In the moving business there are times that on moves going over 800 miles that the origin agent is asked to pick the move up and bring it back to their facility until dispatch can plan a driver to take it to it's destination.
Agents do not like to APU- (agent pick up)- their profit lessons when they do and in the summer season they have limited labor and floor space.
Drivers do not like APU's- their profit lessons because in order to pay the agent something to pick up a move we have to deduct it from the line haul that the driver would normally be participating in.
SO WHY ARE THEIR APU's ?
Many factors.
In the slower season operations is trying to build loads and it is difficult to start a long haul driver on a load unless you have at least a half or a third of a trailer load. You can try to fill in the holes with late bookings and other sources but you at least need a foundation.
In the 3-4 months of our busy season several factors come into play.
First and foremost it is the goal of operations to assign every move to a direct driver that will load and deliver it rather than have an agent pick it up. The move gets handled less which means, more than likely, less claims. We have a much better chance at meeting our registered delivery dates if we load direct. And overall we feel the customer has a much better experience if the driver that delivers their goods is the driver who takes things a part and loads them.
Ok, so back to why we APU in the summer
Many offers now come over from our accounts and the military last minute, or within 7-10 days of the load, which lessons the choices of operations.
Even if operations assigns a move to a driver or an agent to haul many other factors come into play by the time the load date comes around-
Estimates- if a move is registered and planned for 7000 lbs for example and it is then revised to 14,000 lbs before load date we need to make shifts to avoid overflows and to service the move correctly. Estimates going larger or smaller can have a domino effect on two to three drivers and in the busy season, again, the choices may be limited.
Cancellations- A move cancelling can cause the same domino effect as a blown estimate so what is planned in the morning may not be planned in the afternoon.
Medical- Because we work in a people business there is always a chance that a driver or a close family member of the driver has medical issues so again shuffling may need to occur on a move previously assigned.
Mechanical breakdowns- As good as we all are on keeping our tractors, trucks and trailers inspected and mechanically sound there are problem that can occur when you driving thousands of mile.
Weather- We certainly know what mother nature can do and there is no pre-planing that can prevent that.
Driver shortage- As the moving industry shakes get familiar and helps shapes our military moves in particular and we all get our hands wrapped around all the new regulations that D.O.T. has, and is, implementing our drivers are having a difficult time and therefore we have a driver shortage in our industry for the first time since I have been associated with it in the mid eighties.
I do believe it will get better and the industry will once again recognize the "driver" for his hard work....I know that Arpin still does !
I am sure that I am missing some but you get the drift....we all want to take care of our customers and loading direct is our priority and always will be.
As always it takes TEAM work.
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