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steelpower

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Just wondering how many centers that use PT have drivers sitting at home because PT is moving freight? In my center we use 25-30 PT each day. We have 16 extra-board drivers and about half are getting out. I misunderstood the new CEO when he mentioned " a people first culture" in his video.I was sure he was talking about FXF employees. I guess I was wrong. Wouldn't expect anything different from the people that promised changes if given another chance.
 
I know at our center and the hub last year we lost road runs due to PT but I do not have an exact number. For 2014 I have PT at 14.2% compared to 2002 at 2.9%. The trend has been increasing so let's see if it starts to reverse with said promised changes.
 
Unfortunately PT is a necessary evil. When we only have freight on one side in a lane, it's actually cheaper to move the freight per PT vs road drivers pulling empties. We were told some time ago that they "could" pay PT $2 a mile to move the freight and it would still be cheaper than using company drivers pulling empties.
PT aren't going away, every LTL company uses them to some extent, including union companies.
I too don't like the fact that they're pulling our freight while our drivers sit at home...but the only solution is to gain more market share to ensure that there's freight moving in both directions, thus cutting back on the need for their services.
For those drivers that are sitting at home, dock work is usually an option to earn a check vs nothing at all. I don't like it either but that is the reality until the freight levels pickup in the spring.
 
The Point said:
I know at our center and the hub last year we lost road runs due to PT but I do not have an exact number. For 2014 I have PT at 14.2% compared to 2002 at 2.9%. The trend has been increasing so let's see if it starts to reverse with said promised changes.
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Remember Ground is all contractors and Fred is a big fan of that business model. You will see those percentages continue to rise.
 
Guardrail said:
Keep drinking that Kool Aid. When my wife was training at US Xpress, she would regularly haul a FedEx load from point A to point B and then haul another load back to point A.
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I'm not saying that doesn't happen, especially in the summer/fall months when we're busting at the seams with freight and the vacation calendar is at maximum capacity. I personally would rather them utilize the PT instead of bringing in temps to move the freight.
The couple dedicated drivers I talk to only run one way, then deadhead to another city to pickup a back haul from another company to get them back home.
 
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Redracer3136 said:
Unfortunately PT is a necessary evil. When we only have freight on one side in a lane, it's actually cheaper to move the freight per PT vs road drivers pulling empties. We were told some time ago that they "could" pay PT $2 a mile to move the freight and it would still be cheaper than using company drivers pulling empties.
PT aren't going away, every LTL company uses them to some extent, including union companies.
I too don't like the fact that they're pulling our freight while our drivers sit at home...but the only solution is to gain more market share to ensure that there's freight moving in both directions, thus cutting back on the need for their services.
For those drivers that are sitting at home, dock work is usually an option to earn a check vs nothing at all. I don't like it either but that is the reality until the freight levels pickup in the spring.
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Uh no! They are pulling it both ways at my hub while drivers are sitting. I've seen power only pass each other on the freeway going opposite ways.
 
PT is unfortunately something we have to deal with. Up here, we use PT for a lot of purposes. We have an account with a valuable US customer that we farm to Challenger Motor Freight because it requires sealed trailer service and takes a week for enough freight to fill a 53 footer floor loaded (not to mention we can't seem to figure out how to linehaul our own 53 footers over the border).

We farm out Toronto-Winnipeg because most of the freight is going west, with little coming back. We farm out some of the runs between Calgary and Butte (used to be all of them) but are slowly bringing them in house. We farm out the entire operation in Halifax because it's too expensive, and that's what we did with Vancouver before opening our own terminal. With it closing soon, I imagine it will go back to the way it operated before.

And the union won't save you from PT. YRC and ABF both use PT and they suffer the same consequences. Every time the drivers grieve it, they are told the exact same thing and the union will not fight it because jobs are not LOST. Hate it all you want, PT is here to stay.
 
I'm tired of hearing "PT is necessary because of unbalanced lanes". The use of PT creates unbalanced lanes. With all of the PT being used and running in every direction no one can tell me that lanes are unbalanced. I've been at this company to long and I know exactly how it works. They can send a PT two hundred miles passed my terminal to another terminal and say they are not running freight in both directions. The bottom line is we have drivers sitting at home and they should be working not PT. We as drivers make sacrifices by sitting at home while PT is running. It's time for the the company to make a few sacrifices and take care of their drivers. It's total bull crap because it's not right. After listening to top management beg and plead with drivers to vote no when the Union campaign was on going because they were sorry, they made mistakes, and we'll make it right give us a chance. It makes think it was all a damn lie and this how we thank you.
 
yrc-atm said:
Remember Ground is all contractors and Fred is a big fan of that business model. You will see those percentages continue to rise.
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Unless I am mistaken, Ground is using essentially the same business model that it was using when FedEx purchased it. FXF is using essentially the same business model it was using when it was purchased. What information are you basing your contractor usage projections? My guess is that as long as earnings are where they are expected to be, the business models will continue to operate in the manner that produced that result........
 
