Taking on Goliath---My Fight With TQL

When a trailer is a "load-out", it is a given that it can be used to book loads. That is why the rate is so low, and sometimes even no pay is given. Because both parties know that the carrier will make up for the low pay by booking a load to offset it. If the shippers didn't offer this option, then no carrier in their right mind would move the trailer. Now, you may be thinking of a "tow-away" trailer. This is basically a load-out that can't be used to book loads. You have to deliver direct. BUT, the rate for these trailer moves are much higher, often equal to or exceeding the average rate for that particular lane. If a shipper is looking to mitigate expenses, he'll offer a load-out. If he doesn't care about expense, then he'll offer the tow-away rate. There are hefty fines if you use a tow-away to book loads.

Also, the more obscure trailer types pay much higher than regular dry vans or reefers. Why? Because the carrier knows that it would be difficult to book loads with them, so they demand a higher rate. An example would be a roll-door reefer or van with liftgates. If you look at DAT on Monday, you will notice a bunch of load-out trailers out of Vegas going to Wisconsin that pay upwards of $1300. Even though the rate is high, I don't touch these with a 10-foot pole because they are smaller roll doors with liftgates. I know that I'll be stuck with it. Now, if I could find consistent loads for these trailers, they would be a no-brainer. You can find one or two loads along the way going towards Wisconsin and could make a killing just by getting $2 a mile, because the high load-out rate will over-compensate for the low linehaul rate. But the risk is that you have 7 days to get to Wisconsin, so you need to find loads quickly.

 

Yeah, I figured that in this dog-eat-dog environment, a reefer load would be an easy target. That's the main reason I shy away at the moment. Although I have pulled reefer loads via power-only. I have a question since you mentioned this: Do the newer reefers have a lock-out function, kind of like a cell phone? It would be pretty easy to program. Anyone at a truckstop can turn off your reefer when you are sleeping. So adding a 4-digit PIN would solve this. Also, especially on multi-drops, when the reefer is opened and being unloaded, obviously the temperature rises. Would this be grounds for a claim? Because the last reefer load I took was a multi-drop set at -10. I noticed that the temp would get all the way up to the teens while I was being unloaded.

 

Are you a Jethro Tull fan by any chance? I DELIVERED in Hermiston. I didn't say to myself, "Why don't I "roll the dice" and go to Hermiston instead of staying here in Seattle to see if I can find a load?" Waiting is part of the game, you should know that. My plan was sound, and if TQL didn't do what they did, the plan would have worked perfectly. For the last time, I would have stayed at the Wild Horse ANYWAY, unless I would have scored a load that was time-sensitive and needed to be somewhere that day or the next. There were already loads posted for Monday coming out of Hermiston, Spokane, La Grande and Boise. You are trying to twist the Applebees analogy to fit your argument. The point of that analogy is to demonstrate that any moron has 20/20 hindsight. Anyone who focuses on the result instead of the thought process has flawed thinking from the get-go.

Let's use a much simpler analogy. You and your wife go to a casino, and your wife ambles over to the roulette table and bets $100 on red. The ball lands on black, so your wife loses $100, and she's pissed. And you, being the Harry Hindsight that you are, say to her, "You should have bet on Black!" Do you see what I'm saying? So now let's project my situation onto you. All the factors are the same, except we don't know the result yet. You ended up in Hermiston because you had a great load that took you there. You have the SAME EXACT goals and motivations. You look into your crystal ball and you see that everything is going to work out as you planned. Don't you make that same decision? OF COURSE YOU DO. You have no reason NOT to. But if you look into that crystal ball and it tells you that TQL is going to pull one of their patented shenanigans, then you DON'T make that decision. If your wife looks into her crystal ball and it tells her that the ball is going to land on black, then of course she's going to bet on black. And instead of giving her a snarky comment, you wax poetic over her.

There are 4 outcomes in the process/result matrix: 1- Good process/good result, 2- Good process/bad result, 3- Bad process/bad result, 4- Bad process/good result. I use this analysis whenever I want to analyze a poker hand. Outcome 1 is to be EXPECTED. Outcome 2 is a result of BAD LUCK. Outcome 3 is to be EXPECTED. Outcome 4 is a result of GOOD luck.

Good luck to you also. I love Jethro Tull.