in December, 2013. You know that and it is disclosed in my "Retired Expediter" tag and my signature.
In our three years with Landstar, there was the occasional canceled load, but it was never a bad-faith act like we saw at FedEx CC. And it never happened that we had two loads cancel in the same week.
That's one of the beauties of the agent dispatch system Landstar had (at that time). We were not forced to deal with any agent who gave us reason not to. It only happened once in three years that we "fired" an agent by telling him to take us off his list. But we had the option because decentralized dispatch gave us a huge number of agents to create relationships with and serve.
Does the freedom to fire an agent still exist at Landstar? You are not powerless or stupid. What will you do different with the agent or agents in question to keep the negative events you mention from happening again?
When I saw your post in the Landstar forum "What Agent Do I Call?" I was surprised to see you asking that question after being with Landstar as long as you have been. I thought with your industry knowledge and communications skills, you would have mastered the system long ago.
You are right to point out my lesser knowledge regarding the current state of expediting, but that does not mean no knowledge. Just yesterday I visited at length with a Landstar driver in our gym. Last week, we visited at length with a FedEX CC White Glove team that came to use the gym. Two expediter teams are members of our gym. We never see them because they are on the road but we do talk from time to time.
Assuming things have not changed all that much with the Landstar dispatch system, allow me to refer you to this post that explains how Diane and I fully exploited the advantages this system offers. With it, we earned over $1.90 a mile for ALL MILES DRIVEN (loaded, empty, personal ... all miles) with our truck in our final year in the business. This post provides a response to the question you raised in yours.
How to Market Yourself at Landstar
In our three years with Landstar, there was the occasional canceled load, but it was never a bad-faith act like we saw at FedEx CC. And it never happened that we had two loads cancel in the same week.
That's one of the beauties of the agent dispatch system Landstar had (at that time). We were not forced to deal with any agent who gave us reason not to. It only happened once in three years that we "fired" an agent by telling him to take us off his list. But we had the option because decentralized dispatch gave us a huge number of agents to create relationships with and serve.
Does the freedom to fire an agent still exist at Landstar? You are not powerless or stupid. What will you do different with the agent or agents in question to keep the negative events you mention from happening again?
When I saw your post in the Landstar forum "What Agent Do I Call?" I was surprised to see you asking that question after being with Landstar as long as you have been. I thought with your industry knowledge and communications skills, you would have mastered the system long ago.
You are right to point out my lesser knowledge regarding the current state of expediting, but that does not mean no knowledge. Just yesterday I visited at length with a Landstar driver in our gym. Last week, we visited at length with a FedEX CC White Glove team that came to use the gym. Two expediter teams are members of our gym. We never see them because they are on the road but we do talk from time to time.
Assuming things have not changed all that much with the Landstar dispatch system, allow me to refer you to this post that explains how Diane and I fully exploited the advantages this system offers. With it, we earned over $1.90 a mile for ALL MILES DRIVEN (loaded, empty, personal ... all miles) with our truck in our final year in the business. This post provides a response to the question you raised in yours.
How to Market Yourself at Landstar
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Could you also remind me how long it has been since you were leased to FedEx Custom Critical?
This is expediting loads cancel.
No need to "fire" agents.
This is expediting loads cancel.
No need to "fire" agents.
We left FedEx CC for Landstar in 2010. I get the implation you are trying to make but my main point is sound. A load board is only as good as the integrity of the company that runs it.
[QUOTE
When I saw your post in the Landstar forum "What Agent Do I Call?" I was surprised to see you asking that question after being with Landstar as long as you have been. I thought with your industry knowledge and communications skills, you would have mastered the system long ago.
QUOTE]
Phil as you know I often post threads asking questions that I think will help others. Part of the learning curve at Landstar is figuring out who to call after we unload. So the post was to reassure other newbies to Landstar is that they will learn who to call by asking.
We have been with Landstar over a year and what we have found is that the day we left FedEx Custom Critical we were out of the loop. One or two drivers views is just that their views and that is valid but that is only their experiences that they are sharing with you as someone not leased to FCC.
The point is the day we leave a company is the day we are no longer in the know. We are now with Landstar and we worry about the policies over here and getting them right. We are looking forward to a very bright future at Landstar and very thankful that we learned all that we did with FCC as that has helped us immediatly become successful here.
When I saw your post in the Landstar forum "What Agent Do I Call?" I was surprised to see you asking that question after being with Landstar as long as you have been. I thought with your industry knowledge and communications skills, you would have mastered the system long ago.
QUOTE]
Phil as you know I often post threads asking questions that I think will help others. Part of the learning curve at Landstar is figuring out who to call after we unload. So the post was to reassure other newbies to Landstar is that they will learn who to call by asking.
We have been with Landstar over a year and what we have found is that the day we left FedEx Custom Critical we were out of the loop. One or two drivers views is just that their views and that is valid but that is only their experiences that they are sharing with you as someone not leased to FCC.
The point is the day we leave a company is the day we are no longer in the know. We are now with Landstar and we worry about the policies over here and getting them right. We are looking forward to a very bright future at Landstar and very thankful that we learned all that we did with FCC as that has helped us immediatly become successful here.