Big Loads - Post Photos Number 2

Most of our non-trucking bid work is let on a best-value award system, in which each of a business proposal (cost), technical proposal (how we are going to accomplish the work), and past performance/references are ranked by a point value and then the firm with the highest ranking is selected.

When many civil engineering projects are awarded there is no price discussion initially. After a firm is selected using a variety of evaluation criteria, which includes a firm's cost containment history, the price is negotiated based on industry standards.

It amazes me that manufacturers like Cat, Deere, Komatsu, etc. don't have some sort of evaluation criteria besides basic insurance requirements for carriers and brokers. Unfortunately it seems that the insurance companies and FMCSA are ultimately who are often the only entities setting the bottom end of acceptable criteria.

That said, I believe you guys that have direct contracts or a reputation with brokers, have proven yourselves and have earned the ability to demand more than the bottom feeders.

I don't know anything about how an outfit like Keen operates or what their relationship with manufactures is, nor how it works for outside carriers to load out of their yards, but it would seem that they had to meet some sort of standard to get where they are. Hopefully it is not based entirely on price alone. But then what happens when the receiver is the customer and sends a carrier of their choosing? Can a shipper then refuse a carrier for whatever the reason when they're not paying the bill?

All of this tends to point to freight regulation by the government which would include minimum rates. Many older guys lament deregulation, and blame that on the current condition of trucking. No doubt it has had a huge impact, but I doubt it could have survived as it was anyway as the border between capitalism and regulation is a constantly moving target.

I don't have a clue what the answer is, but I think it involves the investment, or lack thereof, required to enter the industry. That may include the standards required to obtain operating authority, but it seems that an MC number will soon be a thing of the past and blended into the USDOT number, which indicates that compliance with FMCSA, UCR, Drug Clearing house, etc. and the ability to obtain insurance will remain as the threshold to operate in this industry.

I'm interested to hear what solutions everyone proposes like what @Razororange mentioned, and why they will or won't work.

 

you have more than a clue. This is the crux of the issue. Top to bottom, across all segments.

 

Technically I'm over weight with this smaller Turbine rotor I moved this morning. Only weighs about 38K though.



Then I went back tonight for the big one. Unfortunately it didn't fit in the conestoga.

About 105K 10ft wide and 14ft high on the deck.




Slow ride back to Milwaukee in the morning.

 

IYKYK

 

Little 3300 mile run from Philadelphia to Phoenix

 

That green SOB was a mofo.

 

There are a lot of lowboys in the northwest that the timber guys run that have a stand on back to stretch the stick out and set it on. Looks like a bugger to figure out how to tuck everything in and keep height down.

 

That’s a dangle processor. Like a 7,000 pound wet noodle. Would have been a lot easier on a flat floor. It was hard to get it to trip on those rails. Just wanted to slide. I got it down to 13-9

 

A prostar and a mechanical detach will be on these like white on rice.