Repowers and Other Nefarious Procedures

There seems to be a common thread of questions that turns up regularly in the Aviary. I decided to start this thread to explain how things work to cut out the misconceptions and rumors. Keep in mind, I don't necessarily agree with all of the procedures and I have zero capability of changing them. But by explaining these things from the 'inside', a driver can learn how to avoid the most common complaints and how to use this tool to their advantage.
Feel free to ask questions, but please don't entice arguments. As you will see there are distinct differences in vantage points on how procedures work. By enlightening drivers on how the 'inside' thinks, you can make adjustments to your advantage, and ultimately to the company's advantage as well.

 

Repowers, or the act of moving loads between dispatchedtrucks, are done primarily to ensure on time delivery to the customer.
The act of identifying a load needing repower is accomplished by a series ofprocedures that are in constant motion.
Each load is tracked by the DM, CSR and Operations. Each time it is accessed,notes are made and these are available for everyone to read. A load isclassified by one of several tags:
No tag generally means all is well.
W means watch! The load needs close attention. Anexample is one that is borderline on schedule or a loaded call has not yet beenreceived, altho it's still viable for on time delivery. A load approaching it'sDLD, but with a shipper that's notorious for breaking those deadlines would warranta W.
R means it needs a repower
C means it's critical and needs immediate attention fora repower.
The difference between R and C is time left on the load. If a load has threemore days until delivery, it will generally have an R. A load that deliverstomorrow will likely have a C. Other criteria that may move a load directly toC status is the account.
Peterbilt will always have a C with it. That account belongs to Steve Aaron.
The last classification for a load is L. This means late, and generallymeans there is a Service Failure report attached. There are different reasonsfor a Service Failure, from weather related, to driver error. A Service Failurecan be logged against dispatch for having dispatched late, Operations forhaving failed to identify a problem, the customer for not having the load readyon time or the driver for having failed thru their fault. A service failurereport can be generated anytime, including after the load is delivered. It canalso be changed or removed.
The inside people are often held to incredibly difficult standards. When a loadfails, it must be attributed to a reason, and when a clear reason is notobvious, it's generally blamed on operations.
So people reviewing these loads often become very gun shy. Service failuresresult in poor reviews and lack of pay raises, not to mention possibledisciplinary actions and write ups.
So often a load is identified with an R just to cover one's butt.
Better to have identified it as needing a repower and it delivering on time,than having missed it and the load going in late.
The most common reasons for tagging seemingly on time load are loads on grad fleetdrivers, or those with drivers having documented service failures.
Grad Fleet drivers are a big unknown. They are new, have often not yet learnedthe procedures and haven't developed a sense of urgency. It's not uncommon tofind a Grad driver taking 11 hours to travel 350 miles with no ascertainablereason.
The longer a driver is out there, the better for us to understand their workpattern. A G3 will have some kind of record. A G1 is totally unknown.
Then there are drivers with service failures. There is absolutely NO viableexcuse for a service failure other than the driver just didn't care. Weather,shipper related or a late repower to that driver do not beget a servicefailure.
I think most drivers that read this forum are reasonably astute, responsibleand dedicated to doing a good job, if for no other reason than their personalpride.
But you would be surprised at the number of drivers that not only fail to runtheir loads, they fail to send in a repower request.
Excuses like, "Dude! I don't drive after dark." or "I wanted towatch the game" are not uncommon.
The rule of keeping a load is the scheduling. Stevens plans loads at 50mph. Ifyou can deliver your load on time, safely and legally within Stevens'parameters, you can keep your load.
We may ask you or even try and intimidate you into a repower to save anotherload, but if you can make OTD within those parameters, you can keep it.
Now that you understand how repowers are decided, here are the questions youneed to ask when called:
Where is the load going?
How many total miles will I get?
How many drops?
What are the dates of the drops?
Where are the drops? Going to Boston in the wintertime can be an issue.
Who are the consignees? This may be important. Walmart is very strict abouttimes, some receivers such as Kraft can be very flexible.
Is the final a drop or live unload? Again, a drop to Walmart is simple. A liveload is very time sensitive.
Depending on the answers, you may come up with more. An example would be adelivery to the first drop that will be late. This can affect all thesubsequent drops.
If you're being asked to take a three drop load and the first one is late, askfor additional compensation if that first one won't take you.
After agreeing to a repower, consider your word as bond. If you failed to askthe right questions, learn from it and suck it up!
I'm not talking about being lied to. I'm talking about failing to ask all thedetails.
The repower person is often like a salesperson. They'll tell you only as muchas necessary to make the sale. There may be omissions. It's your responsibilityto ask the details. If they won't answer you, then smell a rat.
The most common issue revolves around multiple and undisclosed drops. "Ineed help getting this load to Patterson NJ tomorrow morning. Can you help?"
"Sure" you say, but no one told you and you didn't ask...so thesecond drop in the Bronx and the last one in PA three days later come as asurprise.
If you agreed, be a mensch and live up to your word. And learn from it.
Sometimes it's a lousy repower. Bargain for something on the other end such asa good and immediate preplan.
I do have to tell you that repowers that come at night are just repowers.Promises of preplans, good loads and what not are just empty promises. We don'thave access to preplans. If there is a night dispatcher on duty (as there oftenis) we can go to that person and plead on your behalf. If we get one, thengreat!
Lastly, have everything put on the qualcomm. This covers your butt if you latergo to Smokie or Bonnie seeking redress.
If someone gives you promises, YOU put it on the QC!
"I understand this repower I'm offered is due tomorrow morning at 0800 inPatterson NJ, has a drop in the Bronx on tuesday at 0300 and finals in RockyHill, CT tuesday night at 2200."
This covers you.

