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Who ever would have thought "No Loblaws Loads" would become a selling point when hiring drivers !!!
Sad but true ...
- Thread starter Michael Ludwig
- Start date
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I have LTL to Cornwall, ON all the time and when I have to post the loads I always put "Not delivering to Wal-Mart" in the comments!
Sometimes you have to sell loads (or hire drivers) any way you can!
Sometimes you have to sell loads (or hire drivers) any way you can!
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Down your way Mike no Loblaws would sure define you from the competition. It is nothing but for them by the looks of last time I was by the DC.
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@RK in AB ... how the heck do you get a load unloaded at Loblaws 7 or 8 hours ??? You're greasing somebody's palm aren't you ... LOL
@Rob They have it easy at Loblaws. There is so much of their equipment in there that they put shunt drivers in to unload everything. For their drivers it's simply a drop/switch.
We asked if they could do the same for us ... we'd be glad to pay them ... but Loblaws won't let them shag trailers for anyone else. I've heard the same story from Bulk Carriers as well.
@Rob They have it easy at Loblaws. There is so much of their equipment in there that they put shunt drivers in to unload everything. For their drivers it's simply a drop/switch.
We asked if they could do the same for us ... we'd be glad to pay them ... but Loblaws won't let them shag trailers for anyone else. I've heard the same story from Bulk Carriers as well.
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Mike, I worked at the warehouse in Winnipeg for many years and do you know what advantage that gets me? They can tell me to go screw myself while addressing me by name!! LOL
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You know the funny thing is, I have a brother in law that is fairly high up in the chain at Loblaws and he told me that they make millions off of trucking companies because they are late and are charged a fine, Then, try and get detention time when you are there like you all said 7 to 8 hours after you appointment, like pulling teeth. I sent Loblaws an invoice once charging them a fine for everytime I was on time and the door was not available and stated that if you can charge me a fine when I am late why can I not charge you a fine when I am on time and there is no door available. No longer doing any work for them lol
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Yep, a $1,000.00 fine if you are late for your appointment and do not inform them. Even if you inform them, the fine is still at their discretion. I think they're pretty much at the top of the BS quotient.
It's really not worth doing business with them, but every now and again you get stuck and have to take one of their loads. We have actually calculated that we lose less money bouncing a truck home empty as opposed to bringing a Loblaws port load out of New Jersey or Delaware ... now that is truly a sad situation.
About every 8 or 12 months a new broker comes along with this "great" freight ... it's Loblaws freight and they think they have the world by the a$$ because they are working for the largest food chain in the country. Truth is Loblaws is just getting down to the bottom of the list of brokers they haven't abused yet ... LOL
It's really not worth doing business with them, but every now and again you get stuck and have to take one of their loads. We have actually calculated that we lose less money bouncing a truck home empty as opposed to bringing a Loblaws port load out of New Jersey or Delaware ... now that is truly a sad situation.
About every 8 or 12 months a new broker comes along with this "great" freight ... it's Loblaws freight and they think they have the world by the a$$ because they are working for the largest food chain in the country. Truth is Loblaws is just getting down to the bottom of the list of brokers they haven't abused yet ... LOL
We have refused loads for Loblaws for the same reason - when we are there on time there are no doors available and paid waiting time is not an option. When we are late the broker tries to take money from us. We had a situation once in Montreal where the driver stopped at the gate and checked in. We were deducted $1000 for getting out of the truck without a vest.
This reminds me of the Zellers DC days in the late 90's. No carrier would go there unless they were paid up front and paid well.
This reminds me of the Zellers DC days in the late 90's. No carrier would go there unless they were paid up front and paid well.
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I drive part-time on the weekends and end up at either Ajax or Cambridge once or twice a month. Standard procedure goes something like this. Show up an hour before your appointment, Either get a door to back into(But don't open your doors until we call you) or get sent to the pad. Approximately 3 hours past your appointment time you get called to "open up". They then unload the trailer fairly quickly and you think your doing well but then it takes 2-3 hours to get your paperwork. The best was when I went to Cambridge at 4am for a 5am appointment and the goof in the gatehouse told me my appointment had been changed to 9pm and wanted to know if I wanted to wait. LOL
P.S. I was in a day cab...
