Driver/manager

[59 Dano]

Experience managing Ground routes is irrelevant to a discussion about managing Ground routes? Let the adults talk, Dano.

No, it's about what type of contractor I'd want to deal with if I were in the OP's shoes. Large contractor? It would interest me and might be worth the risk. Small contractor? It wouldn't interest me because it wouldn't be worth the risk. Does experience matter if I'm not interested?

 

[It will be fine]

No, it's about what type of contractor I'd want to deal with if I were in the OP's shoes. Large contractor? It would interest me and might be worth the risk. Small contractor? It wouldn't interest me because it wouldn't be worth the risk. Does experience matter if I'm not interested?

Experience matters in your evaluation of risk. You are making some incorrect assumptions using scale as the defining indicator of risk.

 

[bacha29]

All of which is why I'd rather deal with someone who has had long-term success and growth in the business. This might shock you, but someone who has a decent track record of growth probably has his act together.

All you're doing is reaffirming what I said. This might shock you but while you may want to deal with the type of person you've described there are no assurances one would be willing to deal with you.

 

[MAKAVELI]

All you're doing is reaffirming what I said. This might shock you but while you may want to deal with the type of person you've described there are no assurances one would be willing to deal with you.

I can guarantee you NO ONE wants to deal with him.

 

[59 Dano]

Experience matters in your evaluation of risk. You are making some incorrect assumptions using scale as the defining indicator of risk.

Hardly. It's nothing more than a factor that separates the opportunities that I'll never care about from the ones that might be worth a listen. Risk is a small part of it at that point.

Nonetheless, it's utterly baffling that people are so quick to take issue over what I'd do in a hypothetical situation that I don't care about.

 

[59 Dano]

All you're doing is reaffirming what I said. This might shock you but while you may want to deal with the type of person you've described there are no assurances one would be willing to deal with you.

Considering that all of this pertains to a hypothetical situation, I care less about your trifling input than usual.

 

[STFXG]

Large scale just means deeper pockets to purchase routes. Usually guys taking more of a step back and letting it run itself, but there are some who manage and run it. Size of the business doesn't really make a difference. It's either owned by someone who knows how to handle this work and get it covered or by someone who doesn't. If the owner has a firm grasp on what's going on then it doesn't matter if he has 5 or 50 routes.

 

[It will be fine]

Hardly. It's nothing more than a factor that separates the opportunities that I'll never care about from the ones that might be worth a listen. Risk is a small part of it at that point.

Nonetheless, it's utterly baffling that people are so quick to take issue over what I'd do in a hypothetical situation that I don't care about.

We are discussing factors that the OP may consider in evaluating his choice to work for a contractor. If you don't want you're ill informed opinions critiqued, don't post them.

 

[59 Dano]

Large scale just means deeper pockets to purchase routes. Usually guys taking more of a step back and letting it run itself, but there are some who manage and run it. Size of the business doesn't really make a difference. It's either owned by someone who knows how to handle this work and get it covered or by someone who doesn't. If the owner has a firm grasp on what's going on then it doesn't matter if he has 5 or 50 routes.

Then again, maybe it does. In my working lifetime the small timers are virtually unstructured and have tended to fly by the seat of their pants more than should be necessary. Some people like that ride, some don't.

 

[59 Dano]

We are discussing factors that the OP may consider in evaluating his choice to work for a contractor. If you don't want you're ill informed opinions critiqued, don't post them.

The butthurt small-timer's opinion has been noted. :::nod:::

 

[It will be fine]

The butthurt small-timer's opinion has been noted. :::nod:::

Very constructive addition to the conversation.

 

[Code 82 Approved]

If I had the choice between driver from when I got on this board circa 2013 or being a manager today...
I think I don't miss a damn thing about getting stuck with things like 10 skids of van pickups for Danish Kringles like the old boss, or just sending line haul.
If it doesn't fit in my spare straight truck, I call line haul.
I never screw my drivers like I got screwed.

 

[Code 82 Approved]

I have looked at moving more than once and have talked to contractors in the locales I thought about moving to. All were happy to have me onboard, and the scale of some of their ops was downright scary. 3 family members with 70 routes? Over $1 mil on fuel and repairs? That's insanity. The funny part is, they repeatedly screw up deliveries to my kid who lives there. She's run packages, she's watched my career... it infuriates her. So that's what you get when you are that big.

 

[FedGT]

Never claimed that I had.



and then...



Below is my post. Feel free to point out where I said anything about the number of drivers I wanted to manage or where they were supposed to be.

How many routes does he have?

If he has 30 or so, it might be worth it. It might be a waste of time working for a smaller contractor who is less likely to have his act together and might need to change the conditions of your employment every so often to meet his needs. As bad as Express is, there is structure and (usually) avenues for recourse if there are problems and disagreements.

