The present invention provides a method of scheduling uplink transmissions from at least one access terminal to an access network. The method includes estimating, at the access network, at least one signal-to-noise ratio associated with each access terminal and determining, at the access network, a format for the packet based upon the estimated signal-to-noise ratio. The method also includes ranking access terminals and allocating, at the access network, resources to access terminals for transmission based on each access terminal's priority and the determined format of the packet and transmitting, from the access network, information indicative of the resources allocated to each access terminal.