Getting loads directly from Factories

Everything factory is contract, even the spot buy moves. We as a company had a very hard time breaking in to even get considered for those, and it cost us a pretty penny for the "lobbyist" to get our name in the conversation. We did them for 4 years before we were even offered a chance to bid on a normal contract.

 

You're looking at it all wrong. Sure with a new car contract you have almost guaranteed work. But with that comes high claims , demanding deadlines, and every other company watching your every move ready to cut your throat at the next RFQ. You'd be better served knocking on the door of all the dealers in a 200 mile radius and going after their secondary market. More money and less headaches

 

Same issue, those moves are all contractual from the manufacturer.

 

As usual Hammer is spot on, I have tried for years to get my foot in the door, bottom line is, they are huge companies, they really dont care about who is moving their cars, they just want them gone as quick as possible for the least amount of money,,,,,and headaches.

For the most part I would believe they are much happier dealing with only a handful of larger companies, just less people to deal with is the simple truth. I remember when I wound up with all of the freight from one of my upfitters, the common phrase I heard from everyone in their office was, "It's sooo much nicer just having to deal with one company instead of all of those onesy twosy guys.

I never considered myself anything more than a small company, but at the time, I was just the right size for them.

I think there is only one "possible" way that you could make it work, I think you would have to have some type of consortium of smaller companies, maybe made up of 10 or so companies with 10 trucks each (just a number) on the inside you would all still be individual companies, but on the outside you would simple fly one banner with 100 trucks under it.

All billing, payments, claims, paperwork, correspondence, dispatching etc. would all have to flow thru one office, once inside, everything could be broken down into the individual accounts, you would basically having "buying power" at that point.

Would it work? Probably not, you can't even get two drivers to agree on anything, several companies? Good luck with that. Jmho.

 

The problem with a consortium, is no one wants to take the garbage loads.

 

They could all be gold & day one someone would swear they pulled the shortest straw. Once the whining begins, it's all over.

That aside, years ago I took a new Corvette Z06 back to GM in MI. For a moment I thought here is my chance to find out how to get in. The yard mgr that signed my bol told me it was a union yard & not much to do for an o/o. Seemed like a good answer...to shut me up. That & looking over at the United Road trucks that were loading right next to my truck, it may have almost been honest.

 

LOL, had brought some test trucks back to Claycomo from Az test center, driver pulled in right where the office told him to, and got surrounded by angry union guys. Had to call the cops to get my driver out of there, union yard= no fun!

 

Anyone who wants their foot in the door needs to understand that you have to move what hits the ground. Not the cream and pass on the crap. You take it, you take it all. My night local crew would be moving day 0 traffic that hit the ground that day. Which would offset the time I would sit on traffic for outlying areas trying to build a more profitable load. Your ramp will be assigned a "Dwell Time" standard that you have to live with. We were 2.6 days. Moving 7,000 + units per month, you'd better get creative. Go over you set Dwell? The sabres start to rattle and the threat of pulling the work. Think that's it? Then along comes the Damage Prevention segment. You will be rated, ramp by ramp along side your peers. Ford lives and dies by their "Rolling 6" report.
Then there's the dealers to put up with. You'll learn very quickly which ones are the high exception writers. And with a problem dealer...you'll get less than ZERO assistance from the manufacturer.

Still want your foot in the door? Be careful what you wish for.