The Great Sign on Bonus Hoax

The Great Sign On Bonus Hoax

One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, 4...  Don't wait, just step right up to the golden door!

The good old sign on bonus...  A re-engineering, re-invention, a re-wording of the classic bait and switch, ye ole switcheroo,  applied to recruiting drivers. For Shame! 

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Here ye go, just sign right here and go with the flow...We have a $4000 sign on bonus, Bubba's Trucking next door will only give you Three, that's right, uh huh, you're at the right place... Join our company, we'll give you a bonus over the next 6 months, a year, you'll earn less while you work here, but don't worry 'bout that, you got a bonus! Just step on up and through the golden door.

It's nothing new.  When did this madness start in our industry?  In the early 1990's, I'm not sure by whom or what company, but that's when it became prevalent. And now, everybody has to do it. 

Nearly every trucking company in the country offers a sign on bonus.  Why? Because they have to. How much weight should you give it in your decision process?  Very little. Don't fall for the hype.

The drivers and operators who watch what companies offer and do their research know this and

drivers and operators who have fallen for it once, know even better.  

The lure of easy money, the temptation of a fast buck loses its appeal with the reality of: "Now, I have to actually work here?" and "My paychecks sure seem small".

How many carriers have clauses that will deduct the bonus you were paid if you don't stay the required minimum of 6 months? Or a year?  I believe you would be surprised at some of these contracts, or maybe not.  

Why do we have turnover?  Is it the drivers fault?  The company's fault?  A case of not seeing the forest for the trees?  If you want turnover, this is a great way to increase it. 

I personally admire companies and people who try new and creative approaches to solve problems. Applying traditional product selling ideas to recruiting drivers.  It was innovative and effective at grabbing attention and drivers when it first appeared years ago, but now it's just fun with numbers.

A $5000 bonus paid over a year is nothing compared with 500 less miles run every week on average.  The miles you will get is always the mystery of starting any driving position.

 

Ask the trucking company about average miles per week!  Read the fine print and do your homework and the math.  Get your wife, husband, father, mother whomever to go over the details.  A second opinion from someone who cares about you and your well-being has never hurt anyone.        

Top Ten List Final! Drivers: How to Narrow your Job Search

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Welcome Back for our final installment of our Top Ten List...

3.  Pros and Cons of Small or Large Trucking Company.  Think back through your career and which companies you were the most satisfied with.  Small trucking companies tend to be more personal which can be good and bad.  Do you like to keep your personal life and interaction with your employer at arms length?  Do you like to get to know your dispatcher, the mechanics, the staff and company owner more personally?  These are personal choices of course, but important to your overall success with a company.  If you like to remain more autonomous and be a small part of a larger company, this is important to keep in mind when deciding.  With a larger company you can feel less appreciated, but at the same time your dispatcher won't be calling you late on a Sunday asking you to take another drivers load because he has "personal" issues. 

2. Local or Out of State Trucking Company.  What does it matter?  If you work for a local company, it can be nice because it has more of a community feel.  Local companies also mean more interaction with other drivers who work there.  This can be good and bad, depending on how much gossip and complaining from other drivers you prefer to get involved in.  An out of state company has the benefits of being removed from that and you won't have to go into to the terminal every week-end or so when you come home.  Again it's all personal choice.

1. Sign On Bonus - Is it worth it?  It depends and most likely NO.  There are so many different types of sign on bonus's out there.  The majority of them aren't sign on bonus's.  So when you see an ad offering a large $5000 sign on bonus,  don't get distracted and feel short changed because your sign on bonus was only $2000.  Read the fine print.  If it's too good to be true, it usually is.  A $5000 sign on bonus paid over 6 months loses its appeal very quickly when you're only running 1800 miles a week.  You did not get any type of bonus and probably lost money on the whole deal.  These bonus's are designed to attract attention and they do!  But in most cases, that is all it is, a ploy to attract your attention and get you in the door.  Most Carriers have these bonus's now simply because they have to have them to keep up with the competition.  Do your homework and do not make a decision based on a bonus!

