Mercer

At least your getting home....

When I'm dispatched out, I don't get offered a load back home or even close for well over a month.... Sometimes two months.

 

I've questioned the "first empty, first offered" after being empty and losing loads I wanted, to drivers that arrived an hour later to unload at the same place while I was still sitting there. They got the loads while still enroute to delivery and I was #2 on the board behind them but already empty? Could never get answers why this happened. That, and rates, are my only real gripes right now. But losing good loads like that is upsetting.

 

Why would you guys go the distance and the extra expense by buying the scanner, if mobile scanning works just fine ? Plus, you are getting
Less clutter in the truck and more use out of the mobile
Use.

 

What do you mean by mobile scanning? One of the cell phone apps? If so, those will not be implemented until a later date, and do not work nearly as well as a scanner. I already have, as do many others, a multi-function printer/scanner/copier in my truck, so there is no additional expense involved.

However, for those who do not have a scanner, and particularly do not have a computer or an already existing plan allowing them to connect to the internet, there will be a much higher monthly cost involved compared to what they are accustomed to.

There are advantages and disadvantages to every system. In the long run I think this change is beneficial. Those who do not want to accept and embrace the technologies available to us will eventually be left behind. Many times we must drive out of route just to drop off paperwork for TripPak. In cab scanning costs can be completely recovered from that savings alone, in most cases. There will always exist the option to put your paperwork in the prepaid USPS envelopes and send them that way.

 

roshea, i agree with you on the scanning.

and i am still dont understand the way the first in?first out routine works. i can look at matched loads and for loads coming out of the same location, i will be a different number on each, example say 10 loads coming out of savannah,ga going to different places i can anywhere from 1 on one of the loads to 15 on another.

and i do get offered loads on a preplan basis, in fact this weeks run was planned out by monday evening.

redd, i dont come home that often, came home easter, before that out 5 weeks and 2 weeks before that 5 week jaunt. if i can get to near louisville its easy to get home,, ghent , ky loads to savannah nearly every day at 2.02 a mile and they load to pendergrass near atlanta everyday almost , and yu can reload out of pendergrass

 

different positions result from different driver preferences in the computer. could be weight, type trailer, tarp height, how far willing to deadhead, etc.

and preplan, that is something that doesn't make sense if it is first empty first offered. And I have had preplanned loads also. I don't like conflicting information! Don't tell me one thing and do something else.

off for a bite to eat here in Shelby Montana ... whohoo ....

 

I pretty much came to a conclusion that "first empty, first offerd" is just a nice sales pitch. I'm not complaining about it, as I've benefitted from preplans and such in the past.

I am finding out that, because of this, having a good coordinator make a big difference in your productivity. I was assigned to a new coordinator in February. I started out having him book loads on my behalf, but I stopped it when he booked two crappy loads in a row, while I was in a good area.

I asked him to call me with offers before he books anything, at least until he gets to know my patterns and preferences. That was in early March. I guess he gave up on me as I don't see any matched loads on the board anymore, so basically I've been self-dispatching since.

I'm still doing OK, but it'd be nice to have another set of eyes looking for available loads ahead while I am driving so I can minimize sitting time.

 

Katz,

your coordinator should always be looking for you. And "matched" loads are merely those loads that line up with the preferences you have set in the system. If you are not getting enough matches then change your preferences. If you are able to get online then the matches don't matter anyway, you can ask for any load you are able to do. You position on the load will only be shown for loads you are "matched" to though, as far as I can tell.

 

If you guys run your
Logs on the computer , do you still have to print your logs ?

 

Yeah, he should, but I don't think that is happening much lately. I do turn down a lot of loads he offers me. Seems we aren't on the same page yet.

Also half the time, I end up talking to other coordinators. Last week, I talked to Stephany the coordinator more than I talked to mine. Maybe he has some other responsibilities at Mercer? He seems to be away from the desk a lot. I don't know.

So basically I've been pre-selecting the loads on the board myself, and I rarely stop long enough to log on to the load board mid-day, so I miss out on good stuff sometimes.

I just mentioned the issue of "matched" load as an example of what's been going on lately. On occasion, my former coordinator whom I had a great luck with, missed some good loads just because it didn't show up as my match on his computer. So I always use advanced search function and look for all available loads myself anyway.

I think somebody was asking the same question in the comment section of Mercertown blog. I use paper log, so I didn't bother to read the answer.