JB slowely replacing company OTR?

We are a small fleet too and have put 1 truck on with them running our own authority, pulling their trailer and hauling their load. We've been at it a couple weeks now and everything seems to be going good. I'll try to update in a couple weeks.

 

I too work for a small company (20 trucks). We put 2 trucks on with them, their trailers, our trucks and authority. I told my boss I would try it out for a couple weeks and see how it goes. My first load, I deadhead 150 miles pick up the load call in, to be told it doesn't deliver for 3 days, a 600 mile load and 3 days to get there, I questioned the dispatch on this, but I was told thats how it is, and I can't deliver it early, it's live unload. So I went home. next morning Rudy (my j.b. dispatcher) calls, Why aren't you there yet? you were due at noon today. I informed him what night dispatch told me, well I find out nobody in his office knows what their doing but him, don't listen to nobody but Rudy. So I guess now I'm supposed to double check every dispatch? My boss say's yeah they'll get you home every weekend, I asked Rudy, He says no, your out here for 10 days minimum. My first week, he runs me about 1800 miles. told my boss I have to be home this weekend, he didn't tell me I would be out more than 5 days and I didn't bring enough meds, or clothes to be out longer. I have no intentions of staying out there 10 days or more, EVER!. I've been driving for over 20 years, if a man can't go out there do regional runs and be home on the weekends then forget it, I'll sell my services to someone else. I should have known something when the boss told me the last guy only lasted 2 days with them. I've only agreed to go back out with them if he gets me home on the weekends. So guess we'll see how it goes.

 

I realize the original post is almost 2 years old but to answer the original post the reason we downsized our OTR fleet is because OTR is obsolete.

In other words, our clients prefer to ship via intermodal which is cheaper and faster than trying to ship OTR.

 

I doubt it is faster . It will get slower if freight picks up and railyards get more congested .

 

Rail might be cheaper, but far from being faster, maybe faster than
jb can delv.
Don't see how rail can be faster in the 1 to 600 mile ranges, or team.

 

I'm glad you jump-started this thread. As a wannabe, I have a keen interest in what the "big boys" are up to. Seems the industry, as a whole, is dependent upon how these big companies react to the stresses of the U.S. economy (if not the global economy). I read the following article: http://www.glgroup.com/News/JB-Hunt-Intermodal-Will-Do-Well-For-A-Couple-of-BIG-Reasons-44765.html and I'm curious what you drivers who are toe to toe in this battle have to say. I found the 7th or 8th paragraph under "Analysis" particularly interesting. Any thoughts?

 

The article is right on with what I was saying. I'll admit that rail might not always be faster but the percentages are still in the low to mid 90's for on time deliveries.

The bottom line is that rail is cheaper and thats what makes it so darn attractive.

The majority of our rail accounts are drop and hook so the drivers keep moving, we re-load and return to the rail and then start the process all over again. In essence the process is quicker because there is no down time waiting at the docks but perhaps this is balanced out with any time spent waiting at the rail yards. I'm sure that with the relationships JB has with the railroads that if things start to get to congested we will see JB only lanes and "special accomodations" being given to our trucks.

 

Rail freight is slow now . Think what will happen as it increases . All those double stacked containers have to be taken off the railcar , put on chassis and more often than not staged in the yard . Don't think for a minute those hostler operators check the lights and tires on those chassis . On occasion you'll see containers put on a chassis owned by the wrong carrier and it'll have to be swapped out .

 

Yes, freight is slow...although we have maintained a pretty steady pace out of and into Texas. As for the increase we welcome that with open arms! We were moving right along before the big bust & will simply do the same as things pick back up.

On the maintenance end, thats exactly why we already have mechanics on the rail yard that check our equipment and we also have our own staging area where we keep our chassis and outbound loads. This allows our drivers and hostlers to just go to one area of the yard, atleast for our stuff. We also have shops relatively close to each rail yard for any major repairs, overflow, etc. We even have onsite offices at some yards and or an office just around the corner from the rail terminals.

As for mismatches, yes I have seen them but I am not aware of any with our equipment.

Logistically we are sound. I won't go into detail here but let's just say that we have an inside eye to the rail lines. We know the who, when, what, where, and how. I'll admit that there are hiccups as with any operation but we are functionally sound in our processes.