Let's talk fleet managers

Husband does not like sitting and pre-plans are not common. He is sent a load finally several hours later after sending in mty call,and then has to fly to pick it up. Hometime it seems now involves cheap loads going out. He was sent a load twice today that had no way to deliver on time and turned it down, finally sent a load that paid almost double the amount. He is lease and this is getting to be a racket. He very seldom goes to the terminals except for truck repairs and then it is in and out. He too has the one who is out more than there.

 

This is quite tha norm freight has been slow all year and probably will be this way tha rest of tha year , jus not a gd time to be leasing , me I was lucky I did quite well last year so I havnt felt tha pinch but most drvs have , as far as hometime your not goin to get a gd rate going home that's jus how it is just hope u dnt have to deadhead too far, if u work here long enough you'll know how to work tha system in your favor, hang in there

 

He has been there for about 3 1/2yrs now, 1st year was company. He was lease at another company before. And it has been a slow year, so far so good, but we're hanging on. It's just irritating that they sit on the loads till they are late, then send them, you never know which direction you should run and go hide till whenever.

 

You guys are missing info here. The shipper "tenders" the load to the carrier over the EDI system, the carrier chooses the ones they can do and accepts the tender. The call the broker, like a small fleet would do, but in the case of mega carriers, the load planners choose the loads they can handle and pass them to the driver managers for assignment to the drivers.

 

So this doesn't make sense. He has been at Prime for 3 1/2 years now? Or he has be driving for 3 1/2 years. You mention he was a lease driver somewhere else first before here.

As for knowing where to go after you get empty, find the closest washout place. By the time I'm done getting washed out I have a load ready to go. Yes it can suck if you're 20 miles the wrong way but the trailer needs the washout and this way you can run like the wind to make that impossible dispatch you just got.

The name of the game is utilizing your time wisely and communication. Does he just wait until he arrives someplace to communicate that he's empty or does he send a free form letting the dispatcher know that he's an hour away from the 90 and asking what's next?

That black box, well grey, is there for more than elogs and giving you directions, it's a tool to be used to communicate with your dispatcher. It's easier for them to answer the qc messages than talk on the phone with you.

 

He's started driving at USX in 2007, worked at CRE as lease, and has been here since 2013. So I guess all total he has about 5yrs in so far.

He has sent the projected time in for being mty and then that he was mty. I guess he needs to rattle some cages it sounds like.

Depending on the area, the washout is the place to go, but you know some areas don't have one unless you go 50 miles away.

 

Yeah, I'm not talking about the macro for the pta, I'm talking freeform messages. Carry on a conversation with the dispatcher, it really is about the relationship building.

 

The person in question has always been good about if he needed to get home, he usually stays out 2-3 mo at a time, or if he happened to be sick, etc. If a load is wacky, like the one today, it was taken off. Communication is great, but I guess it must be due to slow freight perhaps.

 

I have one thing to say.... thank god in heaven i never got into any of this crap. I have been reading one post after another on here for weeks now. I am amazed that more dispatchers haven't been killed like the ones at knight in texas. from what i am reading on here. they treat drivers like garbage or worse.

 

redoctober is on point in what he said, if fm sends u a load that doesn't give u enough time to pu , jus send a message over qc before u accept load and they will change appt or send u another load, there not suppose to send u late loads but they do ik , they expect u to know what u are doing. A gd fm goes over loads before they send it to you but most will not smh , look it's your business run it how u see fit just because fm sends u loads doesn't mean u have to take them , jus go over load carefully and weigh yo options, I dnt take every load they send me , first thing I look at is when it pu and when it delivers , secondly where it delivers to because that plays a part also deliver to a dead zone and u will sit waiting for a load or have to deadhead to a better area , its vital that u learn the freight lanes yo husband been here 3 years he should know the freight lanes by now , if he doesn't I suggest that he finds out hopefully this helps u