Where Do Those Loads Come From and Why?

[ATeam]

We have all seen the complaints here about the large number of low-paying loads being offered out to trucks, with most people claiming they turn them down. I want to step a bit behind the offers and ask, where do they come from and why are they offered?

Diane and I are laid over at home today, in service, waiting for freight. Among the offers received, four were for 80 to 90 cents per mile, all miles; and for immediate pick ups or pick ups sometime later in the day, but not much later.

I have almost never searched for freight on my own because there has seldom been the need; so I know little about the shipping and dispatching of loads like those mentioned above.

Having a slow day today and time to wonder, I am curious about where such loads come from, why they are offered to drivers who are nearly certain to turn them down, and why they are offered for immediate pick ups or nearly so.

Why are such loads in our dispatch system at all?

Are there enough people saying yes to such pay to make it worth it for our carrier to flood the system with these loads?

What happens to the loads that are offered with short notice and declined by everyone?

 

[dieseldiva]

A lot of the low paying offers we're getting are such because of the long dh to pick up so my question on top of Phil's is why are these loads being offered "out so far"....have the freight lanes changed so much that our express centers are no longer working for us?

I can give you an example of trucks accepting low pay. Yesterday we were second in line with a less than 75, we were offered a load and turned it down because of the low pay. The truck ahead of us, also with a less than, accepted. The pay for the load......82 cents per mile, all miles. Why on earth does someone sitting first in line with a less than 75 among 5 or 6 trucks take a load that cheap?

To further add to the mix, this morning, now being first in line with a less than.....someone got a load out and we weren't even offered the thing. Checking on the vru tells us that the only truck that has moved was the one that did not have a less than 75!

Say what you will, there's some odd stuff going on in Green these days and no one seems to know why.

 

[layoutshooter]

We have been getting those today, either lots of DH or "B" rate loads.

 

[aileron]

Aha, there is the problem. They offer those 'b' loads to you guys instead of giving them to us lowly van drivers

To try to answer the question, there is someone desperate enough to take the low paying load, or someone that needs to go in that direction and is cheaper to take a low paying load than to deadhead, or someone new that doesn't know the business yet and they accept everything they get.

As an example, there was this tractor driver up in northeast that got a load for I think $1.27 to Richmond, VA. If I was in a tractor I wouldn't have considered this load. But the guy took it because he needed to go in that direction, and he wasn't paying for the tolls, the owner did. Most of the time there is someone who does these cheap loads.

I am soooo curious to know what the acceptance ratio is for the whole fleet now compared to what it was before the 'load opportunity' system. I bet it is waaaaay lower, but no way to know for sure. I know mine is waaaay lower than it was before.

 

[layoutshooter]

Aha, there is the problem. They offer those 'b' loads to you guys instead of giving them to us lowly van drivers

To try to answer the question, there is someone desperate enough to take the low paying load, or someone that needs to go in that direction and is cheaper to take a low paying load than to deadhead, or someone new that doesn't know the business yet and they accept everything they get.

As an example, there was this tractor driver up in northeast that got a load for I think $1.27 to Richmond, VA. If I was in a tractor I wouldn't have considered this load. But the guy took it because he needed to go in that direction, and he wasn't paying for the tolls, the owner did. Most of the time there is someone who does these cheap loads.

I am soooo curious to know what the acceptance ratio is for the whole fleet now compared to what it was before the 'load opportunity' system. I bet it is waaaaay lower, but no way to know for sure. I know mine is waaaay lower than it was before.

Ours is WAY lower. What else do they expect? We have been turning down "junk" loads all day. One paid good going in, to Edmonton, so you have to cut the pay in half. LONG dead head out. Not worth the effort. That load is a week killer. We gave them a "round trip" price. They have not called back yet. Must not need covered.

 

[ATeam]

Understand that I am not angry about these loads. I have learned long ago to decline them without concern. I'm just curious about how it makes sense for our carrier to send them out like this. It seems really strange to me that an immediate pick up, exclusive use load is even considered by our carrier at such low rates, let alone offered out to trucks.

 

[buddy]

When you all find the answer, fill me in please. I wounder the same.

