Why does panther put you on a pro before you even accept?!

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
People are hungry I will never fault someone for trying to be their own boss. We also must remember the majority of new drivers never read something like eo to even see warnings.

Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC 123

I agree with you entirely. But it's just like any other industry: easy entry and minimal investment usually results in lower returns. A physician hasn't spent all those years studying late at night expecting to work for minimum wage. Neither would a floorsweeper with a GED normally expect to become CEO of General Motors.

If people are genuinely "hungry" (and I assume you mean to better themselves, not just acquire food) then let them obtain some marketable skills.

After paying my own way through a very good Class A driving school, I quickly decided pulling a trailer didn't look like a lot of fun. A DR unit seemed the best way to reach a happy compromise - with the potential of good money.

I was 'fortunate' enough to be able to acquire the necessary training and credentials on my own (because I worked hard at other businesses), but don't tell me there aren't avenues by which a "hungry" person can't do the same things. It really all boils down to expectations and what one is willing to do to achieve them.
 

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
Besides tell newbees or should I say warn/inform newbees of the perils of CVing....that is the end of my influence.....BUT most newbees don't come on EO.....

And since they (the "newbees") don't seem to listen anyway, I guess neither of us has much influnce.
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
And newbies should also know some van drivers do pretty good. Many could also drive bigger trucks if they had any desire to do so.

Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC 123
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
And since they (the "newbees") don't seem to listen anyway, I guess neither of us has much influnce.

By the time most find the forum...they've bought their van and dove in...I can't remember the times I've seen posts like what I have I gotten into?....or " I need Help ".....what can one do at that point...throw them an anchor or life preserver?....
 

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
And newbies should also know some van drivers do pretty good. Many could also drive bigger trucks if they had any desire to do so.

Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC 123

I understand, but what "pretty good" might mean to some might mean a lot less than "pretty good" to me.

Again, it's all in the expectations. If a person is content with their lot in life who am I to criticize?

But, considering all I have read here over the years, it seems there are many who are less than content. I would guess 50 to 75% of the posts are from vanners and a large percentage of those seems to involve griping about rates...although I admittedly have no quantitative evidence to back that up. Just a feelin' I git...
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I understand, but what "pretty good" might mean to some might mean a lot less than "pretty good" to me.

Again, it's all in the expectations. If a person is content with their lot in life who am I to criticize?

But, considering all I have read here over the years, it seems there are many who are less than content. I would guess 50 to 75% of the posts are from vanners and a large percentage of those seems to involve griping about rates...although I admittedly have no quantitative evidence to back that up. Just a feelin' I git...

People will always complain more than praise.

Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC 123
 

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
By the time most find the forum...they've bought their van and dove in...I can't remember the times I've seen posts like what I have I gotten into?....or " I need Help ".....what can one do at that point...throw them an anchor or life preserver?....

No, at that point there is nothing you OR I could do to lessen the impact of their well-intentioned misadventure - except get out of their way. When they go down for the third time that leaves one less to compete with you for the "cheap freight".

Having survived in some very tough, competitive business arenas in the past, I had no wish to compete with folks floundering toward what they might have thought was some entrepreneurial nirvana. I wanted to position myself where was a little less competition - and real competition at that.

The last thing I want to do is create barriers for people with ambition to better themselves. But I also think it's silly to expect I'll stay financially viable if I'm competing with someone who got into the business by simply putting down the broom and grabbing a steering wheel.
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Really?....LOL...I was thinking....it is easier to walk downhill then make the effort to go uphill....does that compute?....

Its human nature. Someone will shop at a store for years and never say anything about the place. Let them have a bad experience and they are telling their friends and going online to post about it.

Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC 123
 

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
People will always complain more than praise.

Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC 123

True, and I'm not so arrogant as to try and make anyone here believe I've never complained about anything. But, on the other hand, I'll bet there are drivers, owner/operators and fleet owners who might read this and know they have spent little, if any, time complaining about the lousy state of expediting. Instead, they just keep plugging along, trying to improve their business.

