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Trans-west logistiques (QC) & Trans-west Intermodal (CA) ***DNU***
- Thread starter fld1shm2me
- Start date
I guess my initial comment started an entire discussion about getting a drivers number. As I'm sure most of you know meat loads require great communication with the dispatch or driver. There are many companies that I use that have satellite and after-hours tracking and I've never asked them for a driers number. However when it comes to meat loads and a unreliable carrier you need to cover your behind.
Otherwise you have problems like this where the carrier gives you wrong information and you are left looking dumb for a shipment that is critical.
Otherwise you have problems like this where the carrier gives you wrong information and you are left looking dumb for a shipment that is critical.
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I'm not with Landstar, but there is some merit in speaking to the driver directly. By speaking to the driver I can ascertain his/her level of competence, and there's still time to cancel before he pickups if I find out he isn't capable. That's happened to me a few times... I cancelled after speaking to the driver and determining that he isn't qualified to do the load (or doesn't want the load) even if his dispatcher says he is. A few times too, the drivers are way smarter than their dispatchers..i.e. driver will tell me his truck isn't suited for an overlength load ( for example). Speaking of Landstar.. headed off a very embarrassing situation once by speaking to the driver. The dispatcher had dispatched a van truck to pickup a coil (they didn't read the confirmation carefully.. they assumed skidded coils). I spoke to the driver and he quickly got that corrected.
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Hmmm. I get where you are coming from, I just think it's a dangerous game. I would be more careful of the carrier partners I was using and then trust them with it. That CH Robinson thing from a few years ago opened up a can of worms that changed the way brokers look at transportation contracts from carriers in a big way. I worked for 2 different US-based providers while this was going on and the in-house counsel with both were on spin cycle. Many contracts weren't getting signed.
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EMPOWER the driver????our drivers' empowerment means they do not have to deal with some other dispatch trying to convince him to do something that his dispatch would never do. When we have a time sensitive load we deal with it from the office or, if need be from home. If you can imagine it, I've actually been able to get by quite well with out a cell phone and we have always been able to accommodate our customers with all of their tracking needs. We also know our equipment well enough to know who can do what. We have been convinced to give up one of our driver's cell phone numbers before and have regretted it. Drivers do not appreciate it when the guy on the west coast calls him during his sleep period for a regular check call. We even had an instance where they forgot to remove the old info from a load and our driver got called at 3 a.m. for a check call on a load he wasn't even doing... we do not, under any circumstances give our drivers's numbers anymore. If you don't like our conditions then, give the load to the other guy...
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Each carrier's modis operendi is different, but in all cases I try to fit in with how they want to proceed. Some carriers absolutely do not want me to contact their drivers, and that's fine. Others want me to contact their drivers or they have their drivers contact me. It's all good. I try to be careful, but a big part of success is fitting in with how one's partners want to get it done. Hey.. they own the trucks and employ the drivers and they have some say in how they wish to proceed with me. I respect that.
Very true my friend, that's between you and your carrier. If they don't have a problem with it then I certainly don't.
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I'd like to point out that the drivers call me when they are at the pick up and the delivery so no danger to the drivers, they are parked there and takes them 2 mins. It really is a nice touch as we can get our customers updates immediately and they of course appreciate that also. I get the fact though that once they call at the pick up, we then have their number and opens them up harassing them with check calls, etc. I am just still curious as to why it is different in the U.S.? I am thinking that we have booked most of them from the U.S. load boards so perhaps smaller operations and owner operators?
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Could be. U.S Owner operators in many cases are small carriers with their own authorities and insurance who use the bigger carrier to get their loads from. As opposed to in Canada where we force them to run on our authorities and insurance etc. and run with our name on the truck. In Canada many would call this double brokering but in the U.S. it is merely sub contracting. The U.S carrier have so many of them that if they can download some of the communication directly to the truck it makes life simpler for all involved.
