ATA at it again

It's BS that truckers are the only ones liable for production in the whole chain of shipping. If we're held to the standard that we are then everyone else in the chain needs to be as well.

 

The ATA has always sucked...

 

Man, that's true. Got a news alert from Heavy Duty Trucking magazine today on my iPhone that ATA is also cranking up the pressure to mandate EOBR's

Evey year for quite a while now, the carriers I have been with would always hand out the patches, pins, etc from ATA that they got for drivers for being good little drivers. I always either gave them back or filed them in the trash. Why would I want goofy junk from a Communist front group like the ATA? But then, I got rid of my uniforms and medals from the Army several years ago, so I never was one that had a desire to have that kind of stuff. Just give me more money.

 

i know their is a push in washington to get detention time, but to come out with a rule/law ? if it's passed i can see the shippers/receivers going to a first come first serve appt. policy. no more appt. times equals no detention time.

 

Well, Bigray, that idea may be about as good as any. No telling what will happen. I have learned, no matter what the issue, that if the Government has anything to do with it, it will be a mess.

 

Had not heard that.

 

First off, let me say that I am NO ATA fanboy. They're a lobby group for shippers and the big carriers, and serve no purpose to the individual owner operator.

With that said, the passing of legislation mandating detention pay will do nothing to help the financial well being of drivers, owner operators, or fleets.

Carriers always have, and always will compete for freight just like they are now. If detention pay is mandated, per mile rates will only drop as a result. The same carriers who agree to sit and wait at shippers and receivers with no expectation of compenstation will only resort to hauling for a lower per mile rate, making their losses up on the detention fees.

It pretty much works that way right now...at least in my experience. The rates on loads going from/to shippers and receivers that are notorious for long wait times are higher than to the shippers/receivers that are known to get you in and out in a timely manner. The efficient shippers and receivers get their freight hauled cheaper. Simple as that.

The way I see it, we'll all be making the same amout of money wether detention pay is mandated or not. The free market will see to that. Getting paid for detention will only serve to make everybody feel better about getting paid for their time, but it isn't going to fatten anyone's wallet. There is ALWAYS going to be a carrier/broker/owner operator who will undercut to get freight, just like they do now.

 

Better than another piece of legislation that everyone will be able to find a workaround on, is negotiation. Places that consistently detain for shipping or loading, then demand a higher rate or not pull their stuff. I realize that the bottom feeders will probably make this tactic a moot one, but not servicing a customer that has no regard for the carriers pulling for them is the best way to get them to change.

This is one of the reasons that I hardly ever pull loads for grocery warehouses and big box stores, unless we have arrainged a drop and hook deal. They have a higher incidence of unecessarily tieing up trucks. That won't be a real option for reefer pullers, but it works for my dry box.

I am always leery of another government "solution" to a problem. Usually doesn't do what was intended and ends up being a joke.