P.S. I was in a day cab...
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The question is "Who did they tell your appointment was changed?". That's the Loblaws way though ... make it up as you go along.
Where I used to work before, a vendor to Zellers, we incurred a mountain of fines that was transportation related. Everything had to be sent via EDI, ASN's had to have the truck license plates that were delivering, they had to be received 22-26 hours before the appointment, trucks needed to arrive 30 min before the appointment but were sent away if they were 45 min before - just absolute crap. I swear that they only made money on the fees and fines and not the product.
I understand the need to standardize and have measurable KPI's, especially at a level such as this, but to put monetary charges for each issue was too much. They should've went with a scorecard, rated each vendor and give them ways to become more efficient. Some vendors are great at some items and have a hard time with others.
The vendor eventually dropped Zellers because Zellers debited the product invoices against the fines. Three months later all the fines went away and we were shipping again. I guess Zellers needed that vendor.
I understand the need to standardize and have measurable KPI's, especially at a level such as this, but to put monetary charges for each issue was too much. They should've went with a scorecard, rated each vendor and give them ways to become more efficient. Some vendors are great at some items and have a hard time with others.
The vendor eventually dropped Zellers because Zellers debited the product invoices against the fines. Three months later all the fines went away and we were shipping again. I guess Zellers needed that vendor.
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No, there's not. And, there's an added bonus to hauling coils ... if the receiver won't unload, you just unchain and turn the corner ... BAM ... unloaded !!! ... LOL
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We ship product to all major retailers and they have pretty much all lost their minds one way or another Wal Mart started the fines and the rest had to follow because their shipments sat on the dock while Wal Mart's got delivered. We use to haul out of the states for Loblaws but as soon as they decided they were going to fine their own carriers being paid by Loblaws that was it for them, added about $200 per load and no more loads and didn't even notice it a bit.
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Things sure must of changed in the steel business since I was doing it. Sit all day to load coils at Stelco to be in Chicago in the morning then go sit all day at US Steel in Gary to be in Toronto next day. Heaven forbid you try and catch a nap because everyone just pulls around you in line.
Loblaws sure can suck no doubt about it but we don't do many and most of the ones we do seem to go off without a hitch.
As far as the fines go. We have never had it happen (touching head) and hope it never does because it would not be a good conversation or outcome. We work to damn hard for the peanuts we get in this business and they need us more than we need them.
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I do think you are right, Rob. They have got to be clueing in that they need trucks more than we need loads. Distribution Centre loads that we will touch are few and far between. We just don't need that hassle when there are other decent loads out there. Payment trends etc. always seem to come up on this website and they are important. But they are not the most important factor for us taking a load. There are so many other factors to take into account. And the shipper and receiver are usually at the top of the list for us.
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The steel biz is good... not perfect by any means.. but good. Very rarely do we incur layovers. My only complaint is that the industry is very cyclical, with ever more downward pressure on steel prices from places like China and India. Claims are rare as well.. sometimes we get one for rusty material, maybe one or two a year. I probably have too much of my business tied up with steel, at least my accountant tells me so. But then I get freight from other sectors that general sucks in comparison. Did a bunch of watermelon loads last year for an American produce broker. You want to talk about wait time... holly Moses. But then again they paid me in three to five days.. can't beat that. As a broker I stay away from most stuff that can be easily broken or stolen (i.e. 90% of all freight). A shipper I cold called recently had a skid of windshield wipers to be shipped to somewhere in Mexico. I told him no thanks.. by the time all the five finger discounting is done there might be one box left on the skid by the time it gets to Mexico. Lumber sucks, I think we all know that. I called a mattress place the other day... they wanted rock bottom prices and "don't get paid until 2018" payment terms. Again, no thanks. I guess there's that comfort level too. I'm used to steel.. the mills and carriers etc.. When I did those melons last year it was like learning to walk all over again..a whole different mentality and set of problems to deal with.