Booking your next load?

I'd be pisses if I had to wait that long to reload and it was only 20 miles from my unload. If I'm at the unload at 8 I'm usually out of there by 830 sometimes 930 or 10 if there's a line in front of me.

 

You never know what’s gonna happen between the load your on and the next load. Slow unloading, traffic, weather, breakdowns are just a few. Cut it too close and you’ll be looking at service failures. Maybe once you get to know some of the shippers, you can rest easier. No one size fits all.

 

Too many variables … Who's the receiver, what am I unloading - mixed product at a grocery DC … see the problem there. What time did I have to start my clock to get to the receiver on time. Who's the shipper, where and when does it have to deliver. How far do I need to get after loading to make on time delivery and will there be parking at that point.

Besides … pick up and delivery times are all part of the negotiation anyway. If it's load that I'm interested in, I call. Firm isn't always firm. If nothing else the broker now has my name and number. It may not fit when I call the night before, but in the morning I might be the broker's best option to cover the load.

 

• BOOK IT!!

 

Even at four hours Unloading that leaves you with two hours to get 20 miles to next load. Unless something unusual happens you should make that with no problem. BOOK IT!

 

Are you van or flatbed? All of my experience is in flatbed, btw, but I would go ahead and book it. If anything goes wrong just call the broker and explain.

 

I try to book every morning for the next morning. Half the time I'm working on this while I'm being unloaded. Some like to gamble on shorter notice hoping for more money. I'm averaging 2.50-3/pm getting loads a day or two before and that makes me feel better about getting home if I have weekend plans. By Wednesday I'm trying to book Friday because I don't want to get stuck.

Gotta be careful though, you'd think pup/del locations would help us out with the ELD scrutiny we're under but I think it's going the other way. Seems like appt. times are getting tighter and tighter lately.

 

I’d be looking for something FCFS or maybe an appt around 11. Have the 2pm see if they can reschedule it for earlier. Waiting until two when you started at 7 means you will have basically wasted an entire day unloading and reloading. Not acceptable.

At the receiver if they hadn’t started within an hour, call the broker and notify them you need assistance. If they hadn’t started by 2 hours call the broker on the next load and let them know you may be running a little late and to notify the shipper. Hang up with them and start riding the current unloads broker rear end.

If it’s one of those big shippers like Gatorade, don’t even bother booking it. Find a smaller shipper that cares about you as a truck.

Communication and utilization of time is key. You only have so many hours in a week so use them wisely.

Edit: this is based on dry van general freight. Use common sense and knowledge of commodity to determine how much risk you can take without letting anyone down.