Plus One

Totally agree, and I would rather have it on the QC to keep a record, but when it is something that you need an answer, lets say within 15-20 mins or if you are at a customer with a problem, like lets say night or the weekend, then how long are you going to wait, and if it is something that they have to talk to CSR about, then it might be forever. And like with these PPLAN, sometimes a quick 1 min call takes care of the problem, "What is the actual pu window. QC says 1010. Load says 1315. okay thanks, bye." And like FR8monkey says, sometimes no answer. Once, QC'd msg, 3 hours later, no answer, so QC'd again, 4 hours later, no answer, and this was during a regular work day. Finally had to call, and the issue was solved in 2 minutes. I have found that at times, what might be important to a driver, is not that important to a DM, and I am not just saying here, but mostly all over. And yes, I know that they have many other drivers that are also sending in msgs. I feel that back when it was 1 DM for 50 drivers, there was more of a personal touch, and you and your DM got to know each other, and now, well, you decide.

 

Injun,i see your point on this.....BUT if there is one thing I know now,after almost three 3 years at swift.Two biggies are service failures,and runing safe and legal.Can only go by the info given on the screen we,you see.I'm not committing to aload that i SEE on the screen is or will be late,heck Swift has literally beaten this into me over the years!

If I'm up all day(anxious,bored,pissed) waiting for a load all day,I will think long and hard before taking something overnight that I cant build in at least a nap in the wee hours(i've done plenty of night loads) but really slapping myself to keep awake and rolling down the window,and copious amounts of coffee,dont suffice and sure isn't safe and legal,especially for a couple hundred dollars.

A good planner will hit you with that load (say,8-12 hrs b4) because he should know that you need to make an adjustment to do this(i.e. try to sleep) I got no problem with that.But hit you with it,be ready in a couple hrs after being up all day? Been there,done that and not safe!

But yes to be successful,we need to constantly adapt,change and grow with the ever changing demands of our profession.But the consequences and the liability with trying to hurry and rush(with this new plus 1) are just to great for me,its taken me a long time to understand that Swift really,really isnt impressed with you Trying to be on time(because you accepted a load that you shouldn't have,based on what you know at that time)just everybody make liberally advantage and use of the new mac 9 and late macro 22(thats what it's there for) they will get the idea soon enough.......

 

These were JIT loads, and not much time for a nap. From time loaded, if no delay until del, had 12 hours, 509 miles. There was one this morning that was offered and I wanted it, 480 miles, loaded at the latest 0915. Best that I thought that I could do was 0930 because I did not know how long the live unld was going to take, plus I was just about downtown CINCI, so I declined with ETA of 0930, and lost it. An extra 15 mins. Turns out that I was even MT at 0830. It was one of those that you just did not know. With my luck, I would have said yes, then ran into a problem with the unld. It was UPS and delivered at 1000 tomorrow. And the load was only 18 miles from me. My PTA was 0900.

 

What I am seeing lots of, drop and hooks that used to have 24 hour windows, now have become appt's, to better utilize our time. Like Wal-mart DC. I might enjoy picking up a 500 miles load in the morning and get it dropped brite and early the next morning, not be told del at 0100 and possibly sit until late in the morning waiting for another load, or trying to find a place to park at 0200 and then have to wait until noon after your 10, instead of being able to del at lets say 0600 and have a pta for 0630.

 

That, I completely agree with, Squeaks.

Narrowing the window, for some of us, is unnecessary. You are probably not one who wants to drag his feet everywhere he goes. I wish everybody was like that. Then, there would be no need for this Plus One headache.

 

And, as is often the case with new technology, the folks impacted the least by the new technology are the folks not actually using it, those who bought it and are "convinced" that using it is a great idea to improve efficiency.

Bleh.

 

There are times that I might like to drag my feet, like if a very busy and hard week, I might enjoy a load that I can just drag my feet. I am one that only looks for 2800 miles per week, all of 400 per day. I am a happy camper. Give me that and you can leave me alone and you will not hear from me. I saw one Wal-Mart DC that actually had a nice window, 0100 to 0800. Those are one that a person can deal with. Or give me a 1500 mile one on Monday morning and tell me I have until Thursday morning at say 0700. I am a happy camper. A easy run where a person could maybe get some things that need done, done, like maybe laundry, or just relax for three days.