Running with JCT

Truck it up. I would love 3000+ miles a week. Hopefully a lot of drop n hook. Elogs can put a dent in the amount of mile$ you can run. And time is money. I'm not sure what this thing you call home is? Lol

 

You guys are right on top of it! I myself hardly ever take home time. When I started with JCT, they said "Great, you're out of California...you'll get plenty of home time!" But my reply to them was, that I wanted to keep rolling and that I didn't want to be there. I keep about a 3000 mile /week avg. also, like Sharpp. My DM actually asks me if I want home time...like this week. I delivered in El Monte, CA. and after I sent my empty call, I got a message "You going home?" Before I could respond, I got a second message, "Or are you ready to roll?" I messaged back that if they had something for me, I was ready to roll...but if they didn't, then home was only 28 miles away, and I would go there to wait for my next dispatch. I also assured my dm that when I got that next dispatch, that I would be ready to roll out. I rarely turn down loads and am willing to go anywhere JCT needs me to go. I am willing to help out when they need it. Not only because it makes me feel like a valued member of the team, but because I would hope another driver would be willing to help out if I needed it too. We're all trying to do this together. Maybe my way of thinking or doing things is sort of old school, but it works for me, and even if nobody ever says anything to me about it, it makes me feel satisfied. Anyway, I feel like JCT is sort of a family...You don't always get along with your brothers and sisters, but you're still family.

 

JCT does have a high turnover as do most companies in the industry. There are new trucks being delivered weekly as the company works to replace the older rigs with new more efficient ones.
Many people do fail at LP. In my experience that happens for 4 reasons primarily.
1. The individual does not fully grasp that as a LP/OO they must work harder and be more focused than the company driver they more closely resemble. LP is a small business and it takes a level of commitment not all are aware or capable of making. As is the case with all new start up companies. There are a number of office personnel as well as successful drivers here willing to put time in mentoring or coaching an individual if they feel inclined to ask for help.
2. The individual has unrealistic expectations from the beginning. To be a LP operator is not the same as an independent contractor. As a contractor I am only responsible to take care of the load I have agreed to and nothing else matters. As an LP I am but a part of a team, and need to have a willingness to to do my part as such. Or under this same reasoning I find drivers with expectations to be able to dictate exactly where they will and will not go. Within reason I support the ability to have a preference of where one wishes to conduct their business but It will forever amaze me when a driver refuses to run entire regions and then wonders why they aren't making the miles. If you don't run the west coast JCT is not for you. Our primary freight lanes are from the Mississippi River valley to the west coast.
3. The individuals personal financial situation was out of control before they arrived. You can make a decent living and pay off a truck running over here however it is trucking and between breakdowns, accidents, weather, and home time there will be bad days and potentially bad paycheck weeks. If your financial survival mandates a weekly paycheck of any specific amount, you may be setting yourself up for failure. For myself I have a monthly income goal(expenses,bill money, savings and retirement) I try to go home after my goal is met and the next months bills are prepaid. Just my method, and if I had a ad month I have ample savings to still make it home if it is necessary.
4. Upon occasion the truck a person selects can turn out to be a real lemon. It will meet DOT standards before you take off with your first load, but only the previous driver knows how it was treated. If a person find themselves in a truck that is a problem truck, communicate that immediately to the office. They will bend over backwards to make it right. Talk to them the way you want to be spoken to and stay in the solution and things can be handled quickly.

 

To help back you up Sharpp, I'm uploading my settlement from yesterday. Hope it helps illustrate what you could expect from JCT. View attachment 53688 View attachment 53689

 

Won't work for me.

 

What can you tell me about favoritism in dispatch? What I mean specifically is this: Should I expect to run apples and potatoes out of the northwest all winter long, just to end up not getting the northwest runs when the snow is not falling?

Will I see the majority of my lane being 40 and below in the hot months, and 70 and above in the cold months? Does anybody have any experience with what I am talking about when it comes to running produce? Will Yuma/Imperial valley just be a long lost memory while I brave the rigors of the northwest? Will I only see it when it's 100 million degrees outside?

I hear what you guys are saying about just accepting what is given, and running it when it's offered, but these things I have voiced are real issues in produce. I want to know about fairness and equity in dispatch. Will I continually have 6 and 7 picks in California while other drivers never have more than 3 and usually 2 at most?