 

[jjoerger]

I met a driver in Laredo on Monday who told me he had not gone 36 hours without a load in 5 months. He stated that his fleet owner paid 40 cents a mile to the truck regardless of the rate offered, so they just accept everything.
I guess the fleet owner is not worried about being profitable.

 

[TeamCaffee]

We have found that depending on where we are in the country how many loads we are offered are unacceptable.

When we need to get home or be somewhere we will accept a load at a lower rate rather than dead head on our dime. We call these well paying relocate loads.

Sometimes we also wonder when offered a load that is totally off the wall why anyone would accept that offer, but we figure they have to have their reasons. I know that we can make money and run cheaper than most of our friends that drive for a owner.

Our cheap freight is often what someone else calls acceptable cheap freight and our bottom dollar we will run for is what others call cheap freight.

 

[JimF51]

One factor regarding those who will accept the low rate loads is lack of patience. The guy I teamed with last March in a D unit, for all of 3 weeks, was like that. He couldn't stand to sit, so he'd take just about anything.

Being as expediting has changed so much from when I did it back in '97, for the 1st week or so, I didn't input too much. After I finally pointed out to him that we had basically run for the 1st week at aprox. $.19 per mile, I thought I had convinced him that we needed to hold out for better paying loads, even if it meant sitting for a while. That didn't last long, and he went back to accepting just about any load that they offered.

Me, I'll sit for as long as I have to, something always comes along. Or, I decline a load with the reason "2 much DH, $ to low" and about a third of the time it will get offered again at a higher rate, or I'll get a call asking me how much I will do it for.

Which leads me to a related question, why not offer it at the max they can in the 1st place? I realize they need to make a profit, but they must know what they need to make, so why play games?

 

[ATeam]

Which leads me to a related question, why not offer it at the max they can in the 1st place? I realize they need to make a profit, but they must know what they need to make, so why play games?

You answered your own question, did you not? They offer loads first at the lower rate because there are drivers who either understand little or care little about making a profit and will take the low paying loads for any number of reasons (including the lack of patience you so well describe).

If you had to hire a plumber and one charged $100 for the job and another charged $50, and both could do the job to your satisfaction, which one would you hire? When one is willing to do the job for $50, would you offer him $100 because you would be willing to pay up to that much if you had to?

That's the answer, but it is a strange practice coming from a carrier that says the pay to contractors is a certain percentage of the gross charged to the customer. When an offer is made and declined, and then higher pay for the same run is offered the second time around, did the gross charged to the customer change too?

 

[Doggie Daddy]

When an offer is made and declined, and then higher pay for the same run is offered the second time around, did the gross charged to the customer change too?

Makes ya wonder.

 

[ATeam]

I was tired when I asked about the percentage of the gross. This morning it came to me that the offer is first made at the contracted percentage of the gross. Sweeteners that follow on subsequent offers come out of the carrier's percentage.

I remembered loads that Diane and I have done where the dispatchers said that little or no money from the load was going to the carrier and most or all of what the customer paid went to us. They sometimes make such exceptions to cover the load and meet the needs of the customer.

Contractors sometimes take a low-paying load to get home or even drive home entirely at their own expense. They do so because it makes sense at the time. Carriers sometimes pay to contractors some or all of the money they would otherwise make because it too makes sense at the time. With contractors and carriers alike, the bigger picture trumps the particular circumstances, and one side's desire is the other side's profit opportunity.

 

[bcordell70]

We to have noticed these loads and of course turn them down or at least decline with a counter offer. We even seen a hazmat load come through for .90 per mile for all miles. Then get asked why we turned it down..lol

 

[buddy]

We all can agree that there are too many varibles, It which this makes for an interesting game.

 

[interstategar]

Custom Critical has price agreements with many companies, so depending on the customer's contract that's where the rate to pay a truck comes from.

I take low paying loads if I want to get back home and it takes me towards there or a better center than I'm in. If not then, I'll offer a price I'll do the load for and they will pay me more if they want to cover the load. The quicker they need a load picked up the better chance of getting paid more even if there's other units in the area. If you bid it up, they will pick the best deal for them within the bid ups. Quick pick up requirements could be a ticket to more money in your pocket.

 

[interstategar]

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That has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate

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