Attitudes

[guest]

I have noticed on this forum, everyone gets bashed. It doesn't matter if you are driver, an owner operator, an agent (good or bad), or company, you have been bashed one way or the other on here. Face it! We don't live in a perfect world. I have been in the container industry for about 12 years now. I started working for an agent whose attitude towards her drivers was "drivers come a dime a dozen". So NOT true. Yes, I am an agent now for one of the companies that has been bashed by a driver for reasons that he has failed to mention other than we are a family run business who beats the O/O out of money. However, over the years, through many heart breaks, ups and downs, my drivers...family or not, are my lively hood. If it were not for my drivers I would not have a job. All of my drivers are treated like "family" why, because that is what we are. We are one big family trying to make ends meet in the real world of containers. I have driven the trucks, road and local, I know what they go through, the BS they have to put up with. I grew up in it, I have worked for the steamship lines, worked for a company store, and now I am agent for one of the largest growing companies in the U.S. The only thing I ask is you be on time, and be honest with me and you will get the same. If you think you are being beat out of money, come see me, lets talk about and let me show you what how and why. We are not out to beat anyone of money, you work for it, it is yours. As far as the rates, there isn't a whole lot that can be done. I have turned down more freight in the last year than ever. Why, because it doesn't pay. But guess what.....some one is pulling it. Another carrier will accept the same freight, same rate, and a driver will pull it. Oh well, we are all in this to make money and support our families, let them have it. We are not going to run for free. If you are looking for a job with a great company, give me a call. 912-964-1483

[savannahguest]

u sound like an honest enough person. yes u are right. today someone will pull every load of that cheap crap left for sure. some suggest all we have to do is say no. no i will not pull any cheap port freight. if drivers would only wake up to this fact we could stop cheap freight dead. if the solution were that simple everything would be better not only for drivers but for all the companies involved. sadly that's not gonna happen. it'll take a lot more than a handful saying no. over past years when there has been a strike or disruption in transportation at the docks everyone knows customers would pay much more to move their boxes. as soon as the crisis was over we'd go right back to the same rate cutting games all over again. it's not hard to do the math. devise a plan making truckers unavailable to pull these cheap loads and customers will have to pay more to move their boxes. that's not gonna be an easy task but not an impossibility either. to fix this situation we must empower the majority of drivers to unite ready to take action. not any action. not some dumb action. first there must be critical planning. i see some good ideas placed on this forum but they must gain more traction to succeed. most companies are like truckers. they are short sighted. live for today. take out of this whatever they can. their management sees driver organizing as terrorist attacks. they don't see the big picture. the only way stop this downhill madness for everyone while they keep their hands clean is to allow truckers to take the lead. they can act as the silent cheerleaders in the background. this could be the ticket out of this deregulation nightmare where everyday is an auction to the lowest bidder who'll move the box. thanks to jimmie carter icc regulations keeping rates in check are long gone. companies are now powerless to stop this race to the bottom. it's dog eat dog here in the trenches. you will never be able to do what we can do as a driver without fear of price fixing or antitrust. maybe if more companies would step back a little with their urge to control driver politics something wonderful might just happen. maybe if,if,if,if in a perfect world. i am game for whatever it takes. i have worked in this industry on both sides of the fence and in between. now i will return back to the forum shadows until a legitimate call to action arises.

[jerry williams]

i am game for what ever it takes too. this conversation should continue on. you have very interesting stuff posted folks. there are important points brought forward. a little bashing never hurts especially if the end result would award satisfaction to all parties. i am a firm believer that drivers are going to have to force change or we are doomed to repeat over and over the same mistakes for the next ten years. i don't think that is good for the companies or us.

[Gatrucker70]

I agree Jerry and Guest postings. I believe some agents and trucking companies are honest people. It's the truckers that hual that cheap freight that really hurt us all.
You can take from me once, then shame on me if I let you do it again. We have got to ask questions and say no to stuff that doens't pay us enough.
I respect my truck and paycheck enough to not pull cheap freight. Lets keep up this talk and it's nice for once not to see people bashing each other and talking crap and making sense on things.

[cheezburger]

gatrucker I'm not trying to start trouble but are you trying to say you are pulling cans out of Savannah and your not pulling cheap freight,sure would like to know who you are pulling for,i have not found one driver getting even close to fare rates

[handcrank]

there is no way your going to get a solid majority to say no to cheap freight without changing current game rules. let's get on with talking about something that might possibly do that. i like the suggestion of a hiring hall. is that a feasible option for container haulers? how could we expect everybody to abide by the same rules if such an operation were to happen in savannah?

[joey]

Jan 31, 2011 1:14:25 GMT -5 @guest said:

I have noticed on this forum, everyone gets bashed. It doesn't matter if you are driver, an owner operator, an agent (good or bad), or company, you have been bashed one way or the other on here. Face it! We don't live in a perfect world. I have been in the container industry for about 12 years now. I started working for an agent whose attitude towards her drivers was "drivers come a dime a dozen". So NOT true. Yes, I am an agent now for one of the companies that has been bashed by a driver for reasons that he has failed to mention other than we are a family run business who beats the O/O out of money. However, over the years, through many heart breaks, ups and downs, my drivers...family or not, are my lively hood. If it were not for my drivers I would not have a job. All of my drivers are treated like "family" why, because that is what we are. We are one big family trying to make ends meet in the real world of containers. I have driven the trucks, road and local, I know what they go through, the BS they have to put up with. I grew up in it, I have worked for the steamship lines, worked for a company store, and now I am agent for one of the largest growing companies in the U.S. The only thing I ask is you be on time, and be honest with me and you will get the same. If you think you are being beat out of money, come see me, lets talk about and let me show you what how and why. We are not out to beat anyone of money, you work for it, it is yours. As far as the rates, there isn't a whole lot that can be done. I have turned down more freight in the last year than ever. Why, because it doesn't pay. But guess what.....some one is pulling it. Another carrier will accept the same freight, same rate, and a driver will pull it. Oh well, we are all in this to make money and support our families, let them have it. We are not going to run for free. If you are looking for a job with a great company, give me a call. 912-964-1483

so who is this agent? is he still in business?