High turnover isn't simply indicative of drivers having competency issues. With most things in life it's a two way street. I have witnessed instances where a driver became discouraged and ultimately disenfranchised because he didn't feel as though he was getting treated equally among his peers. To be blunt, favoritism was in full force and he knew it. It wasn't that he was under performing, and in many instances he was taking loads that the favorites didn't have to deal with--and for some of the very reasons I have expressed; weather. So how about it guys? Any favoritism going on?

In that same spirit let's take a closer look at swaps. Now understand I'm well acquainted with swaps. Not only am I well acquainted with swaps, I am well acquainted with swaps as it pertains to running reefer. Sharrp I have read every page of your thread except for the little spat where things got fussy. I am stating this to communicate that I am not speaking out of turn on these issues. OK.

Now I understand that situations arise that make a swap the only viable solution to get things covered. I get that, I really do, but I have experienced it first hand to where it was being abused for the benefit of other drivers. This isn't about me having a bad attitude and an unwillingness to help out when needed. Let's talk straight. In almost all swaps, there is a short end of the stick and a long end of the stick. There is nothing worse than spending a day making your picks, and then getting 100 miles down the road only to get contacted about a swap that takes you right back to where you just came from, and the drop is due in the morning. You then get to make the picks all over again, on the next load, while the other truck drives off over the hill with the load you picked. Sure you helped out, but that satisfaction does little to take the sting out of it.

To make matters worse, no amount of load planning on the part of the driver can prepare you for what swaps will do to your week when you are receiving the short end of them. The example I have given will kill your whole week. You have now spent two days making picks in CA. This type of thing can become just as frustrating to a driver as it is a dispatcher who is told by a driver "no I don't want that load." In fact, it is a little more troublesome to the driver because his income is WHOLLY dependent on his personal productivity. In the event of a swap a dispatcher suffers no productivity loss, and in a lot of cases it is occurring to get freight picked, moved, and received on time. It is occurring for productivity purposes in a larger picture, but that is not always to the benefit of the driver involved. There is somewhat of a conflict of interest at work here. I understand that losing an account is not in the interest of the organization as a whole, and that what is most important at times is getting freight covered. I understand that power at times can be running under capacity, and it is presenting issues. What I can't understand is being lied to as to why a swap is occurring. Whether that lie be second hand from the mouth of a dispatcher and originating from a driver, or a dispatcher original. Being lied to, more than anything, is what pisses a driver off and plays a huge role in running him off. It is no different than a driver telling a dispatcher, "yeah I'll be ready for dispatch on Sunday" and then when Sunday roles around the story changes to it being Monday, or he just won't answer his phone at all.

This may sound self-centered or an unwillingness to work as a team, but this is not the spirit that is writing these words. I am speaking of the abuse of swaps in the spirit of favoritism. I understand that breakdowns happen. I understand there are Dr. appts to be made. I understand that so and so flipped out and is MIA. I can even understand that someone hasn't been home in two months. What I can't understand is becoming the continual relay of these emergency reroutes coupled with an explanation how I am the only truck in a 500 mile vicinity who has the availability to help out, because I have been proven to be a driver who will offer the help without resistance. Long story short--length of haul can be stifled by swaps dramatically if they are abused. This can lead to huge resentment by the driver who is experiencing a loss of productivity because of it. It can also be perceived that his loss of productivity is the expense for the convenience of others.

The great majority of drivers are tolerant people. They have to be, or learn to be. There is a lot to tolerate from all sides, and I have no illusions about it not being the same internally. When a driver begins to become of the mind that he might be needing to move along, more often than not, it isn't any one thing that he is making that decision on. It is an accumulation of issues he feels isn't being resolved, and senses that it has devolved into a state of apathy concerning his situation. Simple things like, let me get right back to ya, and then no one ever does. Or, "I really need to get my A/C fixed", "but could you just run this load" for the 3rd time since you've been expressing your need for A/C. The accumulation of lies. Unrealistic expectations that are set just above what is actually possible by the bulk of people in order to obtain ideal productivity but never have anyone, or very few, actually obtain those expectations. When these types of things become normal and are attached to a spirit of favoritism things will go south quickly for the majority of drivers.

This is what I want to know Sharrp, and I would appreciate a squarely upright answer. Do you get any impression that there is favoritism in load planning as a seasonal phenomena or otherwise? Do you feel that there is any favoritism in the utilization of swaps? I am not speaking about making decisions based on driver dependability. Do you feel that swaps are being used as a means to maximize the productivity of available equipment and serve the needs of the customer? If so, is it being done with some sense of equity to the drivers or is the customer the only focus? Sharrp, is there anything in the JCT culture that emits an it's us and them feeling?