 

How do we determine if we repower your load?
Well first off, if it's impossible to do the miles in time, it's subject to a repower. But that isn't the challenge most of the time. We all understand if there are 845 miles left and it's due at 1000 the next morning, you can't make that delivery with only 12 drive hours available.
But what about that same load, and we have 16 drive hours available?
Well that comes to 53mph and according to Stevens policy, you don't have a choice. You have to give it up.
But you know it's all interstate and you don't drag your feet, so it's a no brainer to you.
This is where you need to do some salesmanship. Confidence will get you somewhere. If you can convince us you will deliver on time and without failure, we'll likely let you keep the load.
Use your DM to go to bat for you. He/She know you better than the repower people.
But the real trick is to look at your load and figure out how to make it work best for you.
If you pick up a load that is running late or is marginal, and given you want to keep it, run it as hard as you can. If you can run 600+ miles the first night (or day) you can possibly put it in the marginal arena the first day and in the On Time status the next.
On any given day, there are possibly a hundred loads that need repowering. There just aren't enough of us on staff to do all of these.
Work with your DM in getting that load repowered. They have your best interests at heart. If they can repower you to one on their own fleet, it keeps their productivity rate up and there is a bonus for the best productivity fleets each month.
So they NEED to keep you moving.
The night and weekend crew simply have to make repowers happen. We are penalized if we don't meet a certain quota, so our incentive is to repower a load, not care how it benefits a driver. That's not to say we won't work with you, but you have a better chance with your DM.
If you have a load that needs repowering, put yourself in a position that works best for you.
An example is for those that can run at night. If you can run all or much of the night, then before going to bed the next day, request your DM find you a good repower, you will likely wake to a good load to run again at night.
I've told this story before, but it bears repeating.
I was a night runner. I liked it and did it often.
My best stint of time was durin last winter when I bounced between Phoenix and Van Horn for three weeks. I never saw a dock, just repowered back and forth. I averaged well over 3,500 miles per week. I finally had to cry uncle. But it was a great ride!
Put yourself in a good position to repower for the company's advantage. We learn who is a good runner and who isn't. I keep a list of trucks that will bust their butts and I rarely ask any of those persons to take a bad load. I try and take care of them because they take care of me.
If I have a particularly good load that needs repowering, I look at my list first and see if anyone is available.
Something else that bears mentioning here. I know it's going to come as a surprise to some of you, but when you ask for a repower (via the qualcomm) it goes up on the board with an R next to it. But that R is a red one. It indicates to us that the request is driver initiated.
As we get time we'll review that request and if it's needed, we'll change it to the standard green R.
We have so many loads that NEED repowering, that it's rare we ever get to work on repower requests from drivers because they have too much time on the load.
What to do?
Call and let us know. We'll put your name and location at the bottom of our work sheet and when we start working on a load needing repower, we'll commonly look at this list to see if anyone is in the area.
But chances are if you are on time, no one will work on your request.

 

I can tell you if there are any service failures on your profile. But so can your DM.
Other than that, it's largely done by memory and personal notes. I have notes of drivers that I wouldn't trust further than I could throw them. There are others, by memory, that I know will do a good job if asked.
There are a few trucks that the DM's have put notes in the front page profile that read something like, "Do not dispatch on any time sensitive load, is not dependable." or "Will not go to California" or "Not allowed on XXXXX premises".