The most important thing to remember is to not to sell yourself short!  Stick to your guns and select the company who offers what you need and want as a driver.  This is key to your long term success in this industry.

Do the legwork before you start at a company.  If you are constantly switching employers it will only serve to cause frustration and burnout in your career.  This is a great career and a very honorable profession. 

I have been in the trucking business my whole life and my family has been in the trucking business for four generations.  My Great Grandfather hauled moonshine from Kentucky to South St. Louis during prohibition.  My Grandfather was a Teamster, My Dad owns a trucking company, my brothers are in trucking,  My ten year old son, Joseph, sounds off the carrier names of every truck we see on the highway and helps his Grandfather in the summer by sweeping the shop and picking up trash on the lot at the terminal. 

Trucking is a family tradition and I hope you encourage your family, friends and anyone you know to join our industry.  The majority of trucking companies are in some way, shape or form, a family business.  In these poor economic times, you never see trucking companies lay off drivers. 

There are more jobs available now to drivers than ever before!  This is job security.

Almost every trucking company has a training program to help people get a CDL and experience.  All of the poor souls who are unemployed,  whose homes are being foreclosed on, full of worry and the shame of it all...  Do your good deed for the day and introduce them to our industry,  A Family Tradition.     

© 2012 Michael H. Komadina

18 Wheels of Justice™

"Negotiating with Freight Brokers and 3PL's"  A "must have" in today's freight market, improve your company's profitability by training your staff with this hands on training manual today!

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Drivers - Part II. How to Narrow your Job Search

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Welcome back and thank you for joining us for "Part II - How to Narrow Your Job Search".  It can be a very daunting task, with all the options available.  So many ad's, a thousand job search website's, everyone promising everything to everybody.  I think an important thing to remember as a driver is that our industry is just silly.  Yes, silly.  It is so segmented and there truly aren't any major players in the truckload market.  I remember reading a few years ago that if you combined the top ten truckload carriers in this great nation of ours, they hauled less than 10% of the total truckload market.  When business picks up, your local trucking company will go down to the truck dealer and buy 10 more trucks.  When he has drivers for all of his trucks, he feels he must be doing something right and buys another 10 trucks.  When the bank stops by and visits him and gives him the green light for more trucks, he buys him.  God bless the optimism of the trucking company owner!  My point is that all of the turnover and all the driving positions available doesn't make this a bad industry to work in, in fact its the best industry in the country to work in.  The capacity and availability of driving positions reflects the segmented state of trucking, lots of moving parts for a lot of different reasons.  Back to business.  I hope you have read Part I, if not please do so now and join me back here. 

7.  How did you hear about this trucking company?  This is important.  The amount of advertising a company has does not necessarily mean that they have issues finding drivers.  There are a number of reasons a company advertises for drivers.(see above)  You may have seen their trucks close by home, saw an ad the internet, etc.  What about the ad appealed to you?  Was it any different than the others?
Sometimes you just have to pick one, sort of like duck hunting.  Write down 5 things that appeal to you about a company you want to work for.  New Tractor? Home time? Newer Trailers? Miles? Regions they run? Pay? The Dispatcher - does he have any authority on the amount of miles you get and when you need to be home? Fuel network? Company's reputation? Maint.? and so on. 

Join us later this week for the rest of this article and more!  Please check out our 18 Wheels of Justice LinkedIn group for Drivers and Owner Operators.  If you're not on LinkedIn, please join, it is a valuable resource for Drivers and Operators.  As always, thank you for reading...

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Treat Brokers as Customers!

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The business of shipping products to customers is ever-evolving into a world in which 3PL’s and Freight Brokers have access to more and more of the truckload market.  Large manufacturer’s want to focus more on their core business, than having entire shipping departments dedicated to rates and setting up carriers, dealing with scheduling appointments and so on. 

So, what does this mean to you?  A brave soul, the lone owner operator who sets out to seek his fortune with his own truck and trailer?  A small carrier with a dozen or so trucks, trying to build a dynasty or family fortune?

