So I took a broker load today and tryed this .

I remember when I started 12 years ago.
Picked up a truckload of Jager from this warehouse in Joisy.

I walked around that massive warehouse complex taking in the vibe, wondering how many people had been beaten senseless there or snuffed by the mob.

That was with CRE. CRE didn't call, but the dude that load belonged to called a lot.

I was asking my trainer " Are we gonna get jacked with load or what?"

 

Incredible what little effort it takes to stand out head and shoulders above the crowd of "competitors".

 

Trust me I feel the same way. The average broker is pretty weak. It's a great industry for people who solve problems rather than causing them though. There are a lot of mid-high level transportation industry folks who make a VERY nice living. Those jobs mostly just require you to make decent decisions... thousands of decent decisions. Let's just say it's not a huge surprise that someone with a gambling background would take to it so well.

 

Gotta agree. I've cut some of the larger firms out for some of my customers completely by delivering what I promise, working through issues, and just generally working to fix anything that arises along the way.

Going back to this thread, I will say that I'm of two minds here. On the one hand, I can certainly understand and respect the desire to protect your privacy, or monetize it, in @nax 's case, and on the other, it would be a very beneficial tool for me, that we don't currently utilize here, and it would eliminate some of the nuisance for my drivers as well as for me having to make check calls. I guess if I were to fall on the side of things here, the benefits outweigh the costs in my head, especially as our company continues to grow. I dunno. We'll see. I suspect as we keep going along, this will all but become mandatory, especially with the ELD deadline looming large.

 

You and I will both make tracking mandatory the first day it's a viable way to do business. No use beating around the bush about it. You've given up your privacy to every Tom, Jack, and Harry in the whole world... Why not me, the person who, after your dispatcher and wife have the best reason to know where you are? I absolutely get the privacy concerns, but surely one more person who can track you isn't the end of the world?

I have no idea how many different people know exactly where I'm sitting right now, but it's definitely more than 4. How creepy is that? At this point none of us have any privacy left at all... So lean into it and get the only upside to it, which is that I might stop calling you as often.

 

Yeah, no, you're likely right on that point. From just an efficiency standpoint alone, it's worth it.

 

...and efficiency costs money. so pay up.

 

Yes exactly as much money as it costs you lol. That's the increase the market will tolerate. I doubt it will be an increase though since it's almost as good for the drivers as it is for the brokers. The extra data consumed on your phone will probably get comped by your company and they will take that into account when figuring out what to charge. And on we go.

A much more real scenario that will almost certainly happen is brokers beginning to charge carriers that don't provide electronic load tracking a fee for doing live tracking. If the adoption cost for electronic tracking for the trucks gets low enough this will be a real non-negotiable thing like how much quickpay costs.

 

Ever see that episode on the SImpsons where homer becomes a truck driver for a few days and discovers the "auto Pilot" on his truck ?