What's new

XPO | Freight Loss "Who do you Blame"

Fly-by-night

Fly-by-night

Only when you care to send the very best
Credits
734
Who do you blame for customers leaving and going with some other carrier.
We can all say that it managements fault with there pricing, but would you work for free?
Is it the damages?
Transit times?

Every carriers losses customers because of pricing and we have lost our share. Customers come and go.
Transit time well maybe a few.

I say the main reason we are losing customers is damages and not pricing. Who is responsible for the freight damage it sure in hell isn't management. Do you see FOM or high ups on forklifts? No I don't
The one losing the customers is us the driver and dockworks. The I don't give a fu#k group. Those who have been on LH there whole time here have never stood at a customer when there freight completely f'ed every time. The last customer we lost at our barn asked the sale person what going on here there freight is damaged on every delivery and they will now use someone else. This was a customer we were in 4 to 5 times a week for both delivery and pickups.
I read it not career it's just a job. well how about you just a steering wheel holder. I am a Professional Truck Driver and have been for over 25 years

We as driver and dockworker need to pull our head out of our own asses and start giving a ::shit:: about the freight we haul
 
Fly-by-night said:
Who do you blame for customers leaving and going with some other carrier.
We can all say that it managements fault with there pricing, but would you work for free?
Is it the damages?
Transit times?

Every carriers losses customers because of pricing and we have lost our share. Customers come and go.
Transit time well maybe a few.

I say the main reason we are losing customers is damages and not pricing. Who is responsible for the freight damage it sure in hell isn't management. Do you see FOM or high ups on forklifts? No I don't
The one losing the customers is us the driver and dockworks. The I don't give a fu#k group. Those who have been on LH there whole time here have never stood at a customer when there freight completely f'ed every time. The last customer we lost at our barn asked the sale person what going on here there freight is damaged on every delivery and they will now use someone else. This was a customer we were in 4 to 5 times a week for both delivery and pickups.
I read it not career it's just a job. well how about you just a steering wheel holder. I am a Professional Truck Driver and have been for over 25 years

We as driver and dockworker need to pull our head out of our own asses and start giving a :::shit::: about the freight we haul
Click to expand...
It’s all about the bottom line not damages. Cheapest gets it. That’s how corporate controls volumes to maximize profit
 
LTLIndentured said:
It’s all about the bottom line not damages. Cheapest gets it. That’s how corporate controls volumes to maximize profit
Click to expand...
That is true, but how long will a customer keep having there shipments damaged. In today world with the limited supplies companies keep in stock spending a little more to get it there damage free and keeping their customer happy will have longer returns then the saving on shipping.
Yes the cheapest wins but not always when you start hurting production line and delaying there product from going out shipping cost become unimportant especially when the cost are only off by a couple of bucks
 
upnorth said:
Hog award. Enough said. Hard to worry about damages, when supervisors are telling you to cram and jam, ignore crush cones and tip-n-tells, and directional arrows.
Click to expand...
Also, load freight. If you damage it,mark it up as damaged. Goes back to whomever scanned or loaded before. Dodge the bullet, no accountability! Not me! Damaged when i went to unload from trailer! Once again, no tool in place to hold unloader accountable.
 
I agree with all the above but for the service centers that have full and part time dock workers,I don't no how many times I've seen some one take there time to load something rite and to have a dock worker unload it to rearrange something and damage it and put it back on and guess who gets the blame? Now there a few good dock workers but how many of them have any skin in the game. Time and time again over the years have seen lots of unnecessary damages.
 
And it's management that institutes the policy and it's enforcement or lack there of. Hog awards and loading procedures alike. Also, they leave us short handed and understaffed. Plus making the call on what freight to haul.

We had a big time first day customer leave us recently. They warned us. Stop stacking on this freight. They tag every shipment with do not stack. The freight is being damaged. They can't afford to lose their customers over our failures. So they dropped us.

