Panther expediting - anyone have any info

I hate typo's

 

I worked for them about 6 months but had to give it up... first, they lie a LOT... especially about how much you can make. The rates they say they pay are only occassional. They will make you a lot of "offers" that bearly pay for fuel... and just say "it's an offer" They left me sitting in El Paso for 8 days ...waiting on a load and several other places for 4 or 5 days. The first in first out promise is almost never the reality. They have a few people who own fleets and when the owner of a fleet of 50 truck calls in and says "I have a driver in Detroit that needs a load" you'll be bumped from the load their driver will get it.... even when they just came in yesterday and you have been there 3 days. They'll just lie and say someone with a mini load got priority... but since you were there for days and saw NO mini load offers.. you know its bs. A mini run only goes less than 50 miles so you would see them all and have the chance to take any.

Their tracking is so strict that if you run out of time a few minutes before you have made your delivery... you have to shut down or they will call the DOT. Then they will call a tow truck to pull you and the load to the delivery and you'll have to pay the fees.

They constantly made accounting mistakes in THEIR favor. You'll be lucky to make $400 a week.. and that ends going back into your truck.

DO NOT drive for someone else.. they won't pay you. They'll just get a new driver. I know so many people who did not get paid. Panther will NOT give you any help collecting for your runs.


Basically you are just a homeless person, living in a truck or van and may make enough to pay for one good meal a day. You'll have no entertainment and only an occassional shower. You'll be hauling FedEx freight a lot that they can't drivers to take at FedEx... so you may as well go work for FedEx Custom Critical. Still... Freight is VERY slow and even FedEx recently said their freight volume was down 50%.

I would love to run the road and make descent money but its very tough in these economic times.

 

I worked for two o/o's through panther first o/o had faulty equipment and did not pay, he still owes us 2700.00 which he refused to even pay the labor board and Panther refused to pay us, said they had paid the owners, it was the owners responsibilty to pay their drivers. Second owner was dynamite, didnt hide anything from us, saw a weekly paycheck and even sent us a copy of all pro's paid, he was awesome. Panther on the other hand was a joke, dispatch did not have a clue about geography, whats the point of running your truck 200 miles to pick up a load when the actual loaded miles was 100..who's making money, when your the one who pays for the fuel,tolls and other expenses.This is how it works if your a driver..Panther gets paid first, your owner gets paid then you get paid...back hauls are a joke, and if you refuse to many of their jacked up loads they'll find a way to get rid of you. Be very aware of Panther..do your homework first..as an owner yes you'll make money...as a driver, your gonna get the run around...good luck!

 

my wife and I worked for panther for about 3-4 months we liked to have starved to death sat 3-5 days at a time waiting for a load no matter how often we repositioned never in my 18 years of driving did I do so much sitting in one place.you sit someplace
like atlanta for 2 days nothing happened so you would reposition someplace else and end up sitting there for 2 or more days.not to mention if you don't have anything in the box you aren't getting paid for the miles you drove empty.even if you were dispatched on a load you don't get paid for empty miles.I don't know about anyone else but I don't work for free.listen I don't claim to have been born with a golden steering wheel in my hand but after 18 years out here I think I earn the right to warn you do not go to work in expediting.I promise you will starve to death.Please Please stay in your big truck.plus they don't have company trucks you will be working for a truck owner(good luck getting paid).plus you think you don't get respect from other drivers on the road now wait till you drive one of those box trucks they love to TRY to intimidate you. you get no layover pay for the days on end you sit waiting on a load.I'm not trying to write a horror story here.there are some people that have done great with expediting (IN THE PAST)when there were lots of car parts to haul to the car factories.plus team or not one example I can give you me and the wife had to go from atlanta,ga.-los angeles,ca. and had to be there no if and's or buts in 38 hours who in there right minds wants to be under that kind of pressure.the expediting companies don't take no excuse for late loads not even if it's only 5 to 10 min. late hope this helps you in you decision not trying to scare you just giving you my experience.

 

I agree about Panther. My husband and I had a truck leased to them years ago and we went bankrupt. We were in service constantly and still couldn't get freight. Sometimes 2 weeks would go by without a load, but when you finally got freight, you still didn't get a check because Panther would take 2-3 weeks of insurance, satellite fees, etc. Trust me, they will get their money for doing nothing before you get what's left for doing everything. Right now freight is slow, probably till the end of next year or early 2011. I highly recommend Tri-state expedited, fed-ex, or express-1. Rates are low right now, so if you are making a living in a big truck you should stay where you're at for now. If you choose to drive expedite, find a good owner and learn the business first before buying your own truck. Also attend an expeditor's expo. They will give you all the info you need to understand expediting and what to expect, and how to manage your business. GOOD LUCK!

 

I think fedex custom critical is better i subcontacted with the 2 yrs ago they paid good i made great but they don't have directional load no idea on panther but we always made money its a good gig for a husband and wife either company you choose but i'd try fedex first

 

I drove for Panther for some time and really enjoyed it. Every company has it's glitches, but Panther (for as large as they are) really works with their drivers. My husband and I were expediters and due to his screwup we are not currently on the road. We always got our pay when it was due and very rarely if ever did Panther miss a beat. Communication is the key with this company. They have an open door policy and are loyal to their drivers. I am currently re-applying with this company. Good experience and good times. Everyone makes mistakes and the company is run by humans after all. Patience and kindness go along way here, as well as being a good driver and expeditor. you get what you give. I would roll for Panther any time.