What it's like at Panther

[LakeSide]

It's about what has been said about Panther over the years that even people like me thought was the truth about them.

That's kinda strange. I remember you saying your Wife worked there.
Wouldn't she been able to give you the "real" scoop ? Wouldn't she of known drivers you could of contacted for verification ? Couldn't she of verified the truth as an actual employee of Panther ?

 

[Turtle]

Things are very compartmentalized at Panther so that most of the time not only does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing, the left hand doesn't even know how the right hand works. The only way you're gonna get the "real scoop" out of anyone at Panther is if they have been there forever and have worked nearly every job classification in the company. You have no idea.

Bruno will find out, though. The honeymoon won't last forever.

 

[Bruno]

That's kinda strange. I remember you saying your Wife worked there.
Wouldn't she been able to give you the "real" scoop ? Wouldn't she of known drivers you could of contacted for verification ? Couldn't she of verified the truth as an actual employee of Panther ?

Yes my wife worked there for 5 years but that was also five years ago too. Alot can change in 5 years. Her and my drivers have been wanting me to leave the company we was with after she talked to DaveKc and Leo back at the 2006 Expedite Expo. It was me that wanted to stay at the carrier I had been with for many years.

 

[LDB]

Ah, the good old days.

 

[Bruno]

Ah, the good old days.

Yes that was. I was impressed with the breakfast that Express One had for everyone and I think Rich Moore got an award at that breakfast but wasn't there. That was a great Expo. I was a little upset that FedEx didn't show more support for it at the time and even asked the The VP at the time right in front of Lawrence when was FedEx going to step up to the plate and do a little more for the Expo. That year they had the best booth but very little support for the Expo. That year I think Panther and Express One put alot of support into the show.

 

[are12]

What's it REALLY like to work at Panther:

We were with Panther for just over 4 years and we have yet to really bad mouth them. Like all companies, they have their quirks but most of the time we were able to deal with them.

When asked why we left Panther, we always answer that question the same way.....

We will tell anyone, "we made money at Panther and that the only reason we left was because we felt that we were being lost in the shuffle".

I am sure there are plenty that will disagree with me on my next statement but Panther has become more of a fleet owner company, that is why Bruno is feeling special (other than he is still on his honeymoon). If you have more than 1 truck on with Panther, you receive more money per mile - which I do not feel is fair to the O/O's.

Like I said, all in all, Panther was good to us. We gave them 100% while we were there and we recommend them to people who are looking to get into this business. Of course, we also tell them, just because we did well at Panther, doesn't mean they will - it is all in how you run your business.

 

[Bruno]

Very nice post, but we aren't getting anymore because we are fleet owners. If that is what they do I will have to check into that. Thanks for telling me that.

 

[LDB]

With 3 or more trucks you get an extra dime a mile and you pay more for insurance/fees to the tune of about $63 a week so the first 630 miles a week just cover the extra expenses.

 

[Bruno]

With 3 or more trucks you get an extra dime a mile and you pay more for insurance/fees to the tune of about $63 a week so the first 630 miles a week just cover the extra expenses.

Thanks Leo I will check into seeing if we are getting that.

 

[blizzard2014]

Tony Soprano runs Panther.

 

[hondaking38]

elmo could do a better job of running it..

 

[nightcreacher]

Bruno,while your telling how great the move was,tell us about the load boards for layover.Its much different,than FECC as our layover spots are mostly for the customers,but as you know all our loads are DVA dispatched.From what i've read,you can be on multi boards at the same time,and now I'm reading that a guy lost his spot cause they couldnt ping him.When i m at home my qc is shut off,you have to call me on the phone if you want me,and my layover is based when i arrive there,my spot in line cant get worst

 

[LDB]

Unless it's changed in the last month Panther "boards" are based on the geographic center of a randomly sized area surrounding a potential customer/loading location. The board is chosen for it's centralized location and in many cases would have to grow and improve just to match Podunk. Some of the boards are 18-20 miles from the nearest walmart so there is absolutely nothing there of use to an operator on layover as far as showers etc.. There are also far too many of them with Texas showing 16 boards to service 6 freight areas that have to be 90% or more of the business out of Texas unless something has changed. There are some very good changes in the system such as showing online all the boards within 300 miles as well as unit count by team and solo but the locations and names were deplorable as recently as 6 weeks ago. They are working on them, or at least they were the last I was privy to info, and I'm sure they'll improve things but for now they could be pretty bad.