2 Fridays In A Row

Last Friday morning I called in to dispatch once backed up to a door to be unloaded in order to get put on the load board to be assigned a load. I waited until 30 minutes before the end of the day (this after calling in periodically to see the status on getting a load) to call dispatch to inquire about my next load. Nothing, and they weren't sure if or when I would be assigned a load. In order not to be put in a situation where I get a load that's a short run and delivering at a weird time on Saturday morning (something that happened the previous Friday), I told dispatch to go ahead and take me off the board and that I will call in first thing Saturday morning for a load. It worked out for me because I wasn't screwed around with my clock on Saturday, and I got a 1,300-mile load with 5 stops. Earlier today it was much the same thing. I called in to dispatch once backed into a door. I was feeling pretty good because this time I had a load already planned for me. Oh, but it's never so easy in trucking. I had my shift reset coming up at 11:30. I ended up getting out of the receiver in Minooka at 12:15. The load that I was assigned to pickup had an appointment time of 12:00. Last delivery being in Minooka, IL and pickup was in Woodstock, IL. I called dispatch to let them know that my ETA was going to be almost 3 hours late. The response: OK. I called the broker and informed the broker of my ETA. I get to the shipper at 14:45 for a 12:00 appointment, and they refuse to load me. Dispatch told me to find a place to park until tomorrow morning. I keep telling myself to just refuse those loads when it's obvious that I am not going to get to the place anywhere near the appointment time.

Two Fridays in a row wasted.

Dang. That stinks.

Speaking of canceled loads. A couple of weeks ago I was picking up a brokered load in KY. I arrived within a 2-hour pickup window time. In other words, on time. As soon as I arrived they started loading me. After about 5 trips in an out of my truck, all movement and sound stopped for about 30 minutes. So, I went inside to use the bathroom and nose around a bit. Forklift operators were all sitting in a circle laughing and joking with each other. The people behind the window just looked at me and kept doing what they were doing and didn't come to the window. The sign said don't knock, so I didn't. About 30 minutes later I asked a woman passing me by if she could check in to see about an update. She said we were all going to lunch until 12:30. I had been there since 10:00.

I said, ok and went back to my truck. At 12:15 I get a call the broker canceled the load. I went back in only to be ignored for another 30 minutes when a lady came out and asked if I was the driver taking "x" load. I said, "Not anymore, it's been canceled." She was shocked and went and got a manager.

They kept me locked in the door until the broker confirmed that the load was canceled. The broker said they cancelled the load because nobody would confirm whether I was there being loaded or not. How about that? I confirm the load the day before. Arrive on time. Update my status as arrived at the shipper. Sit there for almost 3 hours and the broker canceled the load and had them take the product off of my truck.

Bill, that’s an insane experience. What is wrong with people like that? How did that end up for you? Did you get paid for your time? I won’t even ask if you were p***ed, I already know the answer to that.

Does your company offer you any compensation in that kind of situation?

My current company and previous company would offer at least a little something if a load was canceled and I had to waste a whole day waiting for another load.

My current company offers full shift pay. With Prime My FM would throw me at least $100 or more. She may have been difficult to deal with, but she wasn't stingy when it came to dishing out compensation.

Haha. No, I wasn't mad. I was smiling and courteous as usual. The girl who kept ignoring me, I think, was the person who was not checking her emails or would have seen tge broker trying to contact her about the load. I wouldn't want to be on her end of the conversation with the manager.

I was paid for the miles and the detention. All good there.

However, that started a 3-week avalanche of one challenging situation after another. It was the most difficult three weeks of trucking I've ever had to endure. I had more setbacks during that period than I did the previous 13 months of trucking. Every day, by chance, I picked up a trailer that needed DOT inspected, repaired, or both. Every day a new load change aftwr receiving the assignment. It was worse than hell week for me but lasted three weeks. I just kept rolling with the lpunches. 🤣

I was going to write about everything that happened because it was like something out of a novel or movie. Which is why I didn't write about it. LOL.

Anyway, thanks to an awesome support team, we got through it all.

Bill, that’s an insane experience. What is wrong with people like that? How did that end up for you? Did you get paid for your time? I won’t even ask if you were p***ed, I already know the answer to that.

Dang. That stinks.

Speaking of canceled loads. A couple of weeks ago I was picking up a brokered load in KY. I arrived within a 2-hour pickup window time. In other words, on time. As soon as I arrived they started loading me. After about 5 trips in an out of my truck, all movement and sound stopped for about 30 minutes. So, I went inside to use the bathroom and nose around a bit. Forklift operators were all sitting in a circle laughing and joking with each other. The people behind the window just looked at me and kept doing what they were doing and didn't come to the window. The sign said don't knock, so I didn't. About 30 minutes later I asked a woman passing me by if she could check in to see about an update. She said we were all going to lunch until 12:30. I had been there since 10:00.

I said, ok and went back to my truck. At 12:15 I get a call the broker canceled the load. I went back in only to be ignored for another 30 minutes when a lady came out and asked if I was the driver taking "x" load. I said, "Not anymore, it's been canceled." She was shocked and went and got a manager.

They kept me locked in the door until the broker confirmed that the load was canceled. The broker said they cancelled the load because nobody would confirm whether I was there being loaded or not. How about that? I confirm the load the day before. Arrive on time. Update my status as arrived at the shipper. Sit there for almost 3 hours and the broker canceled the load and had them take the product off of my truck.

That's enough to make me want to get someone fired.

Does your company offer you any compensation in that kind of situation?

My current company and previous company would offer at least a little something if a load was canceled and I had to waste a whole day waiting for another load.

My current company offers full shift pay. With Prime My FM would throw me at least $100 or more. She may have been difficult to deal with, but she wasn't stingy when it came to dishing out compensation.

Depending on how long of a time waster, my DM will give me either a day or a half day of layover pay. For us, a day is $200. I haven't found out what my DM is going to do with this latest situation because he had gone home for the day by the time I learned that I definitely wasn't getting loaded. With today being a holiday, I have to wait to talk to him tomorrow. I am expecting a half day of layover and that stop added to the load that I ended up hauling to replace it.