Buy Book and CD today at

www.18WheelsofJustice.com 

A truckload carrier whose business is 30% to 40% Broker and 3PL freight and has planners/dispatchers who are not yet masters in the art of negotiation?  Do they hesitate to be aggressive negotiators? 

30% to 40% is a very large portion of your business and where a large portion of potential profit is hiding.  Yes, and it is an art, when done creatively, properly and successfully, negotiating can be one of the most beautiful and rewarding experiences one can have.

Think back to the days of your youth, negotiating with parents to stay up later, only to be told to go to bed.  Or did you return to the negotiating table with your parents armed with opposing arguments?  How about delicately trying to negotiate your first kiss with a blushing, young redhead and getting a hug or handshake?  Or did you steal a kiss and walk away, leaving her wanting more?

Like most of us, you probably have good and bad memories of negotiating.  The important thing to remember is that you walked away from each one with more knowledge, experience and skill every time.

The transportation business has changed over the last ten years.  What does it mean to you? 

No longer are Brokers and 3PL's just a backhaul provider, they are our best customers.  The carriers who treat them as such, win everytime...

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90 Days to 75% Retention - Week 1 - Identify Your Drivers!!

Week 1 - Day 1


Admit you have a retention problem.  Admit and accept that you have a retention problem.  Admit and accept that what you are doing is not working and agree to start over with new concepts and ideas.  If you can't admit and accept this, close the book, send it back to me and I will refund your money.  Update your resume, sell your company, whatever, good luck to you.  Now, for the rest of you still here,  some ideas you will agree with and some ideas you won't,  Try and embrace and give 100% to this process during the 90 days, it will begin to make sense along the journey.

Identify Driver Types.  All Drivers must be placed in these four categories.  No other categories are allowed.  Do not try and invent new categories.  There are two opinions needed for each driver.  His dispatcher and the recruiter(or person who hired him).  The dispatcher and recruiter need to decide this separately and then meet to discuss together and agree.  Lock them in a room for an hour or two or longer per driver until they agree.  If you hear loud voices and arguing, that's ok, that's part of the process.  If you hear gunfire, then send someone(other than a driver)in the room to break it up.  Trust me they won't agree on 30% of the drivers.  This is where part of the retention problem hides within your company.
We must remain vigilant and militant throughout this process and adhere to it as described in this book.  Convince the detractors and critics within your company to give 100% to this process.  Remember that in the history of mankind, there has never been a statue nor monument built in honor of a critic.

Drivers must be placed in the following four categories -

"The Fleeter"
"Driver Pro Tem"
"The Yearling"
"The Advocate"

How to classify your existing drivers and new drivers into these four categories are crucial to your success.  These categories are based on the following:

Length of Employment at your company
Average Length of Employment in last 10 years
Personality Profile Score
Income Profile Score
Work/Home Ratio Score
Pay History Score

(Personality Profile, Income Profile, Work/Home Ratio, Pay History Score are simple question and answer tests that can be given in person or over the phone, takes 15 minutes, tests are in appendix F)

The basic description of "The Fleeter" and an overview on how these scores are applied will be in next weeks post.

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Negotiating with Freight Brokers - Special Edition Book & CD Package.

First 1,000 Copies given away directly to Owner Operators and Drivers personally by Author in September to promote the book and soon to be released ebook.

Ads will continue to be printed in all copies sold September 15th to November 1st.   

Unique opportunity to reach your target audience, advertising pages will be on opposing pages only next to our most popular content. Ads will be placed on the Negotiating Strategies pages only. Advertisers will be limited by category. Ideal for all trucking and transportation industry advertisers.  Anyone who wants a captive audience of owner operators and drivers, you will have their attention.

This is a professionally printed, attractive high gloss cover paperback book, included in a 9.5"x7" Padfolio with note pad and pen.  This item will be used over and over for years and includes CD. 

Same old advertising and approach not working?  This will bring results!

Distribution Date September 15th, 2012.

