would it be a good idea on here to post what type of load

Then if we know, how to quote,or to quote If its urgent or a back load,

It would be a good idea to be able to specify if you are looking for a hotshot or backload quote. Then if you are not in a position to offer a backload price, you can just ignore it.

Yes I agree Just so we know where we are, and to quote or not to quote! It would be a great help to couriers and not waste the time of peeps posting the jobs, getting quotes which are no good to them.

In all honesty a vendor should not have the opportunity to post a load as a backload

A backload is the drivers perogative ie: i'm going in that direction i'll qoute a more competitive price to secure the job

A vendor selling a gtm as a backload is just plain greedy or you'll get

Oh they are a good customer and I'M doing them a favour "YOUR DOING " them a favour

Ok get in YOUR van and do it , don't expect me to run for peanuts

Its a choice you make on how you quote, I would just like to know what I am quoting on, I agree with you on them trying to get the goods moved cheaply, but let us have the choice of knowing, some of us depend more on these types of site for work, the more info the better for me,

Couldn't you do that in the additional comments box when posting a job. Not many vendors use the comments box i've noticed. Just thinking out loud.

east-lancs sameday couriers limited said:

Couldn't you do that in the additional comments box when posting a job. Not many vendors use the comments box i've noticed. Just thinking out loud.

That would not work for us, as we just press a button in our own booking system, which sends the job into mtvan. There is no opportunity to add comments. We would really need a specific field, where backload jobs are catagorised.

Having said that, we haven't put a single backload job on mtvan yet. However, if the option were there, we might make more use of it.

Just let me say I am not trying to encourage backload rates!

We're working towards some solutions to differentiate more clearly different kinds of work.

Sounds good Admin ty

There's no such thing as a backload rate, if sellers of good's to move say it pay's backload rate they are ripping the owner driver off & lining there own pockets with even more profit, the owner drive can offer a lower rate for a none urgent job which is going his way, but it's not a backload rate,

Hotshot or Backload they are all jobs. Quote what you need on the job if you get it great if not move on to the next one. Everyones situation is different. PW i dont get what you say by saying sellers are ripping off owner drivers. If i put a job on and courier A quotes £100 and courier B quotes £50 because it falls in with him going home or where he or she needs to be how am i ripping them off? As i said in my opinion they are all JOBS.

PW - Today I paid out almost 100% of the money i took from my customer to cover a job, I'm not complaining about being ripped off because I wasn't, I simply paid the price I was quoted and the courier was nearer to the job than anyone else and I also knew from previous experience he would do a good job - and I can track him :o)

Tomorrow, I may get lucky and cover a different job, paying out only a fraction of the retail price. It's swings and roundabouts, we win on some and lose on others. But you can't say a courier company is ripping someone off just because they have taken the lowest price offered.

To answer your question no it wouldn't be a good idea.

Assume every job is a hotshot and quote accordingly.

If someone could tell me what a vendor is doing selling a backload in the 1st place. As the term backload is a term used by a courier taking a load back home, i fail to see how a vendor can use the term unless he is asking for a cheap rate, and a cheap rate i very much doubt has been offered to his customer.

If a courier wants to undercut someone else cos he's going that way anyway then all well and good, but that doesn't make it a backload for anyone but him... To everyone else its a hotshot... Therefore the term can't be used by a vendor

It is clearly a rate designed to make more profit at the expense of the courier, not to offer a reduced charge to the vendors customer.

If mtvan want to introduce more delivery options then i feel they will only confuse the issue

75pplm to some is a hotshot rate, to others its a backload rate

If vendors get inundated with high quotes when they're looking for backload prices then maybe it'll stop them posting. And if that stops these supposed "backload" jobs appearing then as far as i'm concerned that can only be a good thing.

Or to put it another way, its all bollox

I think the type of load can easily be determined by the delivery deadline. If the delivery is for the same day as the collection, then it's a same day job and therefore commands same day rates.

MyVanCan said:

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I think the type of load can easily be determined by the delivery deadline. If the delivery is for the same day as the collection, then it's a same day job and therefore commands same day rates.

There re 2 types of sameday job, those that need a dedicated vehicle and those that could be co-loaded. This is something only the controller knows and will consider offers based on what the customer is expecting.

I do think it would be useful to catagorize by hotshot/backload or whatever we are going to call it.

What's the difference between a London to Newcastle that needs to get there by 6pm dedicated, and one that needs to get there by 6pm but can be co-loaded? What if you can't find anyone that's already going there? It still needs to get there the same day so it's still a same day job and needs to pay a same day rate.

MyVanCan said:

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What's the difference between a London to Newcastle that needs to get there by 6pm dedicated, and one that needs to get there by 6pm but can be co-loaded? What if you can't find anyone that's already going there? It still needs to get there the same day so it's still a same day job and needs to pay a same day rate.

Yep but theres many that will discount it just to get it without worrying about the future consequences

Sure, I would bid a lower price to get it too but not down to a backload rate.

MyVanCan said:

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Sure, I would bid a lower price to get it too but not down to a backload rate.

I think this is the problem, everyone's idea of a backload rate is different to another's. Your backload rate could be someone else's normal rate or vice versa. At the end of the day, all you can do is offer the best price you can do under the circumstances. If your on a return journey, you will probably be in a position to outbid anyone else and secure the job.

