Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/873209
VOICES CHANNEL 19 4 | Overdrive | September 2017 Visit Senior Editor Todd Dills' CHANNEL 19 BLOG at OverdriveOnline.com/channel19 Write him at tdills@randallreilly.com. It's not common when dealing with a broker that accessorials such as layover, detention and the like are up-front accessible and available to an operator. Nor is it common that they be guaranteed should situa- tions arise that cause them to come into play, such as in a truck-ordered-not- used situation with one of those mysteriously canceled loads. Most often, extra pay items arise out of negoti- ation, if they come at all — a frustrating aspect of dealing with many brokers. Though I'm sure the new Uber Freight brokerage isn't the only one to take a diff erent tack, it has made public standardized acces- sorials in a few categories with their app's no-negotia- tion load pricing structure. An off ering of "fair market rates" has "always been our strategy," says Bill Driegert, company director. "We've had good and bad feedback" from drivers and carriers on those rates, he says. "Everybody would always like another $25 in the load. We're hopeful for a sustainable community in the end," with fairness on rates for both ends. "We don't want to ever be critiqued as unfair in the marketplace. We're here to put the right rates out there." Long-term success of the platform will be the ultimate judge of that, but for now I think Uber Freight's done at least this right in the pricing area: providing transparency to owner-operator users on those accessorials. The broker's accessorial table for its mostly dry van loads shows: DETENTION: $75 an hour after two waiting hours, capping out at four hours. LAYOVER: $300, which applies if a carrier maxes out its detention at four hours or, says Uber Freight's Eric Berdinis, "if they book a load and it gets bumped to the following day after the carrier arrives at the facility." If so, "it's automatically a layover." DRIVER ASSIST (with unload): $75 Finally, how does a fl at $200 plus $2/mile dead- head on a canceled load sound? That's the com- pany's TRUCK-ORDERED- NOT-USED policy on loads booked in the app. Use of the app by owner-operators in Uber Freight's case will allow the broker to calculate deadhead miles (fi ne print alert: limited to 125 miles) toward the shipper before a load's cancellation, likewise duration of the truck on location for loading. Catch more discussion via the Aug. 3 post on the Channel 19 blog. A fresh approach to accessorial pay A fresh approach to accessorial pay Among recent changes to broker Uber Freight's freight-match app for owner-operators is the enabling of personalized push notifications for new loads based on each user's history and preferences. Courtesy of Uber Freight Regular readers may recall trucker Joe Mansheim's ridealong partner, a duck named Frank, that came to online prominence with a local news report years back. They also were featured on Channel 19. Mansheim was later part of Over- drive's Most Loved Pets a few years ago, which featured the variety of truckers' furry or feathered friends on the road. As Mansheim said at the time: "I think if everyone had a duck in their truck, the world would be a better place!" Earlier this year, however, Frank passed. But Mansheim soon found himself back at the farm-supply spot where he ordered Frank. A new billed riding partner now accompa- nies Mansheim — the perhaps more magnanimous Eddy, who, Minne- apolis-based KARE-TV reports, "is curious and playful … where Frank could be charmingly grumpy at times." Catch a video feature from the TV station and more photos of Mansheim and his feathered friends via the Aug. 8 blog post. " I think if everyone had a duck in their truck, the world would be a better place! " — Trucker Joe Mansheim Let's go duck-trucking: R.I.P. Frank, hello Eddy!