u/Own_Engineering_9075

I understand their place in the industry, really I do. But, it really grinds my gears when I’m out here taking significant risk with my significant investment on a daily basis, doing the best I can just to scratch out a living, I book a load w a broker, find out I have an issue w my truck and notify broker immediately so he can cover his load, broker writes me up on carrier 411. Wtf?? These guys have way too much pull and say in this industry. There is no place I can go as a carrier and report broker behavior to shippers. Hmm… idea? Anyways, rant over.

Curious if any of yall eventually broke down like I did and ended up using third party dispatcher? I was managing everything fine, but found myself turning into a grumpy a**hole after dealing with brokers all day. Figured 3-5% of gross was worth my sanity. Where are yall at with these dispatchers?

So, headed to pickup a load, stopped and noticed leaking from front drive axle. Mechanic just replaced the diff seals three days ago. Hmm. Weird. Crawl under and there’s oil everywhere, spun all over everything. Take her into a Freightliner shop that’s nearby, they diagnose and tell me the yoke bolt has migrated nearly all the way out. They said they couldn’t believe it didn’t cause any other damage. Told me it’s likely because the last person that worked on it didn’t torque the bolts correctly. Ok, so they fox it, torque it, fill it, done right? Well, I ask them to do a pm since it’s in might as well. They contact me and let me know the oil pan (I just had my go to mechanic replace the oil pan a month ago) the drain plug on the oil pan was over torqued and stripped and could not come out. It was spinning freely in the pan. So, I have them replace the oil pan along w the pm. How would yall handle this with the mechanic/shop that did all the shoddy work? We had to call off of a high paying load, pissed off a broker, two nights in a hotel, and of course the GIANT bill from Freightliner service. I’ve texted one of the guys at the shop that did the original work and he assured me they want to “make it right”. I am a mechanical guy, and I get that shit breaks, and things aren’t always perfect, but to not torque bolts correctly and make me almost lose an axle, and to over torque on a Freightliner oil pan…. (Which is incredibly dumb, given the fact they are effing plastic)… I am sorta at a loss for words. How would yall deal with this from a financial aspect? I know im out the $$ to get the truck out and running immediately, but do I expect the original shop to cover the full expense of this break down?

I’ve found various opinions on this, but can’t seem to find anything concrete. If I’ve got palletized freight on the upper deck of a 53’ stepdeck and it overhangs the lower deck, can I stabilize underneath with dunnage lumber to bridge the gap if I don’t have load leveler(s)? If the pallet is 4x4 let’s say, and 12” is hanging over the lower deck… can’t find FMCSA guide on it. All I can find is overhang regs, but nothing overhanging the lower deck. Thanks yall.

Just purchased a 53 step deck. Was a company driver running flatbed in the past. (So save load securement lecture for somewhere else please). Current o/o setup 53 dry van under general freight on MCs-150. Should I send in an updated mcs150 to include lumber, steel, anything else? Pretty sure the answer is yes, but curious how others have done things. Really appreciate yall as a resource.

Still in the first year of new authority. Question: we have all sorts of documents that expire at various times throughout the year. IFTA, Boc3, ucr, irp, hvut, etc. Do you receive notice from the governing bodies of each when it’s time to renew? Or is this one of those things an o/o should have calendar reminders for? Trying to stay ahead of everything. Thanks!

Just got pulled in at a scale for a random DOT inspection. 4AM on a Sunday morning… I think they are hoping I’m trying to skirt the rules, run heavy, etc. Thank God I’m not. I’m a fresh 30 day old authority, just hit 30 days last week. I’m shakin in my flip flops. I think everything is good, but, sitting here in the parking lot waiting for the officer to go through all of my paperwork and documents and logs etc… totally different feeling than when sitting here as a company driver. Say a prayer for me! If this turns out good, then I assume it will reflect on my CSA/SMS and maybe more brokers will be willing to work with me? Gah, I’m nervous. She just finished up checking the truck and is inside checking paperwork. SHE CHECKED EVERYTHING!!!!!!! Like, I mean, everything. She’s looking for a problem.

How can they be honestly expecting someone to take loads for these sort of rates?? I assume because someone is. Please stop! So we can ALL stop wasting time. I know, I know, some guys/gals HAVE to in order to cover OH, just frustrated. Ranting.

Received rate con today but broker wants lumper fee up front. Feels like a red flag to me. Should I sign the rate con?

Question for yall Freightliner owners: I have a 2022 w/ 500k miles on it. Brought it in to the shop for DOT and check up, they did extensive work, to include a valve adjustment. When I picked up the truck and started driving it back to the yard, I noticed when I let off the accelerator the engine brake was activating. It was slight, barely slowed the truck, but you could hear the pitter patter. No lights on the dash, and I did not have the Jake activated on the stick. So I brought the truck back, put a stop payment on my check, and told them to fix it, as it did not do this until they did the valve adjustment. Now they are telling me they are trying to figure out what the problem is. I assumed they just effed up the valve adjustment, but now I’m not sure since they seem to be uncertain. Anybody have any experience with this? Any ideas what else it could be? Soot level is low, so I don’t think it’s as simple as needing a regen. Any advice would be appreciated! Now I’m nervous these mechanics are gonna f**k up my truck!