easyrider2697
Expert Expediter
Why is it, when things slow down, and fuel goes up..people are more likely to drop their carrier and run off to another carrier??
When the going gets bad!
- Thread starter easyrider2697
- Start date
I believe it has to do with the old saying "the grass is always greener in the other man's field".
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
Seems to me, by the typing I see, that, "musical carriers" will start some months earlier this year. Whatca think?
I'd like to know how they think they better themselves also.
My advice is, don't let your present carrier break you (or nearly) before you look over the fence. I used to help the down and outs, but, I found they were too far gone to be able to help, with out doing it ALL for them. So, I don't anymore.
I'd like to know how they think they better themselves also.
My advice is, don't let your present carrier break you (or nearly) before you look over the fence. I used to help the down and outs, but, I found they were too far gone to be able to help, with out doing it ALL for them. So, I don't anymore.
tallcal101
Veteran Expediter
In the van line business,we used to say there was only one flavor,vanilla.The color of the van made not a "lick" of difference.
Loading and unloading furniture is the same regardless of the bright colors or amount of chrome.Bed buggers are the same animal regardless of the color of the van.And they skip around.
But Presidents of van lines get paid to make a their flavor rasberry sherbert,or lime parfe etc.At the end of the day,it's all vanilla.
There's a notion around the industry(which is very slow these days in domestic)that Atlas is holding all the cards.So many drievrs are bailing from Allied and United to join the ranks at Atlas.What will they find?Good question.In this economy who knows.Like expediting,it really comes down to stealing business from another carrier.Both industries are slow right now with a bleek horizon.It's all about sales and price.Niether of these two factors have anything to do with trucks or service.Since everybody has too many trucks this does not bode well for movers or expediters.
It's the same game,salesmanship..I'm with United and spend all day trying to talk clients out of their present carrier.It gets old,but it's my job.
Put preasure on the sales department of your carrier throuigh the driver councils.I know my rep from CC did not call me enough,in my opinion.
Vanilla versus vanilla is a hard sell,but staying after the clients separates the winners from the losers.
Loading and unloading furniture is the same regardless of the bright colors or amount of chrome.Bed buggers are the same animal regardless of the color of the van.And they skip around.
But Presidents of van lines get paid to make a their flavor rasberry sherbert,or lime parfe etc.At the end of the day,it's all vanilla.
There's a notion around the industry(which is very slow these days in domestic)that Atlas is holding all the cards.So many drievrs are bailing from Allied and United to join the ranks at Atlas.What will they find?Good question.In this economy who knows.Like expediting,it really comes down to stealing business from another carrier.Both industries are slow right now with a bleek horizon.It's all about sales and price.Niether of these two factors have anything to do with trucks or service.Since everybody has too many trucks this does not bode well for movers or expediters.
It's the same game,salesmanship..I'm with United and spend all day trying to talk clients out of their present carrier.It gets old,but it's my job.
Put preasure on the sales department of your carrier throuigh the driver councils.I know my rep from CC did not call me enough,in my opinion.
Vanilla versus vanilla is a hard sell,but staying after the clients separates the winners from the losers.
arkjarhead
Veteran Expediter
You know not to get off subject but I think trucking as a whole is taking a hit. I live close to and go to community college in Stuttgart,AR. It's the self proclaimed Duck and Rice Capital of the World. Any way there are a lot of grain haulers around. Most I've known since I was knee high to a grass hooper. These guys used to get brand new decked out trucks every 4-5 years. Now you look around and most everybodies truck is at least 10 years old if not older. True alot of these guys came of the road and went local for various reasons, but I think it's the whole industry that is hurting.
The comment about the grass being greener in another man's field is quite funny. I have a second cousin who is about 20 years older than me so I heed his advice like I would my Dad's because they are the same age. He said he noticed the grass was greener where there are more cows gathered at. I thought about since he told me that a few years back. It seems the best jobs for a company driver at places like abf,fedex freight, ups,yellow and others have a waiting list to get on. There is a reason why you have to wait for someone to die or retire to go to work, and it's not because the people are forced to stay.
