Previously I skimmed the surface of the stages of spot market load negotiation and today I’ll conclude with the remaining stages. But first, I promised to tell you what “FAT” is…

All Negotiations follow three basic phases. Yes, every single negotiation does, whether you’re negotiating for a car, a date, a wife or more importantly a truckload of freight, they will all include these three stages...

1. Pre-Negotiation, Framing and Setting the Stage.
2. Deadlock, Stalemate and Arrested Development
3. Acceptance and Settlement of Negotiation - a transaction is born!... Read More

Let's summarize, shall we? Our friend Jorge has increased factory pay levels from an average of $1.05 an hour to $3.75 per hour, had a short lived success with retention and recruiting, and was now right back to where he started. High turnover and low production due to shortage of factory workers. Now his current rosters of factory workers were all at the higher pay level. Sound frustrating and all too familiar?... Read More

Thought of the Day - When one of your drivers comes to you stating he is leaving for more money, you give him a raise in an effort to keep him, how long does he typically stay?

So, Jorge and his European superiors are enjoying the fruits of the new employee pay increase, production is running at almost 100%, customer demand is being met. Then, slowly, after a few months, one employee after another leaves. This was not a huge issue at first, as there are still plenty of new employees coming in the front door, as the trained employees exit out the back door.... Read More

We have a lot to cover on this topic, so posts will continue daily throughout the week...

So the new higher pay rates were a huge a success, the next few weeks were chaotic with training, but the plant was back at full production. There was a lot of backslapping and hand shaking as the executives were very happy. This higher cost of labor was fairly easy to absorb in the cost of the product, (when a production line sits idle because of lack of labor, as we all know, it's not good for anyone) and more importantly they were able to meet customer demand.... Read More

In the mid 2000's I acquired an El Paso, TX based trucking operation and spent much of my time early on visiting and getting to know my new customers across the border in Juarez, Mexico. Juarez is fascinating, hustling, bustling border city, full of all of the good and bad elements that come with the US-Mexico border. One evening over dinner and drinks at Maria Chuchena's with a customer (highly recommended, and don't worry about the chalk body outlines on the sidewalk, the drug cartels only aim at rivals, are relatively good shots, and are otherwise generally nice people).... Read More

It's not the Sign On, Sign Off, Sign Here Bonus. It's not the referral and we will pay you in six months if he stays bonus. It is not the “we will pay if you can put up with us and last 90 days bonus” It’s not the bonus, nor money that makes people happy and content with their work, it's the personal relationships. ... Read More