Load is not ready please come back tomorrow

As a company driver I've been happily compensated $300 for waiting all day for a load. Gotta treat yourself better than a company man, right? Just trying to give a perspective on it. No need to sell yourself short and get taken advantage of.

 

I charge $500 for layover time. Only happened once.

 

So you present your charge list to whoever and they agree to it without argument? If so, I'll create my own charge list, except I'll up the fees a little and maybe they'll let me be a super trucker too.

 

If you take whatever they offer, it's time to work on your negotiation skills.

A while back in that broker thread it was inferred I was unrealistic when I said "full rate tonu".
I get full rate tonu, because I sell service. If all I could offer was a one time thing, with no hope of professionalism, then I spose I'd be screwed and taking whatever was offered.


Let's play the scene out a bit, shall we?
You organize a movement with your truck for a broker or a customer for $1,000. You show up, the load isn't ready. They offer you $150 and you take it.
Next day the same broker has the same load, you book it for $1,000 again. The load is ready, you don't show up, and don't tell anyone in advance that you won't be there. Now it's 5pm, the broker or customer is calling you getting annoyed; "oh I won't be there today, how's about I give you $150 to offset the loss you're about to take booking a truck at 5pm for a load that has to go immediately?"
You think that broker or customer is gonna call you to load ever again? You've just proved you're an unreputable carrier, and that your word means nothing. How much money did that shipper just lose if their product isn't delivered on time? Will they just accept the $150 and smile and go on about their day?


Do you own a trucking company; or are you "a guy with a truck" ?


I book a load for $1500, I show up and it's not ready to ship. I showed up with the expectation of making $1500, not spending a bunch of my time getting to the shipper to be told it's not ready to go home. I don't work for free. And if the expectation is that I'll be loading there again, it's good to keep me in a position to want to work with that customer again. If i have the expectation that I'm gonna waste several hours of time and turn down other work to get their load covered- and then get offered 10%, How likely is it that I'm gonna turn down other work and show up next time, knowing i may only make $150?

 

850 would be the least I would go for a honest mistake. They will pay you that.

 

I understand that this is the right way from a business perspective. Is it only possible for a fleet owner with equipment in demand in the area with a proven good service record to set such terms however? I am like many hundreds of thousands, indeed a guy with a truck, and never felt that I held strong enough cards to make such demands. Honestly though, I never even tried but took what they gave me.

 

If they paid me that I would wait too. If no,t I would go. I never realized that they would pay as much, so I thought up to now that leaving the load would be the only option.

 

My question is why is this not in the contract to begin with? This is a business folks, and if the asset is not making money because of their screw up then they need to pay.

And don't give me "the broker will not pay t". There are way too many example of posters here that are treating it like a business that do get paid.

 

You have to run your company as a business and look out for your business first.

Only happened once to me, and I told them $1k to wait a day or I would move on. They countered with $500. I turned it down and found another load. No hard feelings, its just business.