Unreal Past in Logistics Negotiations

• We use the unreal past (past tense forms with present or future meaning) to talk about imaginary situations, preferences, or what we wish people would do in our operations.
• Structure
• Function
• Example in Trucking
• It's (high) time + past tense
• To say something should be done immediately
• It's high time we raised our rates.
• Would rather + subject + past
• To express a preference about someone's actions
• I'd rather you walked away from that freight.
• As if / As though + past
• To describe how a situation appears
• Mark acted as if he ran the Chicago terminal.
• Suppose / What if + past
• To imagine a hypothetical scenario
• What if we lost volume on the Dallas lane?
• Remember
• Use past simple after 'it's time' and 'would rather' to talk about the present.
• Use 'were' instead of 'was' for all persons in formal unreal past clauses.
• Use 'suppose' or 'what if' with past verbs to propose a hypothetical condition.
• Do not use present tenses when expressing these unreal present preferences.
• Examples
• It's high time we reviewed our operating costs.
• I'd rather our carrier in Boston accepted a higher margin target.
• He speaks about freight brokers as though he owned the company.
• Suppose we lost three trucks on that lane tomorrow.
• Common mistakes
• It's high time we raise our rates.
• It's high time we raised our rates.
• I'd rather you take this load.
• I'd rather you took this load.

Complete the sentences

• It's high time we (raise) ____ our rates across the Midwest.
• I'd rather our dispatcher in Seattle (not book) ____ that cheap freight.
• Sarah acts as if she (be) ____ the owner of the logistics firm in Austin.
• What if we (walk) ____ away from that underpriced lane?
• It's time our team in Denver (update) ____ the cost per mile study.
• Suppose that broker (refuse) ____ to pay our rate floor in Phoenix.

Sources: photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels