Whos the winner? Fedex CC or Panther?

[herronryan]

alrighty, i work for fedex custom critical and here is the deal. for the past 2 weeks my loads have been this: deadhead to atlanta to sit for 2 days with no one ahead of me in dwell time. no 75s but yet 3 b loads went out the first day and 2 the second. i wasnt offered one load. i dont turn down but like 5% of my loads if that. anyhow...i got a load only to arrive at the shipper and it was 4 oversized boxes that only a C could take so they cancelled my load and sent ANOTHER B unit! well we were both cancelled and finally the shipper called another carrier. so i got a 400 miler and sat in charlotte over the weekend only to take 3 air expidite runs totalling $600 for the week. and 4 days later, i got a run to newark where i currently reside all happy as hades.

i am really considering switching to panther because every driver i talk to with panther loves them and all the fedex drivers comlain. i see panther passing me by at every stop. they are in...wait a little while...then they are gone. rinse, repeat.

sooooo here is my lovely question. whats yer thoughts? between fedex cc and panther, which one makes more money for a b unit or cargo van overall after fuel and expenses. im all about the bottom line and if i have to drive more miles for less pay per mile to make more money i will do it.

help me out folks. im hungry! haha

THOR - LORD OF THUNDER B4421:'(

 

[fortwayne]

If you know you have lost the 'love' for FedEx then all I will say is call Panther and see what kind of 'sales pitch' they give you.
I will tell you though the first couple of weeks in July has been on the slow side I think for everyone. But, with Panther in my straight truck I have done OK during this time, while on the other hand some of the cargo van drivers I have spoke to face to face have said they have been sitting a bit.
So what to believe? I don't know.
I will say that I could be doing ALOT better with Panther but I have been turning ALOT of loads down for various reasons. (I have to rethink MY requirements on taking loads and maybe lower my requirements a bit.)
I will always encourage people to give Panther a call - I like 'em, it works for me, its' a good fit for me - but, keep a couple things in mind.
The grass is not always greener on the other side AND what works for one may not work for the other person.
Best of luck.

Fort Wayne
Guided By God

 

[driver628]

To stay or leave of course is up to you. I can tell you though when I cancelled my contract with Panther not to long ago the first thing they asked me was "Not getting enough miles?" followed by "You are the 4th cargo van to cancel there contract today". Good Luck

 

[greg334]

The week or two leading into July and sometimes to the end of the month can be slow for a van.

Atlanta? Hmmm.. that happened to me last year around this time - was frustrated but got over it.

Is this the first you experienced this or have you had this problem month after month?

You do know you should not look at your revenue week by week but by the month when you are in a van?

oh yea, there are no winners - I wish there were but there are not. Both companies have a different philosophy and business model, one is very established and well funded with a big corporate attitude behind it.

Choosing a company is more about personal preference than it is who is bigger, badder and has the most trucks in the fleet.

 

[terryandrene]

One universal truth about expediting...FedEx Custom Critical people complain TO FedEx Cutsom Critical people...Panther people complain TO Panther people. We each seldom, if ever complain across companies.

A couple of bad weeks mean nothing with any of our companies. The fact that 3 B loads left town could be that they were team loads put on a team van deadheaded in to your area. They could be B loads that went on an eligible solo or team C truck. Lots of reasons for the perceived dispatch around, including you might have been ineligible for an IAC (airport) load.

Save your decision until the end of the month and come visit the Expedite Expo, talk to drivers from several carriers and recruiters from several carriers and see if you can find a meaning that will fit your requirements.

 

[ds1450]

Gotta say that I really like Panther a bunch. They do have the miles when others are slow. I try to keep this in mind... Fed CC and Panther and all of the others are just brokers. That's it. They owe us nothing more than getting us loads and paying us. Anything else is a bonus.

On the same hand, somedays they drive me nuts. The new policy appears to be not taking any calls from the drivers unless they are on a load. The QC sometimes gets answered in a reasonable manner but forget it from 10p - 6am. You really have to get to know the system and use all of the tools (and your wits) I would never sit in Atlnta again. March 06, 1st out for 3days Mon-Wed. You gotta suck it up and move.

FedEx CC has better paying loads for less miles but over all less loads for a solo driver in a van. Again, gotta work the system.

Hope this helps...

 

[fortwayne]

I would agree with terryandrene and don't rush into anything!
Take a little time and consider going to the expo and finding DRIVERS from all the different companies.
Personally, I don't listen to what the o/o have to say or the recruiters because their main concern is getting a warm body in the vehicle - where your only concern should be YOU.

Fort Wayne
Guided By God

 

[kangar0085]

Yeah I dont think this two week drought you experienced is enough of a reason to consider a different carrier. I'm very happy with Panther and wouldn't even consider leaving them because you will most likely experience the same thing here. Give it another 3 weeks before you switch carriers because that is very costly.

 

[Turtle]

Generally speaking, Panther drives me crazy. They wouldn't be so bad if they'd just quit their cluckin'. You know how mother hens are constantly clucking over their chicks? I had a mother hen the other day tell me that, 'Whew!, Panther sure clucks a lot.' They have an insatiable need to pester the P out of you whenever the opportunity presents itself. They have a need to beep you and then call you to make sure you are up when they think you should get up in order to prepare to roll on a pickup or delivery. They are equal opportunity pesterers, however, in that whether you have a dismal on-time percentage or a stone-cold perfect one, they'll pester you equally.