We have 2 ongoing threads that a very loosely connected here, and as the Newcastle example highlights, someone asking for a co-load (something that i have been asked maybe half a dozen times in 15 years) does not guarantee that a co-load can be found, so at a certain time of day, these budget economy class jobs must therefore become dedicated urgent sameday jobs--The only difference being, that the vendor makes next to nothing on the job.

The further afield the delivery is, the quicker it has to go, thereby making the idea of it being an economy/budget class a fairly redundant one.

As far as I am concerned there are only 2 types of courier jobs, sameday in other words load and go or non urgent. If a job is non urgent then its possible the loading and dropping times are flexible and may be able to be co loaded. The vendor would expect a cheaper rate and that would be correct in my eyes. Every other job if it is load and go then it is simply a sameday and should be quoted and priced accordingly. And if a courier is heading home and quotes a cheaper rate to secure the job then good for him. That job is then a backload for him and him only, not the vendor or the end user. The term backload is used by vendors for one reason only and we all know what that is.

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

The further afield the delivery is, the quicker it has to go, thereby making the idea of it being an economy/budget class a fairly redundant one.

Not always, customers do generally have realistic expectations. More often than not, a customer would be happy with a drop off the next morning, when asking for a discount on a job further afield. If the courier is returning home - not problem, otherwise we would transfer the load (if possible) to another courier who lives nearby, who can then do a local drop the next morning.

Like i said on the other thread why not just put it on the overnighters

If a customer wants a guarantee that it won't be lost, stolen or damaged, then an overnighter is not an option.

In that case they had one option... A dedicated courier... Ie us lot.

Unfortunately some have felt the need to give people the same option, only for less, thereby helping to destroy the sameday market.

It could be argued that it has actually introduced more people into our market, but for me all it has done is confused the public, brought people into the industry that really don't know what they're doing, and reduced rates to a level that is unsustainable.

Speed Couriers - Couldnt agree more.

Express Couriers Northwest Ltd said:

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Speed Couriers - Couldnt agree more.

+1

It's a tricky one. It's not something that we do but I don't think it's necessarily unreasonable for an end user to expect a slightly lower price for a delivery which is same-day but non-urgent. However, I think this is very rare and, as many have mentioned, only usually applies to short-medium distance jobs.

If your customer calls at 9am and says they have something ready now that needs to be delivered 60 miles away by 6pm, they might be inclined to think this will be cheaper than if it needs to go asap because it has to be there by lunchtime.

Now, you might be able to sub it out at a 'backload' rate and make a profit. But if you can't cover it at a 'backload' rate you either do it yourself or post it as a full-paying job and take the hit. I suppose it's the risk you take if you want to go down that pricing route for your customers.

I can see that classifying jobs as HOTSHOT/URGENT or BACKLOAD/NON-URGENT might sometimes be helpful.

Well miles are miles to me so i price the job accordingly

If customers want to use a courier because they are worried about their goods then they have the choice

Pay the rate

Or use the overnighters

To me thats the service on offer... peace of mind... Or take your chances

But that is not the only two types of service on offer.

There are plenty of tiers in between and if a customer can't get want they want from the first courier they call, they will simply just vote with their feet and go somewhere else.

Ultimately, it is down to couriers to adapt their services to meet the needs of the market, rather than expecting customers to make do with square pegs in round holes.

That looks a bit like kettle and pot to me.

It is people like you that have made so many different holes, that the pegs can fit into several of them.

You think its the market that made the need for these different services?

Maybe, just maybe its people like you that made it so.. And its got a name... Its not adapting, its GREED.

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

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That looks a bit like kettle and pot to me.

It is people like you that have made so many different holes, that the pegs can fit into several of them.

You think its the market that made the need for these different services?

Maybe, just maybe its people like you that made it so.. And its got a name... Its not adapting, its GREED.

Greed, my friend (to use your term) has absolutely nothing to do with it.

To quote Alan Sugar, you don't design a DVD player and work out how much to sell it for, based on your manufacturing costs. You find the price your competitors are selling for, and then design a product that can be built for that price or less.

I know who's advice I would rather take.

I prefer bespoke to mass made shoddiness i'm afraid... I think he was the 1st to admit his computers were shite...

And i also prefer my dvd to work for longer than 10minutes, but hey, that's just me... I prefer quality... And in the long run, quality is cheaper and lasts longer

I've decided at this time on a Friday afternoon, I'd rather not get into a debate about DVD players, lol.

Hurrah...

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said

To answer your question no it wouldn't be a good idea.

Assume every job is a hotshot and quote accordingly.

If someone could tell me what a vendor is doing selling a backload in the 1st place. As the term backload is a term used by a courier taking a load back home, i fail to see how a vendor can use the term unless he is asking for a cheap rate, and a cheap rate i very much doubt has been offered to his customer.

If a courier wants to undercut someone else cos he's going that way anyway then all well and good, but that doesn't make it a backload for anyone but him... To everyone else its a hotshot... Therefore the term can't be used by a vendor

It is clearly a rate designed to make more profit at the expense of the courier, not to offer a reduced charge to the vendors customer.

If mtvan want to introduce more delivery options then i feel they will only confuse the issue

75pplm to some is a hotshot rate, to others its a backload rate

If vendors get inundated with high quotes when they're looking for backload prices then maybe it'll stop them posting. And if that stops these supposed "backload" jobs appearing then as far as i'm concerned that can only be a good thing.

Or to put it another way, its all bollox

Agree Mr Speed

Or maybe because of the rates at which they sell their work to end users means they HAVE to attract backload quotes not I game I actively participate in