Swift transition is making me crazy

problems problems problems....

I had a delivery at Wally this morning. When I was writing down the load info, I didnt see an appointment #. So I contacted dispatch on QC but they say they dont see it and try the BL # WTF? So I get to the delivery and of course they want the appt #. So I called the Conley terminal, luckily someone Im familiar with found it for me AND the other Central driver there with the same issue!

Then I do a Mac 5 and I get an autoreply that says that Im not in the vicinity of the delivery and wouldnt accept the Mac 5! UH I JUST BUMPED THE DOCK DOOR!!! So would it let me do a Mac 6? Hell no! I had to have dispatch manually clear the load from me.

Just deadheaded 3 hours north and my PU for a 600 mile load wont be ready until tomorrow afternoon. Luckily they're moving in the west direction!

This has been a crap month!

 

What Swift does is over hire or take another company, lest more drivers and less freight to go around.

 

This is an utterly stupid statement ... not business justification in the world for taking on more overhead and not utilizing it to generate revenue ...

 

Swift want's the freight, and buying the other company decreases competition. Keep the freight, sell the assets. Win/win for Swift.

 

Nothing shocking about this ... It's covered in the first year MBA syllabus. Any time you acquire a company you want to retain the revenue/customer base, while removing redundancies in overhead.

 

Absolutely true. The problem here is it's not working out that way. Some Central customers have already been lost and there are signs that a couple very significant ones are soon to pull the plug.

 

idk , for some reason i think things will get better ...
i know i have been one of the most non positive person so far , but idk i think it may get better , part of the problem right now we are dealing with DM's that re pissed because they don't know if they are gonna have a job in a few months , so yea they don't care ....
i really hope i am right on this .....
i have been at home for a few days and had time to think , i really don't want to leave because then the next place i apply to will be like " oh this guy can't last a few months "
i am trying to have a positive attitude , even though things have been very rough .

last check was for 1300 miles + detention and layover because of all the sitting around , and guys when you get that message about being there for over 2 hrs, reply with the real reason and don't be a smart ###, detention is being paid on your response ..........

i have had so many problems , and am one who really wants to leave , but idk i am not ready to give up yet .

 

TangerineGT makes an excellent point.

If you are asked for information, like with the 2-hour message while loading/unloading, be serious, accurate and informative.
If you are able to, it is best to provide the name of a person at the shipper/consignee.
Swift wants, and needs, the details so they can justify that detention pay that it charges the customer and pays you.

I get paid detention pay fairly often, and all I've had to do is respond to those messages with good information.
And all you have to say is something like...
Bob in shipping told me that they are shorthanded today, so things are taking longer than expected.

Or...
I had to wait over an hour for a dock, and I'm still being loaded.


And TangerineGT, I'm glad you're willing to try and let things work out. I know it's hard on all of you.

 

It does suck , but man I am trying my best to deal with it .
it is true the first couple times I blew those off and didn't get get paid detention , but when I responded with a reason I did

 

Sorry, but it seems like an attitude problem.

Don't get me wrong, please.

You say you are trying your best to deal with it.
But it is not so much 'dealing with it' as it is simply learning a new system.

'Dealing with it' implies that it will be an ongoing struggle.
Whereas 'learning a new system' implies evolving your thought processes into a new mind set.

If you really want to give this an honest chance, it has to be the latter.


I am 58 years old, and I have been trucking for only 3 years.
I've had to 'deal' with things, and I've learned to 'evolve' into things.
It's a matter of survival.
Trust me, evolving into is better than dealing with.

You learned that when you started to respond correctly to those messages, because it produced the results that both you and Swift desired.

The trick is to learn the system well enough to keep both sides happy.
And that does not come from dissent or conflict, it comes from knowledge.

Knowledge of the system you are expected to work within, and the knowledge of how to work that system (and within that system) to your own best advantage.

I am a fairly simple person, so I keep within the 'company driver' role because that is simple to me.
I like simple, because when I try to get complex - well, I tend to go too far.