In this example, you can clearly see it's everyone's fault. As a company, we failed. Sales, management and freight handlers. Complete failure.
 
highspeeds said:
And it's management that institutes the policy and it's enforcement or lack there of. Hog awards and loading procedures alike. Also, they leave us short handed and understaffed. Plus making the call on what freight to haul.

We had a big time first day customer leave us recently. They warned us. Stop stacking on this freight. They tag every shipment with do not stack. The freight is being damaged. They can't afford to lose their customers over our failures. So they dropped us.

In this example, you can clearly see it's everyone's fault. As a company, we failed. Sales, management and freight handlers. Complete failure.
Click to expand...
It’s ok. The AE’s will just have to work harder and get more customers. ( shoulder shrug)
 
highspeeds said:
And it's management that institutes the policy and it's enforcement or lack there of. Hog awards and loading procedures alike. Also, they leave us short handed and understaffed. Plus making the call on what freight to haul.

We had a big time first day customer leave us recently. They warned us. Stop stacking on this freight. They tag every shipment with do not stack. The freight is being damaged. They can't afford to lose their customers over our failures. So they dropped us.

In this example, you can clearly see it's everyone's fault. As a company, we failed. Sales, management and freight handlers. Complete failure.
Click to expand...
Yes it is but there again they themselves push the safe stack even when a customer calls in they here the whole spill but there again I would say about 42 percent of our freight is hauled on long boxes and how many of them have safe stack.make no bones about it this company knows exactly what's going on
 
I remember along time ago when I pulled an added line haul schedule to move a G shipment that was missed. One skid in one trailer. Service mattered, a G shipment was just that, GUARANTEED. For every other shipment, anything less than 98% on time delivery was unacceptable. The standard was no more than 1 in every 250 shipments damaged. If you screwed up or were lazy you were held accountable. You were either on board or management got rid of you. It is our fault, drivers and dock workers handle the freight, we damage it. It is all managements fault that we do this though because management does nothing about it. Management let the culture in this company become toxic. Management let the standard slide. Management stopped hiring supervisors with experience, stopped hiring men, and started hiring college boys who are afraid to stand up for themselves and for all of us that care. The slackers get away with murder and the rest of us stop caring. That's why I was happy when Con-way died. I hoped so much that XPO would change the culture. It seems to me they have just made things worse. I still care, I want to work for the best carrier, not the worst. It's not too late to turn this thing around. A little accountability will go a long way in turning this thing around.
 
As the company turned from making this a career job with good benefits and top pay and turned it to just another job with mediocre pay and benefits at best. ( started prior to Xpo in all fairness but continues nevertheless ) We turned a page in our hiring ability and dropped our standards and a lot, not all , existing career type employees became diafranchisded with their future with the company and gave up trying so hard . Nobody care so why should I attitude. I think this is a large basis of the problem from top to bottom. Employees do not see a connection from the very top and lack of communication was and continues to grow suspicions. Customers are perceptive to what’s good and what’s not working and have lost faith in us with just reason.
 
Last edited:
highspeeds said:
And it's management that institutes the policy and it's enforcement or lack there of. Hog awards and loading procedures alike. Also, they leave us short handed and understaffed. Plus making the call on what freight to haul.

We had a big time first day customer leave us recently. They warned us. Stop stacking on this freight. They tag every shipment with do not stack. The freight is being damaged. They can't afford to lose their customers over our failures. So they dropped us.

In this example, you can clearly see it's everyone's fault. As a company, we failed. Sales, management and freight handlers. Complete failure.
Click to expand...
Do Not Stack? Really? What about Do Not Freeze? Some of this freight sits ALL night or ALL weekend in subzero weather in a coldass trailer and nobody does jack squat about it. Some of it goes to medical facilities and may be no good if it is frozen ( and this is a large account where we drop LOTS of trailers daily that we recently lost yet won back )

Nobody does anything , yet PLENTY of people in a position to do something about it , don't do anything.
 
Even if you try and set the example by doing the right thing the culture has changed so dramatically that DOWN IS UP , and UP IS DOWN.

