Taking on Goliath---My Fight With TQL

I just a company driver, so life is simple, but I can't help but think " pride goeth, before the fall". You sound like someone who is never wrong.

 

Well that thread was a real time- killer and I learned stuff I never knew and probably will never need to know.

 

I'm an O/OP and if I lived that way I would quit.

 

I don’t know how long you’ve been in this game but from my humble sixteen years experience as an 0/0 (ten of them as an independent carrier) i learned that waiting for load details(rate con or dispatch) only means two things:broker is shopping for a cheaper carrier(obviously not in your case) or there is problem thats about to become the carrier problem in one way or another ( canceled load,delayed pick up,different load details) thats the reason why i wouldn’t wait and give the broker a chance to waste my time.
Thats predictive data based decision making where i use past experiences to determine future outcomes based on evidence rather than intuition.i would go to a dead zone only when:i made money going in and deadheading either home or to a load makes sense within an acceptable and possible timeframe.
Your operation is different than mine but the motivation is the same,make the most money in the shortest time with the least effort,by 1030 i would’ve cancelled that load,widened my search radius and grabbed the first profitable load.

 

I challenge you to find the verbiage on anything you've signed that says the load cannot be cancelled.

The AP is to protect you WHEN a broker pulls these rate shopping games on carriers. I can't make it any clearer than that.

I'm not defending the broker but what you're putting out to help others is harmful as it's false.

 

Sorry, I thought I spelled it out in previous posts and I do know I've spelled it out for you directly in another thread of yours in regards to a broker screwing you.

The AP is the Accessorial Policy. You can't control what the broker does even if it's in writing. They'll always find a way to screw the carrier but the AP will get you something in case of a bond claim.

If you have fees in place to cover you then you can greatly soften the blow when they eventually harm you financially.

TQL most likely rate shopped you. They got you on the hook then they tried their best to find a another carrier to haul for less than you agreed to. That's why they don't give you the "Driver Sheet" immediately. They hold that information until the last minute to bide themselves some time to shop it around.

If you have a signed Policy it almost guarantees they can't shop you because whatever they were going to get will just get spent on a TONU if you have one on the AP that's reasonably high enough. Minimum of 250 IMO.

This all applies to detention as well. Write it up good so they can't weasel out of it later. Believe me, if there's a hole in it they will use it to their advantage.

Had a broker try to not pay me a TONU once because they claimed I wasn't within a certain distance from my yard when they cancelled but mine was written with verbiage that states once the rate con had been signed (or agreed to in writing) by both parties then its locked in. Any cancellation after that point incurred the fee.

You might lose loads due to this so you'll have to weigh the pros and cons for each situation. Personally, if I lost a load due to having an AP then that means they were planning on screwing me anyway so they're doing me a fabor in the long run.

Another reason you might lose loads due to insisting on an AP is when the market is down like it is now. There are so many trucks willing to run for nothing that the broker can simply pass you up for a carrier willing to run without the AP hassle.

You have to factor all things for each particular move and market then make the best decision you can and roll with it.

 

If you get what you need going in that's gets you where you want to be than losing this load wouldn't have cost you a dime. Gaining this extra load would have simply been extra revenue.

It seemed to me that you needed this run in order to not lose revenue to get to your next destination.

 

Exactly. If the rate con isn't returned signed in 15 minutes or less i cancel the load in writing. I also spell this out in an AP beforehand. Lots of desperate trucks swimming around out the there now that will haul for a loss. Brokers know this so of it really needs moved you'll know it immediately on the first fall.

Who calls who is a major factor too. If you're calling them you are already coming from a point of "weakness". If they're calling you a large majority of the time they are serious about getting it moved.

These aren't absolutes obviously but they are awesome indicators of the conditions in a given area.

 

Are you saying that your ratecons allow the broker/customer to cancel a load verbally?

 

my thoughts too, and reasons I like owning everything, if we don’t agree, I’ll just take all my toys and go play somewhere else, but luckily have been able to set myself up with some pretty good people