Why are people so negative

[pantherii]

Second week with pantherii and I cannot be happier me and my dad are having a blast, weve been out everyday, the longest we've waited since dropping a loads is a couple of hours, people get aggrivated and like to discourage people when they dont succeed in this business. I think being a team has helped alot we have averaged loads of 800-1300 mile runs. the biggest fsc was 55cents to ontario. Its all about posistioning yourselves in the right area, being friendly with dispatch and keeping your numbers high such as in service availability acceptance and ontime, right now we are 100% accross the board, for example if dispatch has a 1000 mile load thats critical and needs to be ontime and john smith is next on the board and has a 65%acceptance rate and a 70% ontime rate, and the next person has 100% accross the board, who do you think gets the load? duh!!!
We have yet to turn down a load and dont plan on turning one down ever. We had a load from virgina to north carolina pick up was saturday delivery was sunday, then we were asked to stay in nc for a mini of 53 miles for monday, did we want to stay in nc all day sunday for a mini for monday of course not but we did it and what did it get us? it got us a trip to florida where we live ...dispatched hooked us up and we were also in the right place at the right time, my sister is having a baby tomorrow and me and my dad will be here for that. The people that whine and complain are the same ones that turn down loads arent in service and have bad attitudes...keep turning down the loads " the kings will takem"

Sitting at home for a couple of days waiting on my sisters first child.all have a great week

 

[Tennesseahawk]

As the great Han Solo once said, "Great Kid! Now don't get cocky."
That same cockiness will make you look foolish if and when you start wondering why you've been sitting for 3 days without a load. We've ALL been there!!! Being a team IS the reason for most of your success, but also the fact that you're starting out. They want you to have a taste of success early.

Also sounds like you've been brainwashed in orientation. Every company will tell you in orientation it's most beneficial to accept every load. Beneficial to whom? You'd better break out the atlas and the calculator when a load comes across. You have 15 minutes to respond back, USE IT! If you're deemed an "I'll take anything" truck, you'll get those 200 mile runs with 200 mile dh more often.

It's good to be confident, but don't be so high on yourself or you may fall off your pillar and land hard on letdown. Just do your research and keep asking questions.

And congrats on your sister's baby

 

[Broompilot]

It is great to be so posotive, but caution to the wind my new friend. As T-Hawk told you be cautious on accepting anything 200 mile DH for 250 mile run is not smart business. Those averages are great also the freight is hot right now enjoy this now cause their will be a time you wish you were this busy.

Not negative you can read all of my old posts, straight forward. Enjoy what you do as it does seem most people hate there jobs, I for one enjoy mine and the company I am leased to.

Alot of great people are associated with the EO most with + attitudes.

 

[davekc]

I am with the others as to selecting loads. With only two weeks out, I would caution you as well not be too naive. Understand what it really costs to run your truck.

I think you will find most are pretty positive even in the light of current events. HOS regulations and fuel prices have had a less than desirable effect on most.

I think you will notice as well that the majority of negative posts are generated from only a few members. These are members that have been here only a short while and their responses are somewhat repetitive.

You are always going to have people that say the "glass is half empty" no matter where you go.

Sounds like you are off to a great start!
Good Luck and keep us informed

Davekc
owner
21 years

 

[whitewolf53]

I think reality will finally set in after he sits in Florida for a few days,not much freight coming out of there.

Whitewolf 553

 

[dukesadog]

Alot of people say my posts are kind of negative and if I offended anyone by writing them then come on down here and I'll buy lunch to make up for it. I am usually very direct.

I had a problem with a carrier ( just for you Lawrence I wont say who) I was told everything was in order after spending literally months of time (my time, others time) getting an equity loan etc in my home only to drive to the carriers location to find out that they didnt know who I was or why I was there? It was like that movie the Final Countdown..ooooweeeeoooo

So I wrote a post about it and got hammered? I guess its okay to have your kneecaps broken with a sledge-hammer, quit a good job to go do expediting only to find out the people you spoke with on the phone aren't there but you cant tell anyone about it.oooooweeooooo

I got Janked cause I didnt stay there and work it out, well where I come from if the fish smells bad you dont eat it. If that sounds negative then what would you have done if you just had 2 months of your time wasted...you cant tell me you wouldn't have been just a little upset.

I did take a few steps back and say thats it, I'm not driving anymore for anyone and put my truck buying equity money into another rental house.