Please see our Media and Advertising page for more exciting details - Advertising - Media

COPYRIGHT 2012 © Michael Komadina

18 Wheels of Justice "The Book"©

negotiator@18WheelsofJustice.com

Strategy #2 from "Negotiating with Freight Brokers & 3PL's"

Welcome -  Strategy #2 out of 15 from "Negotiating with Freight Brokers & 3PL's"

 STRATEGY 2 – NEVER BRING UP PRICE; ALWAYS HAVE BROKER/3PL GIVE PRICE FIRST

    Let the Broker/3PL bring up price! Never give a rate first. You don’t know what the load pays! There are many times when you will be surprised that it is higher than you would have asked for. Let him throw his rate out there. Often, it will be in the context of “I usually move these for “X”.

If it is really low, then dismiss it as not for you and attempt to get off the phone.

    Remain polite and likeable, comments such as,” that’s a garbage load, I don’t haul cheap freight” are not appropriate. Remember C.L.A.S.S. Remember he is calling you, if he states he usually moves it for that price then politely advise him to call some of his regular carriers.

    More than likely he will ask you what you need. Again, never bring up a price. Be non-committal and ask him what he thinks the best rate is that he can do on the load. When he gives you his “best rate” this should become your “anchor” or starting point for negotiating.

    Typically, with sophisticated Brokers/3PL’s, his best rate is the maximum rate they want to pay while holding onto their minimum profit target for this particular load.

 Popular reading for both Brokers and Trucking Companies -

Negotiating with Freight Brokers

DVD,BOOK,CD or Package

Book$35.00 USD CD$20.00 USD BOOK/CD Set$49.00 USD DVD/BOOK/CD Set$125.00 USD

Please join our Discussion Groups on LinkedIN.  Both "Negotiating with Freight Brokers" and "90 Days to 75% Retention".

18 Wheels of Justice Series available at: http://www.18wheelsofjustice.com/

EMAIL - Negotiator@18wheelsofjustice.com

The Joy of Negotiating - Part 3 of 3...

Welcome

 Stage Three of the Process, the Art.
(For Stage Two, please see Saturday's Post)


1. Pre-Negotiation.  "Framing and Setting the Stage"

2. Deadlock, Stalemate and Arrested Development

         We are going to stay on Stage Two for a little bit and and discuss some more negotiation strategy before we conclude with Stage Three.  Honesty is key in negotiation, your word while you're negotiating is like your credit.  You are agreeing to do this load, never book a load without every intention of doing it, never give a load back to any broker unless there is no other reasonable option.  If you have to give it back, do it as quickly as you can, giving the broker as much chance as possible to cover with another carrier.  These are words to live by, this is someone you want to do business with again. 

There are 15 strategies in "Negotiating with Freight Brokers & 3PL's"  They are most effective if you follow the "rules of engagement" so to speak, which basically means treating a broker like you would your best customer.  So when we talk about introducing a third party into the negotiation,  I mean actually consult with a third party.  Feel free to introduce this third party at any time during the load booking process.  I find it most effective to introduce midway throughout the negotiation.  It's your call, in the beginning or middle, but I advise against doing it near the end.  If introduced early it can ease the tension with booking the load.  Use statements like, "my boss probably won't let me do it for that, but I will ask him" or "we pay these operators percentage and I don't think he will do it for that".  You want to create a camaraderie here between you and the broker.  You are working together to get this transaction done and convince this third party.  You are building a relationship.  Introducing the third party late in the negotiation can be seen as a cheap ploy.



Stage  - 3.  Acceptance and Settlement.  A Transaction is Born!


