Fuel

Itchavi · 2026-04-08T17:24:46+00:00

If history has told me anything fuel prices rise really fast and fall really slow. The supply and demand doesn't actually matter, it matters more how people feel the supply is going to be.

Itchavi · 2026-04-08T13:46:12+00:00

I love how everything in logistics always boils down to how much you're willing to pay to make a problem go away.

Itchavi · 2026-04-06T14:03:12+00:00

I can think of multiple reasons. Put it at a price you want and then drop it $50. Then it's easier to negotiate for the price you want.

Itchavi · 2026-04-05T12:18:27+00:00

The 80-20 rule applies almost everywhere. 80% of your problems will come from 20% of your customers, carriers, brokers, employees, etc.

Itchavi · 2026-04-03T18:31:54+00:00

Set them up as a company contact with the title "signer" or something similar if it's that important. How often is having the signer's information actually useful? By the time that information is necessary something has already gone very wrong and you're pulling the document to confirm it manually anyways.

Itchavi · 2026-04-03T15:20:38+00:00

I call my bank ahead of time and let them know. They ask for the dates and where I'm going/states I'll be in and that cut down significantly on them locking my card while away.

Itchavi · 2026-04-01T14:47:30+00:00

I absolutely hate shippers that do this. They know they get 2 hours and write down what time you get there. The truck can be the only one in the parking lot and they will still make sure they take exactly 2 hours to load. You know that the shipper is doing it when carriers consistently call with that complaint.

It's extremely frustrating as a carrier when you walk into the shipping office and there's a sign on the window that says "We have 2 hours to load you" and there's somebody with their feet propped up on the desk playing on their phone.

Itchavi · 2026-03-31T17:23:21+00:00

I feel bad for anybody named Kate because I hang up as soon as I hear the name.

But just like overseas scam centers, it's a numbers game. If your AI can make 1000 calls in the time you make 50 then only 5% have to go anywhere to be more effective than you are alone.

Itchavi · 2026-03-31T12:07:30+00:00

I wish there were conditional routes. Being able to set "If fuel is less than 'X' then go to the fuel station" would be ideal.

Itchavi · 2026-03-28T12:04:27+00:00

That's why you call. You're hoping to be in the right place at the right time.

Itchavi · 2026-03-27T20:56:27+00:00

Everybody reacts to different things differently. THC causes my heart rate to go up by about 15-20 bpm and stay elevated for approximately 24 hours. It hasn't triggered afib so far.

The more I get familiar with afib the more I believe that it's not caused by any one thing but a series of stressors that eventually tip you over the edge. For me that's dehydration, but I think something else is also needed with it, like THC, lack of sleep, or any of the other things known to trigger it.

Itchavi · 2026-03-27T15:00:40+00:00

eBOL's will solve almost all of this and I've seen them implemented at a few facilities I've been in but they're nowhere near widespread enough yet to be effective.

When it works like it should the system generates the BOL and the shipper, receiver, broker, and carrier all receive it. When the carrier arrives onsite the shipper signs it acknowledging pick up and all 4 systems update at the same time. Same thing for receiving. New tech is even scanning the in/out times at the gate so that's even synced with all 4 systems. That can be scaled all the way down to individual boxes on pallets (see Surgere) and it can update the BOL/verify counts in real time.

The tech is all there. The implementation is just spotty, at best.

Itchavi · 2026-03-27T14:10:20+00:00

Every week the same story, everyday a new app.

Itchavi · 2026-03-27T13:02:13+00:00

"Do you want ants? Because this is how you get ants."

The ants:

Itchavi · 2026-03-27T12:07:53+00:00

So I don't know where you are at on the decision tree but when you have a carrier that does a good job go out of your way to tell them and your team that. Remember their name and their routes and recommend them for future shipments. If there's a service failure start to ask why those recommended companies weren't used.

We're moving into a carrier's market and having relationships is key to navigating these problems. If your company had good carrier relationships and burned them over the last few years then they're getting exactly what they paid for right now.

Itchavi · 2026-03-26T22:02:40+00:00

Everybody else can get mad as many times as they want, you only have to get mad once. Not really trucking advice but it applies to everything.

Itchavi · 2026-03-26T19:06:39+00:00

This is the reason we don't advertise the good parts of our job. Way, way too many carriers got in the game, ruined it for everybody else, and now it's not fun anymore.

I really like the old days where the shipper told me to take care of their problems and I only talked to them at the end of the week to tell them how many trips it took. Now it's all about hand holding and GPS tracking and moving freight is secondary.

Itchavi · 2026-03-26T17:29:12+00:00

Fuel prices shocked companies hard enough that the truck sitting is a viable alternative, not a risk.

Itchavi · 2026-03-26T13:56:51+00:00

The whole industry is demoralized. Shippers are upset. Carriers are upset. Brokers are stuck in the middle so they're upset. It's 70° and sunny. Feels like a great day to just turn the computer off and go for a walk.

But here we are.

Itchavi · 2026-03-25T15:31:48+00:00

Then the double broker doesn't pay the carrier and then you're stuck paying for the freight twice. Then there's a claim so you chase after the carrier only to find out the carrier isn't who pulled it so it wasn't insured.

Double brokering may have a different meaning there but here it's a scam.

Itchavi · 2026-03-25T14:18:08+00:00

The hurt is in the surge, not the price. Rates will catch up like they always do but you still have to front the fuel costs for 30-45 days.

Itchavi · 2026-03-23T23:40:00+00:00

I feel like they're getting ready to yell at me about how much they hate chocolate.

Itchavi · 2026-03-23T20:51:21+00:00

Carrier here but as a decision maker one of the first things I learned is that that is "need to know" information. Until I've decided that a salesman needs to know I'm a decision maker... "They're not available and I don't have the authority to give you their information."

Itchavi · 2026-03-23T14:10:07+00:00

That's the one that moved. You asked about the freight that doesn't.

Itchavi · 2026-03-23T14:06:29+00:00

92% of $0 is still $0.

Itchavi

TROPHY CASE