I promise to behave

dukesadog

 

[Doggie Daddy]

>We have yet to turn down a load and dont plan on turning one
>down ever.



i have to agree with everyone else,and especiallt T -hawks comments.

this is only your second week,and you are in the "honeymoon" phase.they will probably keep you in that mode for another 2 weeks and then reality will take over.

 

[whitewolf53]

I said some things in pantherii post about his first three days out
that some members chastised me about.Well now it seems that everybody
is agreeing with me,and what i said.And that is that they will feed
the newbies,for a couple of weeks.And then reality will set in.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND YOUR FATHER IN THIS BUSINESS,BUT DON'T THINK FOR A MINUTE THAT IT WILL ALWAYS BE THIS WAY.

WHITEWOLF 53
HERE LIZARD LIZARD LIZARD
:9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9

 

[bigguy1001]

Oh how I wish we were proficient enough to hand feed newbies so they could experience a "honeymoon" period. We are much more likely to dispatch them to the east coast because we bonus them for not turning down a load for the first 15 days. I would challenge anyone who believes new guys are hand fed to spend a day in dispatch. You will come to the conclusion your contention is ridiculous. Hand fed, if we were only so good!

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Well, bigguy, if I were averaging 800-1300 mi runs with only a couple hours in between loads, I would've never gone independant. My acceptance rating would've stayed about the same... because I would've been too tired to keep going at that pace, not cause I got a ton of mini offers. The bonus thing is a joke, cause there will be some loads in there that no experienced team will take. It's not worth the $500 IMO.

 

[davekc]

Thawk wrote
if I were averaging 800-1300 mi runs with only a couple hours in between loads, I would've never gone independant. My acceptance rating would've stayed about the same... because I would've been too tired to keep going at that pace

My opinion on this is that not every company is for everyone. Our trucks run very well, and sometimes at a hectic pace. I think it comes down to what someone wants and what their expectations are.
As we all know, some like to sit alot and some can't sit a day.


Davekc

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I did enjoy Panther alot. You know how it goes tho... getting snagged somewhere like Nashville and getting riddled with minis. The whole time driving team for them (4 months), we were offered only a handfull of runs over 800 mi, one of which we turned down for dh and fsc. We didn't sit too much, cause I knew the game. We averaged maybe 350-400 mi per run. They were probably the best company out there for me, running as a team.

Back to the thread... yes, some ppl are negative on here. But most who seem negative are only giving you the cold hard facts. Some ppl like to ignore this advice, and only look at the good stuff. Those are the ones who turn negative when they step in doodoo while travelling the yellow brick road. Tiredofsitting, are you listening?

 

[ATeam]

pantherii,

Don't let the nay-sayers get you down. Not today. Not ever.

Like you, Diane and I were delighted with expediting two weeks into it (coming in with no trucking experience whatsoever). Over two years later, we're still delighted.

We've gone through negative experiences as all expediters do (canceled loads, long waits, truck breakdowns and lost time because of it, low-income weeks, even zero income months, skyrocketing fuel prices, rising insurance costs, Qualcomm fee increases, challenging days in New York City, Canada border nightmares, truck vendor failures, bad dispatchers, bad shippers/consignees, bad drivers, bad weather, bad loads, being stuck in the truck too ill to drive for days at a time, scale cops that should not be scale cops, certain family members that think we're nuts for giving up our so-called "good" careers, freightliner dealer waiting rooms that are trash filled, parking lots that wreak of urine, truck parking shortages, filthy public bahrooms, street crime, etc. etc. etc.; to include the fact that truck driving is one of America's 10 most dangerous professions. Oh yea! There's the puzzled look you get when we tell the suit and tie friends we used to run with in our old careers that we now regularly sleep in Wal-Mart parking lots.).

Nevertheless, we're as happy to be expediters today as ever.

Expediting continues to be the easiest, least stressful, most-lucrative work we've ever done. Honeymoon period? No sign of it ending for us. No reason to think it will end for you either. You'll of course encounter the same negative events ALL expediters encounter. Such events will only make you unhappy if you let them. I'm betting you and your codriver might be just smart enough to figure out how to manage your way through the negative events while maintaining a positive attitude.

As you already know, attitude is everything!

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Ummm... that's what the so-called naysayers were telling him. Geez! But we also told him to lose the smug attitude of "Haha! We're doing better than you!", cause he'll feel stupid when reality hits home like it does with ALL expediters. Apparently, you haven't learned this lesson, Ateam.