Once you read my book and employed these strategies, you will see your rates climb and climb.  It is very important to get your load confirmation while you are on the phone with the broker.  I always have them email the rate confirmation while we are on the phone.  We hold ourselves to high standards of honesty and we expect the same from the broker we are dealing with.  Most brokers in this industry are honest and have high standards, but there are pretenders.  Especially when faced with the fact that he or she is paying you more for this load than they have ever paid before.  This rate you have achieved by superior negotiating may be followed by a phone call from the brokers boss, trying to explain that the person made a mistake etc.  Do not waiver, the broker was authorized to negotiate this load with you, and that is that.  You have the rate confirmation, end of story.  Sometimes as soon as you hang up with the broker another carrier(who hasn't bought my book) will call and haul it for $100, $200 less than the rate you just negotiated for, and the temptation to rob you of your hard fought gain is too great.  Feel free to scoff at this comment, but those who employ these strategies know.  It has happened to me thousands of times.  You must back up this rate with the service or it is only a one time rate.  Give the broker his or her moneys worth.  Call him when your truck arrives at the shipper.  Call/email him when he is loaded, don't wait for the broker to call you.  Email him the next morning when the truck arrives to unload and again when he is empty.  This leaves a lasting impression and will build a solid relationship.  Don't ever gloat, you are getting paid a premium rate for you premium service.  You are getting paid for the service you offered and you walked the broker through the reasons while you were booking the load.


Why is negotiating and haggling such an unpopular concept and dreaded process in this great nation of ours? The term "haggling" alone brings to mind nefarious individuals in the back room of a used car lot. Why does it only exist in certain industries? It has almost disappeared altogether in the retail industry, is rapidly losing popularity on new and used car lots, one of the last bastions and havens of the skilled negotiator. "Boy, I say Boy", it is alive and well in our industry! Our profits are defined by it more and more everyday. How do you train your planners, dispatchers, brokers?


 Popular reading for both Brokers and Trucking Companies -

Negotiating with Freight Brokers

DVD,BOOK,CD or Package

Book$35.00 USD CD$20.00 USD BOOK/CD Set$49.00 USD DVD/BOOK/CD Set$125.00 USD

Please join our Discussion Groups on LinkedIN.  Both "Negotiating with Freight Brokers" and "90 Days to 75% Retention".

18 Wheels of Justice Series available at: http://www.18wheelsofjustice.com/

EMAIL - Negotiator@18wheelsofjustice.com

Monday June 25th - Welcome To All of Our New Subscribers.

Contact Me - MKomadina@18WheelsofJustice.com  
Advertisers- Media@18WheelsofJustice.com 

Welcome to the Bleater.  As I often ask myself, and once in a while get asked by readers, Who am I?  I am a transportation industry veteran, who has wholly owned five trucking companies and three freight brokerage operations over the last 20 years.  Some have been much more successful than others, and I bring to this blog and this book all of my experience, good and bad... I believe you learn as much, if not more from your failures in life as you do your successes, whether it's business or personal.  Sometimes much more from your failures, because it tends to stay with you longer and it teaches one to be humble, a important part of a happy and successful life.  Being humble also gives you the gift of desire to learn and grow in your personal and business life.  More details on me can be found at Amazon's Author Central and on LinkedIn. 

The purpose of the 18 Wheels of Justice Series is to help Owner Operators, Small Fleets and Carriers.  I wrote the book and produced the CD just for that purpose.  There is a lot of money left on the table when loads are booked.  Most people do not like to negotiate, it's that simple.  18 Wheels of Justice makes negotiating fun and easy, and brings a lighthearted approach to negotiating, it is after all, a game, a game of strategy.  It is a simple process that follows simple steps.
It's not about an uncomfortable standoff or offering rates back and forth rapidly, it is an easy walk to a higher rate, if done methodically and strategically.

Everybody's immediate reaction to a cheap load offered by a broker is:  They said that is all they will pay, and it is blown off as a necessary evil of doing business.  How often have you heard, "It's a cheap broker load"?  And accept and dismiss it as that?  This book tackles and solves this problem directly, a problem you may have dismissed as a necessity or don't address while you try to get more customers for a backhaul or headhaul lane.  Lots of lost opportunity and margin.

Now, I don't know if you have noticed, but there are a lot of freight brokers out there.  Why?  There are also a lot of freight brokers who make a ton of money.  Why and how?  Well, my friends, the answer is simple, they are making your money and taking it home with them. 