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My comment to freightbroker yesterday in regards to Landstar and produce is because of exactly that. When the person is truly independent or possibly just leasing authority and tagging on to another carrier's insurance, it's different from being leased on with a company as an owner-op on forced dispatch. I think those times are pretty much done, because the major drawback with using O/Os versus company drivers has always been that the O/Os believe themselves to be independent and not subject to forced rules ... but compliance is a big issue. I remember having fits over getting proper trip sheets, logs etc. With EOBRs become mandatory and speed limiters and all the rest of it, the idea of the 'BJ and the Bear' type of independent is probably history.
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There will always be Gypsies. They can mandate and do everything they want to mandate trucking and the gypsies will still be around. Ebors and stuff will learn to be hacked the same as speed limiters are know and logs are fudged etc. As carriers we are fooling ourselves if we think everyone will play by the rules. It won't happen because if it was to happen why is it not happening now with brokers and carriers? More rules are going to make people honest? Nope don't believe it. Too many people coming into the industry that come from places where screwing people, lying, cheating and stealing is a common practice.
I knew a guy back in the late 90's that ran with nothing at all. 5 year old plates no authorities, no insurance, nothing.. He ran the corridor at night and ltl deliveries during the day. Last I heard he is working local driving for a member of this board.
Just my 2 cents but I believe it to be true.
I knew a guy back in the late 90's that ran with nothing at all. 5 year old plates no authorities, no insurance, nothing.. He ran the corridor at night and ltl deliveries during the day. Last I heard he is working local driving for a member of this board.
Just my 2 cents but I believe it to be true.
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Information flows much better now and telematics don't lie. I'm not saying people won't try to get around it. I believe it's going to get tougher because one still has to be insured, and the insurance companies are going to use the data to determine premiums. In my opinion, this whole wave of rules is set up to put much of the policing to the private sector (ie insurance companies).
Back in the day, in the first company I worked for our dry van division was basically a set of gypsies who piggy-backed on our insurance but ran no authorities at all ... so they would run all back roads ... it was nuts, service was inconsistent to say the least. Also, before I was 20 I couldn't afford car insurance or a decent car, I would buy $100 cars (no exaggeration) and use and renew plates on a car that was junked. When the car broke down, I pulled the plates off and literally walked away. I used these cars to deliver pizza! Try that now ...
Back in the day, in the first company I worked for our dry van division was basically a set of gypsies who piggy-backed on our insurance but ran no authorities at all ... so they would run all back roads ... it was nuts, service was inconsistent to say the least. Also, before I was 20 I couldn't afford car insurance or a decent car, I would buy $100 cars (no exaggeration) and use and renew plates on a car that was junked. When the car broke down, I pulled the plates off and literally walked away. I used these cars to deliver pizza! Try that now ...
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Things were different years ago. One could sure get away with a lot that would never fly today. .. like driving a truck without a CDL.. I did that for awhile before deciding to take the test (which at the time was also a joke). The administrator asked me if I had driven the truck to the test station. I replied in the affirmative, and he passed me..
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for sure. just communication. if you don't know where your truck is... perhaps it isn't your truck then........
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A little something you all might enjoy ...
Most of my drivers live by it, although a couple are atheists ... ROFLMAO
Most of my drivers live by it, although a couple are atheists ... ROFLMAO
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Sometimes the driver just can't answer. Or, maybe you prefer to have your freight spread out all over the highway with a few causalities.... you've never been in a truck have you?? you need to find someone who will take you for a ride along. Just going through the border at Windsor will open your eyes... Easy to judge from the back seat...
I don't mind if a carrier advises the last time the driver checked in, the location and the next expected time the driver will call. It's when no information or shady info is shared....
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I would never give out a driver's cell phone number for the reason Rob stated below. And I do believe there have been other high profile cases like CH's. After hours, I am available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. While bigger companies all have their own unique models, I believe in this industry after hours dispatch service is a must
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Speaking to drivers in and of itself isn't the problem. The problem occurs when some brokers attempt to take over control from the carrier by going directly to the driver. That's what happened in the high profile case with CH several years ago. I call only if that's part of what the carrier wants me to do.. I don't go to them and demand the driver's cell and require him/her to follow my procedures.
Does anyone have an article or information pertaining to the lawsuit with CH Robinson? I just want to read up on it.
Thanks