If nay-sayers tell the truth in what to expect, hell... I'm a nay-sayer, I guess.

 

[Pappy]

No, I'm not tired--- I do'nt have time to feel bad or be sick--AND just let someone hand me a lemon---There's nothing I love more than making LEMONADE--- Am I Positive Yet?

Pappy
34 year T/T

 

[BigDiesel]

Well most of the time I get bashed for being negative as you can see my points, but I will have to agree with bigguy that it doesnt seem very likely that the dispatchers hand feed loads to new drivers. It seems more like reality sets in and most start turning down loads realizing that they are losing money on some of those runs. Plus name me a career where you dont start out all gung hoe and then as time and problems arrise it turns into just another job, its the money that keeps people driving, not anything else.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I wasn't hand-fed at Express-1, just ran good... but I was solo there. When I moved to Panther as a team, we ran hard until my co-driver quit on me 9 days later. But I've heard many newbie stories of HUGE loads on their first 8 or 9 days out. Check the archives, they're there.

BigDiesel, you're right in that ppl have a gung-ho attitude when starting out with a new company. They almost have to. And you're correct that reality sets in and it feels like the same ol' song and dance. It doesn't have to. Once experience settles in, you should be able to keep moving on a regular basis.

Moving to another freight zone is a wise idea after a day or so. Not only cause freight is scarse, but because the same scenery keeps reminding you you're sitting. And that has a bigger psychological effect, in my opinion, than not getting freight.

I got into Laredo last Sunday, and decided to sit until I found a run. Well, by Wednesday the nice hotel I was staying at felt like a prison. I moved up to San Antonio and felt somewhat better. Now I'm moving up to Tulsa for Monday, and if nothing goes well, St.Louis for Tuesday. I'm not saying there was no freight that whole week, just that I was extremely unlucky. Of all the times for my email to give me a 30 min delay, it made me miss a multi-thousand dollar load.

If you guys knew what you miss cause either someone is ahead of you on the board, or a dispatcher plays favorites, I think there'd be some felonies committed. I've been passed over by dispatchers before... and it's not a nice feeling!

 

[cheri1122]

Sorry, BD, but it's not just the money that keeps me out here! (And, no, that doesn't mean I'll give any of it back, lol). It's the work itself, the different places every day, the fact that expediting is really two lifestyles, and I like them both. The loaded lifestyle is focused on just one objective: getting there as quickly as it is safe to do so. (And legal, I forget that, cause I don't log much!) The loaded run is when you stop only for neccesities, and you don't waste time if you can help it, because you may need the time when you can't help it - construction, accidents that choke the freeways, wrong directions, etc.
And then there's the layover lifestyle! This is when you get to do whatever you want (or need to get done). Shopping, sightseeing, watching a movie, getting some fresh air & excercise in a beautiful place - nothing beats the variety of places to go & things to do, IMO.
I think the successful expediters are those who enjoy it enough to roll with the bad times, of which ATeam mentioned but a few, lol. (And a bit of planning helps, too!) :+

 

[BigDiesel]

Yea I agree with that, when I hear these guys complainig about how bad the business is (and they are O/Os) I cant but help thinking about those guys that are making .40cpm working for someone else.

 

[maineak]

Glad to hear you are doing so well and congrats to your sis.
Beware, two weeks does not a expediter make! I hame been with Panther for 11 months and just recently had the chance to sit in with dispatch for about 8 hours, that really clears up the myths.
First of all, dispatch is a pretty stressful place. They have to take calls, book loads, call drivers if they dont answer their qualcoms, track loads, and put up with a lot of driver whining and b.s. They certainly dont have time to feed the newbees, if you are next youget the call, if time is an issue closest gets the call.

In the 8 hours i was there, they never once gave a load bassed on acceptance ratio, on time is an issue with some of panthers bigger customers, but certainly not on every load.

There is no special screen for fleet drivers, they are just interested in covering the load. First come first served.

Being a team really has no berring on loads for cargo vans. Big difference with straight trucks and tractor/trailers, none with vans. The bulk of the business is not in cargo vans, dispatch turned away several loads for straight and T/T due to no availability.

These are my observations and the result of several direct questions to several different dispatchers. I for one owt dispatch an appology, they take alot of flack from drivers, and still have to be professional as they are the ones talking to our customers and booking our loads.

So good luck, plan for the slow times-they will come, and be civil to your fellow expediters. you will learn a heck of alot more and meet some of the best people on earth.

maineak