Take Phil Madsen (A Team) for example. Over the years I read a lot of snickering and scoffing over things he had written - a lot out of jealousy, I would surmise. Funny thing is, he is the one able to walk away from expediting with enough wherewithal to enter a totally new business and, at the same time, probably not look back at his career in expediting with any regrets.

Now, who should I model my business after, someone who just accepted a $6,000 load - or someone hanging out in a hot (or cold) van for days waiting for the next load at under $1.00 a mile.

That, Moot, is another rhetorical question...but I really DO have an answer for that one!
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
True, and I'm not so arrogant as to try and make anyone here believe I've never complained about anything. But, on the other hand, I'll bet there are drivers, owner/operators and fleet owners who might read this and know they have spent little, if any, time complaining about the lousy state of expediting. Instead, they just keep plugging along, trying to improve their business.

Take Phil Madsen (A Team) for example. Over the years I read a lot of snickering and scoffing over things he had written - a lot out of jealousy, I would surmise. Funny thing is, he is the one able to walk away from expediting with enough wherewithal to enter a totally new business and, at the same time, probably not look back at his career in expediting with any regrets.

Now, who should I model my business after, someone who just accepted a $6,000 load - or someone hanging out in a hot (or cold) van for days waiting for the next load at under $1.00 a mile.

That, Moot, is another rhetorical question...but I really DO have an answer for that one!

You also shouldn't model your business after the St who can't afford maintenance, has to idle for heat and is getting by on baloney sandwiches. Just like in any other class of trucks their are the ones who succeed and the ones who do not.

Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC 123
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Since you aren't "...blind or ignorant as to how carriers and dispatchers view cherry pickers.", please explain to me how they view one (one cherry picker, that is).
As unreliable, someone they can't count on.

Do the dispatchers at my carrier stand around the water cooler in their spare time and discuss how that selfish Wolverine refuses to take cheap loads?
I have no idea. I wouldn't think so, though, since dispatcher already expect it to be difficult to get people to accept loads which pay cheaper than normal. It's those drivers who will refuse anything under a certain number of miles, or a certain dollar figure that tend to make dispatchers the most annoyed.

Does my carrier have some sort of secret grading system used to eventually blackball me or send me to expediters purgatory to suffer for my recalcitrant nature??
Human nature would indicate that yes, they do. Biases from dispatchers can manifest themselves in many different ways.

Or are you simply referring to YOUR carrier?
No need to be insulting. I'm referring to the three carriers I have been leased with, plus the other carriers with which I am familiar.

Please enlighten me. I'm very curious.
As others have noted, without knowing who your carrier is or even whether or not you are a cherry picker (although it certainly seems to be a touchy subject with you), I cannot offer very much enlightenment.

Drivers leased on to carriers are in a mutually beneficial relationship, a partnership if you will, and both sides of that relationship must act accordingly. We are in the business of moving freight. Some of that freight is moved at high rates, some at lower rates, some are good miles some are not, some go to crappy areas while some go to great areas, but the freight still has to be moved. Drivers who sit back and want to cherry pick only the primo loads are quickly viewed by those doing the offering as someone not to be counted on, and in other ways that aren't very well regarded.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
True, and I'm not so arrogant as to try and make anyone here believe I've never complained about anything. But, on the other hand, I'll bet there are drivers, owner/operators and fleet owners who might read this and know they have spent little, if any, time complaining about the lousy state of expediting. Instead, they just keep plugging along, trying to improve their business.
The smart ones pick their battles and won't waste time on things they can't control.
 

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
No need to be insulting.

Who's insulting? I thought this thread began by referencing a quirky dispatch characteristic used by a particular carrier. As far as I can tell we are still discussing dispatch systems and how each of us can best benefit from them.
 

Wolverine

Seasoned Expediter
I just want to add to today's Gratititude List the fact that I didn't waste all this time while sitting in a van waiting for the next load.

It probably wouldn't even have been down by the river where I could, at a minimum, have enjoyed the view.
 
Top