Tardy Drivers?!?!

If they run the Northeast, 2-3 hours should be added

 

Yea if conditions are ideal, how many times do you encounter ideal conditions on the Road? Not very often! There should ALWAYS be at least an hour tolerance over the driving time at the bare minimum

 

Based on what Ive seen, the drivers aren't the problem here, though some may mess around more than they should. Anybody that doesn't allow additional time to their driving time will always have late deliveries, Period.

 

Still say you're setting your expectations too high. Hope it works out for you. If it were me hauling the load, Id tell you right up front that it was probably going to be late.

 

When you plan a load, there are a lot of variables to consider. Traffic is obviously the largest. That driver is at the mercy of a whole lot of other people hes sharing the road with. Even though the driver was released at 6:30, how long did it take him to do his paperwork and to even get off the lot for that matter? I have went to places it took me 30 minutes to get back out of. Driver Experience is another factor. I have been driving 36 years and I Still don't know the best routes to take from every business in this country and relying on a GPS is futile to say the least. You can make a wrong turn and it will cost you a half hour just trying to get back on the right route. Time goes by fast-especially when you're on such a ridiculously tight schedule like that. Newer drivers are going to have to basically feel their way out of a place, old drivers do sometimes. One malfunctioning red light can cost you a lot of valuable time. A fender bender, though minor, there goes more minutes. A minor traffic jam will cost you time. My point is, you NEVER schedule a load based on Ideal Circumstances, you schedule a load taking in consideration the things that COULD happen and you add a little time to the driving time to cover the what ifs, whether they do happen or not. You do that, you will hardly ever have to explain to a customer why his load is not there when you said it would be. Assume the Worst, not the Best, when you schedule loads.

 

communication or lack of is a big problem between drivers and dispatchers. Some guys are really good about giving you a fair warning about delays , I hated trying to explain the same thing over and over. Im not really interested in knowing every detail and meddling in your business, just keep me informed of your progress so that I can efficiently plan out your trips and not look dumb when youre late and I find out thru the shipper or broker. If you keep me informed I can try to minimize your down time , make good use of your legal driving hours and try to maximize both our earnings.

Some guys will get it, some you can not beat into their heads with a sledgehammer.

 

I agree with that. They do need to keep dispatch informed but they also need sufficient hours to make the delivery, which is usually something that is beyond their control.

 

Employers won't tell brokers its going to be late otherwise they lose that load.I do think as I have said in a previous post,dispatch needs to talk to the driver before accepting the load.In this biz its all about money and drivers get blamed if the load is late.Thats how most companies are,they give you just enough time to get the load to the consignee not thinking about all the what ifs before hand.