Please notify carriers, shippers, brokers about scam

[GMAN]

So you are saying that you can pay a cheap rate and get quality carriers?

[chris1]

Cheap for one is acceptable to another. It's a personal definition.
I have seen no difference in service failure between low(in my opinion) and high rates. I do see more failure of O/O's on missed PU's than larger carriers. I attribute that to them pushing for time. Sometimes it works,other times it doesn't.

[GMAN]

Cheap for one is acceptable to another. It's a personal definition.
I have seen no difference in service failure between low(in my opinion) and high rates. I do see more failure of O/O's on missed PU's than larger carriers. I attribute that to them pushing for time. Sometimes it works,other times it doesn't.

You are right about a cheap rate for one person may be acceptable for someone else. I am not sure what you mean by owner operators "pushing for time."

[chris1]

You are right about a cheap rate for one person may be acceptable for someone else. I am not sure what you mean by owner operators "pushing for time."

When they accept a load knowing that they won't be able to make the PU time.(accept a 1000 PU when they have a 0900 delivery that takes 2 hours to unload) Happens quite often on fridays.
Also after loading informing you that they don't have the hours to make delivery. Of course they inform you of this after they have left the shipper.

[GMAN]

I don't understand why someone would take a load if the knew up front that they would not be able to make the delivery or have enough hours to make it. I wonder if these people got tied up for an unreasonable time at the shipper? I would not think that it should be that prevalent or more so with owner operators or smaller carriers than larger ones.

[chris1]

Their only worry is to grab the load before someone else does and then expect the shipper to work within their timeframe.
Understand that it is the bad things that stick out,most do a very good job. There is always going to be those that don't.

[GMAN]

Do you run your own brokerage or work for someone else, chris1?

[chris1]

I have company trucks,O/O's leased on,brokerage and two 3PL's.

[GMAN]

That should be enough to keep you busy, chris1.

[chris1]

Try to hire competent people then you can just screw around.

[Musicman]

Cheap for one is acceptable to another. It's a personal definition. I have seen no difference in service failure between low(in my opinion) and high rates.

To add to what GMAN has already stated, TO A POINT, “it’s a personal definition.” There are costs that all of us as truck owners (and operators) must bear. Everybody, unless they steal it, must purchase fuel. Certainly some of us get better fuel economy than others, but there is a limit to how many miles an 80k pound vehicle can travel on a gallon of diesel. All of us must mechanically maintain our equipment or it will fail us. Certainly some of us have learned tricks to reduce our maintenance costs (just this year, I have started installing and rotating my own tires, for example), but there is a limit to how low maintenance expenses can be keep. We all must pay drivers (or ourselves, if we drive the truck). Certainly one company may find drivers who are willing to run for ten cents a mile less than another company, but how reliable are the drivers who are willing to run for that much less than the industry standard? We all must purchase permits, plates, pay weight-distance taxes (if we run in those states) and IFTA, HUT, tolls, etc. Many of those items cost the same for all of us (unless we chose to run illegally). We must all pay income tax, unless we operate at a loss or lie on our tax filings.

My point is that there is an ABSOLUTE minimum that it takes to operate a truck. Eighty cents per mile does not cover all of the things I have mentioned above (and some I didn’t bother mentioning, like equipment cost and insurance). If a carrier is hauling freight continually for that rate, it is seriously sacrificing on one or more of the above listed expenses. Eventually, this will lead to a service failure. Abused and neglected equipment will break, or get put out of service in a roadside inspection. That driver running for twenty six cents per mile because he’s desperate for a job because no reputable carrier will hire him may decide to take a three day vacation to smoke crack cocaine or crystal meth somewhere and maybe sell part of your load to get the money, or maybe he’ll have a serious accident that will cost you your entire load.

Trucking is an industry that RUNS on cash. When the cash isn’t there to meet all the demands of this business, things start getting neglected one by one, and service will ultimately suffer.