The Funny Thing About ELOGs ...

Michael Ludwig said:
Who should make that allowance, and why? Everyone on the truck side of the business, owners, dispatchers, drivers, are asking "what about this?" and "what about that?", but they are forgetting one VERY important thing ...
The only difference between an electronic log and a paper log is how you record the data. One is with ink and the other is with bits and bytes.
THE RULES HAVE NOT CHANGED.
So, delays at the border, for instance, don't change whether you're on paper or electronic ... it's just easier to cheat on paper. When you cheat you're not "helping" your customer. You are just covering up his mistakes and inefficiencies.
Ask yourself this "Why is trucking taking up the slack in the supply chain?". For decades inefficient shippers and receivers have abused the trucking industry's ability to cheat the shit out of their logs. No more.
Inefficiency is going to have to take care of itself. Inefficiency is going to have to pay for its blunders.

Just another random thought ... JIT freight is going to become stupidly expensive.
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If I could find a way to like this twice I would. Well said Mr Ludwig.

The whole concept of entire factories and production lines hinging on whether a carrier can make it to destination within a certain amount of time is exhausting. The fact that carriers/brokers need to book a delivery appointment (30 minute window) for 1 Skid that's travelled 1500 miles is ridiculous.

Shippers, purchasers are going to need to start planning things a little better.
 
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If anyone reading this, or any of my other posts, takes nothing away from anything I have said, I beg you to please remember this one simple fact ...

The entire worldwide supply chain is solely dependant on whether the uneducated, minimum wage, high school dropout working on the dock, got laid last night, or not.

There are like a zillion adjectives to put in there, but the jist of it is the guy on the dock, and no one else, sets the pace of the entire world's supply chains. Every carrier's day is going to go according to exactly how that person feels when they come in to start their shift.
- had a fight with the girlfriend ... miserable and everybody pays.
- fired up a spliff before coming in ... wait for him to finish off a Pepsi and a couple bags of Cheetos before we think about starting work.
- a little hungover ... going to be a slow day.
- a lot hungover ... might not get anything done at all.
- got wrote up by the supervisor ... it is on like Donkey Kong.
- and so on, and so on, and so on.
 
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Nawk said:
If I could find a way to like this twice I would. Well said Mr Ludwig.

The whole concept of entire factories and production lines hinging on whether a carrier can make it to destination within a certain amount of time is exhausting. The fact that carriers/brokers need to book a delivery appointment (30 minute window) for 1 Skid that's travelled 1500 miles is ridiculous.

Shippers, purchasers are going to need to start planning things a little better.
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Drivers and dispatchers need to start working together a bit better too, communication between them has traditionally been weak. Often a driver is dispatched out on a load and doesn't have enough time to properly pre-plan the trip. So (understanding that this scenario is the nature of the beast), training on H.O.S. regulations needs a huge overhaul. Part of my work involves a driver help-line and I can say with confidence that over 90% of the calls I receive are Hours Of Service questions, most of which are coming from drivers with 20 plus years experience. It's been my experience that most dispatchers are either drivers that have come off the road to work in the office, or are people with little or no OTR experience, so I would expect the same percentage of them are not fully up to speed on H.O.S. regulations. Michael Ludwig was absolutely correct when he said that "the rules have not changed", what has changed is "the need to know the rules and plan trips according to them". I should also make this point as well when it comes to H.O.S. regulations, if drivers "have" to work more than 14 a day just to make enough money to put a roof over their head and feed their family, this alone speaks volumes about the profession itself...

G Conrad
 
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I was at the OTA meetings last week and I have been debating on whether or not to post this as I'm sure it will get a mixed reaction (people either love or hate the OTA), out of the many things I learned is that there is a lot of 30, 40, 50 truck companies up for sale at the moment because they have no intention of installing ELD's. The problem with most of them is they do not have customers, they work off the Link or through brokers which basically means the company is only worth what equity they have in their equipment.
The point of this is that come December I believe there will be a ton of freight to move so people better make sure their carriers are implementing ELD's and if they have not already I would be nervous as to why not.
 
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I wonder how many shippers, and brokers for that matter, have gone to their carrier base and actually asked what the carrier is doing about e-logs.
 