The comment about the grass being greener in another man's field is quite funny. I have a second cousin who is about 20 years older than me so I heed his advice like I would my Dad's because they are the same age. He said he noticed the grass was greener where there are more cows gathered at. I thought about since he told me that a few years back. It seems the best jobs for a company driver at places like abf,fedex freight, ups,yellow and others have a waiting list to get on. There is a reason why you have to wait for someone to die or retire to go to work, and it's not because the people are forced to stay.
We cannot switch carrier as we are our own carrier. :+
Some of the freight may slow down, but we simply replace the additional downtime with other activities in the business...
Such as...
Spending more time at the dealership where there is always something to do. We don't believe in the notion of "but this isn't my job!".
Putting the truck in the garage and giving it a serious going over and cleanup.
Inspect the rental properties to see what needs doing if anything.
Jumping into a tractor & super b train rig for a few loads.
Spend the time drumming up new business.
Taking some time off and head to the cottage for a little R&R... my fav downtime activity.
Some of the freight may slow down, but we simply replace the additional downtime with other activities in the business...
Such as...
Spending more time at the dealership where there is always something to do. We don't believe in the notion of "but this isn't my job!".
Putting the truck in the garage and giving it a serious going over and cleanup.
Inspect the rental properties to see what needs doing if anything.
Jumping into a tractor & super b train rig for a few loads.
Spend the time drumming up new business.
Taking some time off and head to the cottage for a little R&R... my fav downtime activity.
easyrider2697
Expert Expediter
Thank you A-Team, sometimes I have a great question but don’t know to make it come out on paper..never fails you guys come and bail me out..that was the point I was trying to get out, And to answer the question, no I am not going anywhere, currently happy with the kitty kats.
I think alot of drivers or owners view this as a job and expect apay check for being inservice,then ya have the ones that have a great month or year and think it's always gonna be like this.I have seen both senarios and it's always the carriers this or the carriers that,never i should have saved,or i need not buy a new car,house,tv,ect.
>I think alot of drivers or owners view this as a job and
>expect apay check for being inservice
That is a new one on me. It has never entered our minds to be paid for simply being in service (available and waiting for freight). Not to disbelieve your statement, but to find out more about it, is it really true that there are people out there that expect a paycheck for being in service? How common is that attitude?
>expect apay check for being inservice
That is a new one on me. It has never entered our minds to be paid for simply being in service (available and waiting for freight). Not to disbelieve your statement, but to find out more about it, is it really true that there are people out there that expect a paycheck for being in service? How common is that attitude?
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Phil,
Until you have experience with either being a fleet owner or running a business with employees, you haven't heard a lot. You limited experience is with you, Diane and your truck (being a driver - I think you would be surprised at what is asked and said.
This is a common attitude among a lot of people who think this is a regular hourly trucking job. Some make this all out to be a paid vacation, which it is far from it. Many think that it is the owner who owes them for doing a service without realizing that sometimes you need to give to get somethign back. While other times people are plain lazy and want to be handed the big bucks for small amount of work. If many see what I have to go through to earn my money, they would not consider this business, just the risk to my life like Monday night and almost losing my truck, the load and myself with the wind would be too much for many to deal with. It seems that many don't get that this is really work and not for people who have great expectations.
Phil, just one example I can give you is this; I had one guy who wanted hotel stays every weekend and me to pay regular wages with withholding, I agree to that at $2.88 a hour and he would have to make the difference up in tips he collected from the shippers. He hung up on me and it was followed by another one who asked for about the same thing.
Until you have experience with either being a fleet owner or running a business with employees, you haven't heard a lot. You limited experience is with you, Diane and your truck (being a driver - I think you would be surprised at what is asked and said.
This is a common attitude among a lot of people who think this is a regular hourly trucking job. Some make this all out to be a paid vacation, which it is far from it. Many think that it is the owner who owes them for doing a service without realizing that sometimes you need to give to get somethign back. While other times people are plain lazy and want to be handed the big bucks for small amount of work. If many see what I have to go through to earn my money, they would not consider this business, just the risk to my life like Monday night and almost losing my truck, the load and myself with the wind would be too much for many to deal with. It seems that many don't get that this is really work and not for people who have great expectations.
Phil, just one example I can give you is this; I had one guy who wanted hotel stays every weekend and me to pay regular wages with withholding, I agree to that at $2.88 a hour and he would have to make the difference up in tips he collected from the shippers. He hung up on me and it was followed by another one who asked for about the same thing.
>Phil,
>Until you have experience with either being a fleet owner or
>running a business with employees, you haven't heard a lot. You limited experience is with you, Diane and your truck
>(being a driver - I think you would be surprised at what is
>asked and said.
Like, duh! Maybe it's OK to ask questions then?
There is a lot about me you do not know, Greg, including my past business experience and what I have learned from it. Your post could have been just as informative without your opening paragraph. Lighten up. The question I asked was not about my own business experience, it was about how common the expectation is to be paid for nothing other than being in service. Are we here to help or put each other down?
>Until you have experience with either being a fleet owner or
>running a business with employees, you haven't heard a lot. You limited experience is with you, Diane and your truck
>(being a driver - I think you would be surprised at what is
>asked and said.
Like, duh! Maybe it's OK to ask questions then?
There is a lot about me you do not know, Greg, including my past business experience and what I have learned from it. Your post could have been just as informative without your opening paragraph. Lighten up. The question I asked was not about my own business experience, it was about how common the expectation is to be paid for nothing other than being in service. Are we here to help or put each other down?
Are we here to help or put each other down?
thats what my wife and I come to this site for is advise and answers and to learn what to expect b4 we look into buying our own truck but since we became members here all we see is ppl putting other ppl down and
saying something negative about someone's comment or view of the topic
on hand one persons view or opinion on something is just that,...it is
there view or opinion.we don't need to take their view/opinion personal
again.it's just what they think.you might want to think about this,maybe
that is the reason every post seems to get of the topic at hand.
thats what my wife and I come to this site for is advise and answers and to learn what to expect b4 we look into buying our own truck but since we became members here all we see is ppl putting other ppl down and
saying something negative about someone's comment or view of the topic
on hand one persons view or opinion on something is just that,...it is
there view or opinion.we don't need to take their view/opinion personal
again.it's just what they think.you might want to think about this,maybe
that is the reason every post seems to get of the topic at hand.
Poison, if that's all you see, you're missing a LOT. Sure, there are some personality conflicts here - it's a community of extremely independent personalities, it happens, ya know? I think most of us really are here to help each other, offering knowledge, ideas, experience, or even a laugh - whatever we have to contribute. In turn, we feel free to ask for the same from the other members - that's how it works. It would be better if we could confine the criticism to private msgs, but the Moderators do a very good job of keeping it civil, nonetheless.
I've seen some websites that are almost entirely positive affirmation oriented, and personally, I lose interest in that pretty quickly. As somebody wise once said "When two people agree on everything, all the time, one of them is lying"
I've seen some websites that are almost entirely positive affirmation oriented, and personally, I lose interest in that pretty quickly. As somebody wise once said "When two people agree on everything, all the time, one of them is lying"
I'm going to step in from over here on the sidelines. This is my observation from the neutral corner, not having a dog in this particular hunt.
Phil, unless I'm mistaken, which according to my wife is only during all waking moments, your experience in this specific industry is limited to that of a single truck driver and single truck owner operator supplemented with very large amounts of research. While I would call that a very solid base, far better researched than most, I would also agree with Greg's basic statement that you do not have the experiences of being a fleet owner and interviewing prospects.
Greg's comment was in no way demeaning or insulting that I can see and I've reread the thread a couple of times to be sure I didn't miss something. Having prior experiences is helpful but doesn't fully prepare one for this industry. We owned a retail business and prospects for employment were nothing like those coming forward to drive. I also had management time in a couple of other industries and again found nothing like this.
I really can't find any intended insult even when looking for it. Poison, to a degree I can see your point however you have to consider a group of people standing around "debating" a topic. They are going to verbally match a lot of what you see here. In that verbal discussion you wouldn't consider them offensive or attacking the person, just participating in a lively discussion. When that is translated into typed text it perhaps becomes a little more obvious but is still meant as a good debate. I believe you just have to first consider the intended message and only then judge the word choices.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
Phil, unless I'm mistaken, which according to my wife is only during all waking moments, your experience in this specific industry is limited to that of a single truck driver and single truck owner operator supplemented with very large amounts of research. While I would call that a very solid base, far better researched than most, I would also agree with Greg's basic statement that you do not have the experiences of being a fleet owner and interviewing prospects.