Didn't Watkins use some contractors? Seems to me they would have kept them if they wanted to go that route. That being said I've always thought the line haul guys at Fedex freight were much more likely to get replaced, I figured Fedex would buy a truck load carrier to handle a lot of that work.
 
steelpower said:
After listening to top management beg and plead with drivers to vote no when the Union campaign was on going because they were sorry, they made mistakes, and we'll make it right give us a chance. It makes think it was all a damn lie and this how we thank you.
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steelpower said:
I'm tired of hearing "PT is necessary because of unbalanced lanes". The use of PT creates unbalanced lanes. With all of the PT being used and running in every direction no one can tell me that lanes are unbalanced. I've been at this company to long and I know exactly how it works. They can send a PT two hundred miles passed my terminal to another terminal and say they are not running freight in both directions. The bottom line is we have drivers sitting at home and they should be working not PT. We as drivers make sacrifices by sitting at home while PT is running. It's time for the the company to make a few sacrifices and take care of their drivers. It's total bull crap because it's not right. After listening to top management beg and plead with drivers to vote no when the Union campaign was on going because they were sorry, they made mistakes, and we'll make it right give us a chance. It makes think it was all a damn lie and this how we thank you.
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This argument comes up every winter when the freight levels drop off...PT moving our freight while our drivers sit at home.
This is one of the drawbacks of being near the bottom of the road board...you're either stuck on the extra board or the last bid of a lane through the winter that's subject to get cancelled...thus dovetailing you to the dreaded extra board.
We've all been through it! I've pounded the patio through the winter as a road driver just to earn a check...atleast dock work is an option.
Even the city board experiences the freight levels dropping off in the winter by the bottom of their board being forced to work the dock instead of peddling freight. PT have no effect on the city board, yet they're sent to the dock.
It's not going to change...maybe you'd prefer the company to lay you off, then call you back in April when the fright levels pick back up...just as the union companies do?
 
steelpower said:
I'm tired of hearing "PT is necessary because of unbalanced lanes". The use of PT creates unbalanced lanes. With all of the PT being used and running in every direction no one can tell me that lanes are unbalanced. I've been at this company to long and I know exactly how it works. They can send a PT two hundred miles passed my terminal to another terminal and say they are not running freight in both directions. The bottom line is we have drivers sitting at home and they should be working not PT. We as drivers make sacrifices by sitting at home while PT is running. It's time for the the company to make a few sacrifices and take care of their drivers. It's total bull crap because it's not right. After listening to top management beg and plead with drivers to vote no when the Union campaign was on going because they were sorry, they made mistakes, and we'll make it right give us a chance. It makes think it was all a damn lie and this how we thank you.
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The PT trucks you see running past your terminal are doing so for a reason. Whatever freight they have isn't meant to stop at your terminal, and they often run long distance one-way freight on PT team trucks. Canada-bound freight from ATL rides into TOL on PT because they do it faster and cheaper.

Do the extra board boys wanna run team? I doubt it. Finding a team that works well together is HARD (I know, I operate two) and most guys just wanna drive by themselves. This isn't a screw job from FedEx. As Red said, this happens every year when freight tails off and EVERYONE complains at EVERY LTL carrier. Go look at the ABF and YRC boards. They have the problem just like we do. Drivers at ABF tried to get the PT runs on bid, company said no way, and the union did nothing. Teams at YRC have sat while PT runs. Grievances come back with the response that there's not enough freight running in both directions.

Do you know where the power units you see are going? Are you following them? Or are you just assuming?
 
Although I do not work for FXF any more, I was at a Loves in Washington this week and a CRST driver approached me and wanted to know what I was paid where I now work and I gave him a ball park number. I told him I worked for FXF in the past and he told me that CRST just signed a contract with FXF and YRC to start moving an increase of their freight. I asked if it was only one direction and he said it was bothways. So everytime you see an CRST Expedited Van that is what they will be using per this driver. He said he had been in the POR terminal a few times in the past but now it will be an dedicated lane for them. Also said with the new contract he and his co-driver each get .52cpm and run 5K per week. Take it for what its worth...
 
johndeere4020 said:
Didn't Watkins use some contractors? Seems to me they would have kept them if they wanted to go that route. That being said I've always thought the line haul guys at Fedex freight were much more likely to get replaced, I figured Fedex would buy a truck load carrier to handle a lot of that work.
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Just to be clear, I "liked" the above post, because I agree, not because I really like it. Make sense?:topsy turvy:
 
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