I'm accountable for everything I do out here. However, seemingly, no one at Panther's office is accountable for anything they do, or anything that they fail to do. If you have a problem, there is no one to call to get it solved. No one will take responsibility for getting something done, or at least following up to see that it was done. People will forward messages, but they won't follow up on them. Safety blames dispatch for anything they do, and dispatch blames safety for anything they do. Too many people appear to be either grossly lazy or astoundingly incompetent, because even the simplest things seem to be too difficult for them to accomplish.

If you call in and pester them enough, and constantly ask who their boss is, and then who their boss' boss is, in order to really stir it up to force someone to take responsibility, it's amazing how quickly and suddenly things can finally get done. I just have to laugh at it all.

But even through all that, I get a lot of miles, and make a lot of money with Panther, which is really what it's all about. It's a problem now that Landstar has, out of the blue, after talking with them a year ago, sent me a packet with papers to sign. I think I need to find a Landstar van driver to talk to.

The other day, Tuesday I got a long load out of Florida to deliver in Arkansas on Thursday, July 5th. I arrived and it turns out the plant went ahead and shut down and won't be open again until Monday. Only viable option was for me to sit on the load for 4 days, which I agreed to. I am being paid handsomely to do it, including paid loaded miles for the 200 mile round trip from the plant to the closest truck stop in Texarkana. I've pre-arranged with plant security to where I'll go back to the plant on Sunday night and sleep there at the gate waiting to deliver first thing very early Monday morning.

I wonder what time Panther will call me and wake me up to make sure I'm rolling to make the delivery?

[font color="blue"]
The God of thunder rode forth one day
Upon his fearsome filly .
"I'M THOR!!" he cried
His horse replied . . .
"You forgot your thaddle, thilly!"

 

[nightcreacher]

you better realize,the grass isnt greener,your in a van,and it is holiday week

 

[fortwayne]

ring.......ring.........ring.........
hello.......
Hi this is xxx at Panther.....GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING.....
click.........

Gosh life is good! And man it can be funny.......


Fort Wayne
Guided By God

 

[Moot]

Turtle, what can I say? Your description of Panther is very accurate! I also find them disorganized and mother henish. But like you said, they have the loads and the miles. When I am home I have never waited more than 24 hours for a load out.
It has been almost a year for me with Panther. The first month was very trying. I was not used to a 24 hour babysitter. I am still learning the system or learning to play the game with constantly changing rules. For the most part I have been successful in negoitating bonuses for runs to nowhere. If we can't agree, there is always somebody else willing to take the run. I am still running more miles and making slightly less than with Con-Way, but I am hanging in there. I have seen some improvements in the past year. I think that some money should be sunk into upgrading the QC and hiring full time permanent dispatchers.

Thanks Turtle for our post!

 

[davekc]

As someone already mentioned, they have two very different business models. Panther has had some burps in their dispatch because they have taken on alot more business. Daily load counts pretty much tells that story. QC changes are coming and we are currently testing one now. Our team with the test unit is totally sold on it. Surprising, no problems as of yet. A different repositioning program is coming also, although I haven't heard the actual date.
Biggest issue is are you making money and running consistently. We don't run vans, but we are as busy as we want to be. It really comes down to whether you want to sit or make money?









Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[Rikk]

The company that owns my truck has trucks on with Tri-State, P2, and Fed-ex. The Fe-Ex trucks do the best, Tri-state is next. And last is P2.

I'm with Tri-State and do well.

Rikk Sullenberger
KG4AAO
D-Unit

 

[davekc]

Just goes to show you never can tell. We have had trucks at the three you mentioned and had different results. I think we will stay where we are at.









Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[kangar0085]

Turtle does a bear sh!t in the woods?

 

[nightcreacher]

can you say sh*t on here

 

[dieseldoctor1]

We've been with Panther over nine years so you can conclude that we are happy with them. Yeah,every once and awhile we diagree on some little point but nothing earth shattering. As far as being hassled we hardly ever get a call about anything that could be called a hassle. Guess they know from our record that when they give us a load it will be handled correctly.

I guess there is one point that some people would call being hassled. We can be out of service either at home (Charlotte) or at one of our daughters (Raliegh NC or Oshkosh WI) and they will call. "We know you are out of service but we have this load you may be interested in." Why do they do this. Maybe it's because if they are in a real bind, they know we will help them out. Example. Got call one night about 21:00. They had a one mile run from plant to airport. They had tried 9 vans, some as close as 30 miles but no takers. I was 183 miles out. They had many more vans closer than us but they knew that I like to help when I can and they were running out of time. We worked out a flat rate and the load was handled. As soon as we finished that load they gave us two loads. First picked up the next day within 75 miles from where we were. It delivered within 30 miles of the second load. Pickup time on second load was about 10 hrs after delivery time on first load. Total of those two loads were over 1400 miles, and we wound up about two hrs from home on a weekend.

If I had refused the one mile run I wouldn't have gotten those two loads. I also know there were vans sitting closer to both of those loads. Do I feel bad about bumping them? NO WAY! Now that doesn't happen everytime, but it balances out over time.

Guys believe it or not, dispathers are not stupid, and they do have memories.

Dieseldoctor

"He who takes all the work he can get, gets all the work he can take!"

 

[fortwayne]

I believe a bear can go where ever he really wants......


Fort Wayne
Guided By God

 

[Packmule]

FTW,
uh huh......been watching those Charming toilet tissue commericals again.

A Bear can do a lot,But can a Bear get bare a#s naked??? ummmmm

Danny