Greg's comment was in no way demeaning or insulting that I can see and I've reread the thread a couple of times to be sure I didn't miss something. Having prior experiences is helpful but doesn't fully prepare one for this industry. We owned a retail business and prospects for employment were nothing like those coming forward to drive. I also had management time in a couple of other industries and again found nothing like this.
I really can't find any intended insult even when looking for it. Poison, to a degree I can see your point however you have to consider a group of people standing around "debating" a topic. They are going to verbally match a lot of what you see here. In that verbal discussion you wouldn't consider them offensive or attacking the person, just participating in a lively discussion. When that is translated into typed text it perhaps becomes a little more obvious but is still meant as a good debate. I believe you just have to first consider the intended message and only then judge the word choices.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
hmmm...interesting....
poisons own critism of why things go off topic is the source of that very critism....2 responses to his comments and off this thread goes into hyperspace...interesting
poisons own critism of why things go off topic is the source of that very critism....2 responses to his comments and off this thread goes into hyperspace...interesting
Leo,
Greg's words were, "Until you have experience with either being a fleet owner or running a business with employees,...."
You and he are correct in that I have never been a fleet owner. It was the "running a business with employees" that I reacted to. It remains the case that Greg does not know my business background or what I have learned from it. And even if he did, his response would still be just as informative had he omitted his first paragraph.
This whole mid-topic digression started with a simple question about some people believing they should be paid for being in service. I'd like to get back to that question if I could. I already know what experience I have. I don't need to hear about it. It is the being paid for being in service expectation I am curious about.
I am not curious about the unqualified people fleet owners hear from. That is hardly news. What is news to me is that some people (presumably owner-operators as well as fleet drivers) actually expect to be compensated for being in service. As stated above, that thought has never entered my mind. The idea seems so preposterous that I asked to hear more about it. Are there really people out there that believe that? And if so, how common is that belief?
Greg's words were, "Until you have experience with either being a fleet owner or running a business with employees,...."
You and he are correct in that I have never been a fleet owner. It was the "running a business with employees" that I reacted to. It remains the case that Greg does not know my business background or what I have learned from it. And even if he did, his response would still be just as informative had he omitted his first paragraph.
This whole mid-topic digression started with a simple question about some people believing they should be paid for being in service. I'd like to get back to that question if I could. I already know what experience I have. I don't need to hear about it. It is the being paid for being in service expectation I am curious about.
I am not curious about the unqualified people fleet owners hear from. That is hardly news. What is news to me is that some people (presumably owner-operators as well as fleet drivers) actually expect to be compensated for being in service. As stated above, that thought has never entered my mind. The idea seems so preposterous that I asked to hear more about it. Are there really people out there that believe that? And if so, how common is that belief?
Neither Greg nor I know your prior business background. It is that very lack of knowledge that makes the statement not an insult or offensive by intent, just a generic statement of fact. The "you" could just as easily have meant anyone reading the post. I just wanted to point that out because it seems lately there are quite a number of people being offended by totally innocent and innocuous postings.
I've never been asked for pay for being in service. I have been asked about being home every weekend and other things that just don't fit this career path. I suspect the percentage wanting some sort of hourly pay regardless of loads is very small but don't doubt in the least that some people are that presumptuous. It will be interesting to hear the reports from others.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
I've never been asked for pay for being in service. I have been asked about being home every weekend and other things that just don't fit this career path. I suspect the percentage wanting some sort of hourly pay regardless of loads is very small but don't doubt in the least that some people are that presumptuous. It will be interesting to hear the reports from others.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
Phil: In your wildest dreams, you, (one person) could not come up with the stuff people do, in regard to what they think their time/knowledge/experience is worth in this, or any other business. Many it seems, feel the world owes them, to be comfy and carefree, alowing others to provide that comfort.
Believe me, those that feel they should be compensated for getting up and to the truck, ready for freight, is just the tip of the iceberg. Just when I figgure i've heard it all, someone betters the best one. Sooo i'm not even going there. You wouldn't believe it.
Believe me, those that feel they should be compensated for getting up and to the truck, ready for freight, is just the tip of the iceberg. Just when I figgure i've heard it all, someone betters the best one. Sooo i'm not even going there. You wouldn't believe it.