Hard working , dependable , get-the-job-done , is yesterday's news. The new example being set is corner cutting , right now , I-want-what-he-has but I-dont-want-to-work-for-it-like-he-did people.

Eff the rules and doing it the right way if it's too hard. Whine and cry until you get what you want. Apparently , this bullsh-t works. Management responds to this. I had a Director of Operations tell me we have to go easy on new people and harder on the proven longer term workers to keep them from leaving.

Eff the real world. Let's paint a fictitious make believe cream puff world for new people that in NO WAY reflects reality. As soon as a situation occurs that is even remotely challenging or realistic , the snowflakes can't handle it and they quit or cry until everything is catered to them.

Whew. Done ranting. Happy New Year.
 
Fly-by-night said:
That is true, but how long will a customer keep having there shipments damaged. In today world with the limited supplies companies keep in stock spending a little more to get it there damage free and keeping their customer happy will have longer returns then the saving on shipping.
Yes the cheapest wins but not always when you start hurting production line and delaying there product from going out shipping cost become unimportant especially when the cost are only off by a couple of bucks
Click to expand...
I agree. Price can be Trumped (haha) by costly quality issues, but I’d say 90% or more it’s price that determines whether you keep or lose business. Relationships can impact this also, but not as much as it used to since many shippers use 3PLs
 
Happy new year everyone even know im a little late do i care anymore no i dont i could care less at our terminal we are treated like crap from the fos's to the tm ive been here along time this is the worst ive seen it i bust my butt everday never had an accident or an injury we are worked 12 to 14 hours almost everyday heres an example why i dont care two weeks ago i came down with the flu went to the doctor after doctor visit called in and what did they say hope you feel better see you in a few days no i recieved critism and threats now mind you the last time i called in sick was in 2012 i keep track of this stuff so thats one of the many reasons why i dont care along with many other people this place is a paycheck for me and thats it until managment changes
 
LTLIndentured said:
It’s all about the bottom line not damages. Cheapest gets it. That’s how corporate controls volumes to maximize profit
Click to expand...
I disagree, it's not only about the bottom line, sometimes it's about a customer who realizes the value of receiving freight in undamaged condition and is willing to pay a higher cost to make that happen because in the end, damaged freight has the potential to cost much more than shipping.
 
No one has mentioned another aspect of control that we as drivers have exlusively over dock workers or management. We're the ones who pick up the freight at the point of origin and as such, we make the initial call as to what freight goes on our trailer and what condition that freight is in. Bottom line is, we've seen enough damage, we know what freight survives our system and what freight does not. Granted, we're not allowed to disallow all freight from being loaded, but we are allowed discretion when it comes to packaging and crating. I have refused freight due to what I thought was improper packaging after consulting with dispatch. Damage control starts at the point of origin, if it looks f$%ked up now, imagine how bad it's going to look at the other side. We, as drivers must not be afraid to make the call on improper packaging.
 
ScotchNeat said:
No one has mentioned another aspect of control that we as drivers have exlusively over dock workers or management. We're the ones who pick up the freight at the point of origin and as such, we make the initial call as to what freight goes on our trailer and what condition that freight is in. Bottom line is, we've seen enough damage, we know what freight survives our system and what freight does not. Granted, we're not allowed to disallow all freight from being loaded, but we are allowed discretion when it comes to packaging and crating. I have refused freight due to what I thought was improper packaging after consulting with dispatch. Damage control starts at the point of origin, if it looks f$%ked up now, imagine how bad it's going to look at the other side. We, as drivers must not be afraid to make the call on improper packaging.
Click to expand...


I have more than once told a guy to fix something. A couple more bands. Get a piece of 2x4 and brace this. Whatever it was. Told them I wasn't picking it up all ugly. And they got right on it. Usually a little embarrassed that they got called out for taking a short cut. And the freight got loaded up in a much better condition. Still probably got nuked by some dock hand on the way, but I did my part.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top