You can read this book in under an hour.  The CD is 38 Minutes.  I promise, you will return again and again to the book as you find these strategies working.  There is a lot of knowledge and information packed in this little red book.  The sky is the limit on rates in the current market,  know how to ask for and get them...  Thank you for reading and have a good day. Don't forget to subscribe to the Bleater, it's free - enter your email address in the upper right hand corner.

18 Wheels of Justice - Book and CD - $24.99 Combo

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Book(without CD) is also available on Amazon for $19.99.

Sunday's Post - Texting and Driving.  Let the punishment fit the crime and danger to society.  Texting Drivers need to held to the same punishment standard as Drunk Drivers...

Here is the favorite Post of the Week.

Welcome to Friday's Bleater, live from O'Fallon, Missouri.  "It's not the end of the world, but we can see it from here", as we locals like to brag...

Why Trucker's Edge?  As Vonnegut put it, with some creative liberty taken by the Bleater:

The Tiger, He likes to Hunt,

The Bird, He likes to Fly,

The Trucker, He likes to sit and wonder,

Why, Why, Why... 

Two words for you - Act ion.

ACTION!

You need ACTION and VOLUME to get the best rate!  It's that simple.  Lane analysis, lane this, lane that, truckload average this, that and the other, do not matter.  It's way too much information to put in perspective.

That is all yesterday's news. 

You don't care how cheaply Bubba hauled it for last month!  Bubba should be ashamed of himself!

 2012 is the Year of the Carrier, The Small Fleet and the Owner Operator.

Fuel is dropping, trucks are getting hard to find, Brokers can't move the freight they have.

But, and this is a big BUT.  They are not going to offer you big rates.  You have to know how to ask for them and how to get them. 

You are going to have to negotiate your way to get the money rates.
Don't haul it for less than everyone else is...

Don't agonize about whether or not you're getting enough money for the load you're pulling right now.

18 Wheels of Justice will guide you step by step and show you the way!

18 Wheels of Justice - Book and CD - $24.99 Combo

http://www.18wheelsofjustice.com/

Don't forget to subscribe to the Bleater, It's Free! - enter your email address in the upper right hand corner. 



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18 Wheels of Justice Series available only at: http://www.18wheelsofjustice.com/

EMAIL - Negotiator@18wheelsofjustice.com

Prevailing Notion - Broker's & 3PL's

18 Wheels of Justice Home

The business of shipping products to customers is ever-evolving into a world in which 3PL’s and Freight Brokers have access to more and more of the truckload market.  Large manufacturer’s want to focus more on their core business, than having entire shipping departments dedicated to rates and setting up carriers, dealing with scheduling appointments and so on. 

So, what does this mean to you?  A brave soul, the lone owner operator who sets out to seek his fortune with his own truck and trailer?  A small carrier with a dozen or so trucks, trying to build a dynasty or family fortune?

Buy Book and CD today at

www.18WheelsofJustice.com 

A truckload carrier whose business is 30% to 40% Broker and 3PL freight and has planners/dispatchers who are not yet masters in the art of negotiation?  Do they hesitate to be aggressive negotiators? 

30% to 40% is a very large portion of your business and where a large portion of potential profit is hiding.  Yes, and it is an art, when done creatively, properly and successfully, negotiating can be one of the most beautiful and rewarding experiences one can have.

Think back to the days of your youth, negotiating with parents to stay up later, only to be told to go to bed.  Or did you return to the negotiating table with your parents armed with opposing arguments?  How about delicately trying to negotiate your first kiss with a blushing, young redhead and getting a hug or handshake?  Or did you steal a kiss and walk away, leaving her wanting more?

Like most of us, you probably have good and bad memories of negotiating.  The important thing to remember is that you walked away from each one with more knowledge, experience and skill every time.

The transportation business has changed over the last ten years.  What does it mean to you? 

No longer are Brokers and 3PL's just a backhaul provider, they are our best customers.  The carriers who treat them as such, win everytime...

BOOK & CD Package

Book & CD Package $49.00 USD

18 Wheels of Justice Home

EMAIL - Negotiator@18wheelsofjustice.com