If I'm in your shoes I want a larger contractor who has a better track record as opposed to a smaller outfit.

And then..........
Proves my point that you have no first hand experience at all to give that type of advice and are WRONG.
Just because you have a lot of routes doesn't mean that you have earned anything. Just means someone had deep pockets to fund things or a substantial amount of debt. No one has grown 1 route to 40+.
Someone could have bought them all within the last year and is running it like because they were told it was a complete absentee investment. The size doesn't mean anything except more head aches.

 

[bacha29]

And then..........
Proves my point that you have no first hand experience at all to give that type of advice and are WRONG.
Just because you have a lot of routes doesn't mean that you have earned anything. Just means someone had deep pockets to fund things or a substantial amount of debt. No one has grown 1 route to 40+.
Someone could have bought them all within the last year and is running it like because they were told it was a complete absentee investment. The size doesn't mean anything except more head aches.

Indeed. Big or small it's all coming back to the same inescapable reality. There's no damn money in it unless you can find somebody willing to work his damn fool head off damn near nothing, good luck with that and that reality extends to the guy who has 5 routes as well as the guy who has 55 routes because the entire objective was never to create wealth for contractors but rather to procure trucking and labor at the lowest cost and X never tried to hide that fact . They'll never give you one cent more for that PSA then just barely enough it keep it running.And rest assured the jig was up when guys started walking away with 6 and 7 figure payouts when they packed it in . The losers in all this will be the guys who hung around too long trying to get the last dime.

 

[OrioN]

So now that we all know he's not a ground ops manager, Dan0,

How about answering the following:

What does DRA, SRA, & ROADS mean? Is one program better than the other?

I only know of HDs "street by street" directions & their summary manifest (Vision, is what bbsam called it ???)

Edit I'm such a snowflake... OK I did a search now while lounging on the backyard

SRA (Static Route Assignment), this is the first phase and only assigns it to the route.

DRA (Dynamic Route Assignment) will do it in stop order and also show where it should be loaded on the truck.

 

[McFeely]

SRA basically says address XYZ is in this physical spot on the map, and will ALWAYS be assigned to route 123. Route 123 has map boundaries that are static.

DRA works (in theory, haha lolz) by dynamically building routes based on a certain number of hours on-road per route. An address that might be on route 129 one day may be on route 128 the next day. DRA also spits out a map and sequence of how the route should be run.

In my station, DRA is a joke. But that's mostly because our engineer doesn't know how to read a map nor knows how to make proper adjustments to our system.

 

[Fred's Myth]

SRA basically says address XYZ is in this physical spot on the map, and will ALWAYS be assigned to route 123. Route 123 has map boundaries that are static.

DRA works (in theory, haha lolz) by dynamically building routes based on a certain number of hours on-road per route. An address that might be on route 129 one day may be on route 128 the next day. DRA also spits out a map and sequence of how the route should be run.

In my station, DRA is a joke. But that's mostly because our engineer doesn't know how to read a map nor knows how to make proper adjustments to our system.

After a management change at our station, the new manager "forced" DRA on us, because it worked where he came from. It was a complete disaster. Because of the geographical area, we had AA, AM, and PM areas (some routes had all 3), 4x10 and 5x8 routes that are incompatible with DRA, and a ROADS engineer who was totally incompetent. DRA created 8-15 unmanned routes each day that had to be re-absorbed by existing routes, so instead of upgrading personnel and equipment, they went in and forced SPH goals upward to compensate. And some (Dano?) wonder why couriers hold management in such low regard.

 

[Oldfart]

So now that we all know he's not a ground ops manager, Dan0,

How about answering the following:

What does DRA, SRA, & ROADS mean? Is one program better than the other?

I only know of HDs "street by street" directions & their summary manifest (Vision, is what bbsam called it ???)

Edit I'm such a snowflake... OK I did a search now while lounging on the backyard

I have over 40 yrs with Express and I have very little knowledge of ANY of those terms.

I remember hearing about Plaid.
Then Roads.
DRA and SRA.

Have zero experience with ANY of those programs. Not sure why my stations hasn't participated.

 

[Star B]

it all depends on your area.

From what I've heard, DRA only works when you are in a P1 10:30 area. All of our noon and later areas are all SRA. If your route may have a noon area, DRA is off the table. There are some routes where the courier has both a SRA area and a DRA area with different route numbers.

DRA created 8-15 unmanned routes each day that had to be re-absorbed by existing routes, so instead of upgrading personnel and equipment, they went in and forced SPH goals upward to compensate. And some (Dano?) wonder why couriers hold management in such low regard.

I'm very surprised at that.... if DRA created so many extra routes, wouldn't that just give management ammunition to ask for more resources?