Michael Ludwig said:
I wonder how many shippers, and brokers for that matter, have gone to their carrier base and actually asked what the carrier is doing about e-logs.
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No brokers have asked us yet, even though elogs take effect in just over one month. All we get are "reminder" emails about the mandate and "tips" for implementation.
 
I personally think this will be the biggest opportunity to get new customers and good freight rates and anyone who is not proactive are going to loose a lot of business. We are already maxed out capacity wise so guess what? If you want a piece of our capacity you will pay for it and eliminate someone who is not. Hell I've got major customers already asking what the price increase is going to be without even approaching them.
 
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I think we are in for the biggest shakeup in our industry since deregulation!!! Hold on, it's going to be quite the ride!!
 
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lowmiler88 said:
I was at the OTA meetings last week and I have been debating on whether or not to post this as I'm sure it will get a mixed reaction (people either love or hate the OTA), out of the many things I learned is that there is a lot of 30, 40, 50 truck companies up for sale at the moment because they have no intention of installing ELD's. The problem with most of them is they do not have customers, they work off the Link or through brokers which basically means the company is only worth what equity they have in their equipment.
The point of this is that come December I believe there will be a ton of freight to move so people better make sure their carriers are implementing ELD's and if they have not already I would be nervous as to why not.
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That's not quite true: brokers are customers too. A carrier who has five or ten steady broker clients is just as valuable as a carrier who has direct shipper clients. A customer is a customer.. some are manufacturers, a good many are commodity traders, and some are middlemen.. but money is money, and they're all customers.
 
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Freight Broker said:
That's not quite true: brokers are customers too. A carrier who has five or ten steady broker clients is just as valuable as a carrier who has direct shipper clients. A customer is a customer.. some are manufacturers, a good many are commodity traders, and some are middlemen.. but money is money, and they're all customers.
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unless you have a contract with that broker you will not be paid for it.
 
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I had my business appraised a couple of years back.. they looked at my annual receipts. I have only one "formal" contract, and that only nails down who is responsible for what.. nothing in the way of X number of loads a week etc. apart for gross receipts they looked at customer turnover... anticpated growth, and how long my customers have been with me.. The real test of strength and value: you've got ongoing business that can walk at any time but doesn't. Shippers don't want to be locked down via contracts for the most part anyway.. they want to be able to walk away from you at a moment's notice if things aren't working out.
 
I would hate to be a carrier that runs only owner-ops and broker freight.. trucks not yours.. broker freight not valued.. Would be a hard sell for sure.
 
As everyone knows rates went up (in some areas additional $400-$500... easy....), so .... this is my morning today.....

Phone is ringing...
Broker - Rate please from point A to B.
Me - $2100.00
Broker - Excuse me:eek:?
Me - $2100.00
Broker - You have NO rights to charge me so much money. It's TOO expensive. You MUST do it for no more them $1700.00 and even that is way to much for this line.
Me - You called me for the rate, well the rate is $2100.00
Broker - (:mad:yelling:mad:) As I said YOU HAVE NO F*** RIGHT to give me such an expensive QUOTE and YOU have NO rights to charge people so MUCH.

......:p .......

Different conversation, different broker.... Yestarday
B - Load from A to B, pays $1600.00
Me - ok but the rate is $1950.00
B - Rates are going UP and down every week and I have no time to play in this game.
ME - :rolleyes: Well, if you would like to book a truck at this moment the rate is $1950.00 OR you could wait for the rate to go down for a week or two. And, based on what happening, I bet, rates are NOT going down in the near future... only up
.... Calling back this morning:
B - Ok I'll pay you $1950.00
Me - Sorry but this day is already booked up, would you like to push your load for the next week?
B - What???!!! But.... Now I would have to book this load for $2000.00 with "them" , it's NOT fear.

.....

I just found both phone calls funny. And I feel bad for ALL those brokers/carriers.

Breaking NEWS:
RATES WENT UP! Action is required!!! Evacuation is in progress!
Please proceed to the following designated evacuation center IMMEDIATELY: ​

Higher Rate Community Center
20-30 PercentegeUp Drive
HEREinCANADA, ON L0L L0L​

.... ;):cool::p:D....
Love you ALL!!!
 
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