Ok fella's heres a question, first what took so long with that landstar getting you in 5 Month? Whoa! thats crazy. Second what is better to purchase a cheaper truck the way i had it mark off is get the cheaper one then in about 18 months income shoots way up. is this the better way or is getting a newer truck with no problems and able to pass landstars Dot? I mean Dang! six grand for that fellow to get his truck back in shape for driving. Oh Bronc, read your lastest, better watch them brokeback mountain Hummpers! LOL> Hate to see what your wife says when she reads your report...Lol.

AuthorAr the guy that mentioned his $6000 repair bill also mentioned he has a Transcraft trailer. He probably had to weld a bunch of cross members. Other than electrical, tires and brakes there isn't much to go wrong with a trailer.

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Normally it wouldn't have, but I had troubles with the purchase of another truck and trailer that I tried to get. I, personally, was approved within a week or so, but the tractor and trailer I was trying to buy was from a private party, and the seller was still actually under a lease/purchase with his bank, and after a bunch of red tape, they wouldn't release it because they only did business with people in that state...weird. Anyhow, I bought the tractor and trailer that I have now and had a very hard time with the Landstar DOT requirements. One guy was too extreme. He felt EVERY bolt on the tractor and trailer and even wrote me up for a loose bolt underneath one of my steps. You wouldn't believe the petty things he found. By the way...NEVER get a Landstar Annual done at the Petro in Laramie, WY! That guy is anal. The TA at Denver West is very fair.

On the two tractors and two trailers, I went through 5 Landstar annual inspections and 4 prehire drug tests because the inspections and drug tests cannot be over 30 days old, and the process took over 5 months.
Man, I tell 'ya, it was a long row to hoe, but I was persistent, and it was all worth it.

Just to show you a quick rundown of my loads for my first month:

1) Denver to Dallas $1600
2) Dallas to Portland/Medford, OR $4077
3) Oakland, CA to Newark, NJ $5500
4) Pittsburgh, PA to Portland, OR $5300
5) Kent, WA to Anaheim, CA $2000
6) Anaheim, CA to Denver, CO $2500
7) Denver, CO to Sacramento, CA $3000 (I'm on this load now)

This is exactly a month's worth of work. I'm sure many have done better, but for my first month, I am very pleased. These are load grosses before Landstar gets their cut. After fuel surcharges, tarp fees, and stop fees were factored in, I ended up with about 79% of the gross. The gross was $23977, and after Landstar got thier cut, I got $18,891 To The Truck. I always bargained for higher FSC and tarp fees and to lower the line haul because we only get 73.5% of the line haul, whereas we get 100% of everything else. There were even a couple of instances this month where I told the agent that I would need to see such and such for the load, and I ended up getting a higher rate because I was firm about it.

Anyhow, I'm sure there will be ups and downs, but I figure a fella can make a halfway decent living with these numbers.

Man, just for kicks, I was looking at the numbers for pulling a reefer for Landstar...the first 30 or so loads out of Central California were all $7000 to $6500 to the east coast. The first 100 or so were all over $5000. Man, even at 67% pulling a Landstar reefer, those are pretty nice numbers. It gets 'ya thinking, anyhow

Man, you hit THAT nail right on the head, lol. Every crossmember was cracked and had to be welded, and I had to have half of one of the rub rails cut off, straightened, and re-welded. I also had to replace a brake chamber, a slack adjuster, and a wheel seal, not to mention some electrical problems...and that's just the trailer. We haven't even talked about the tractor yet.

That's the 2nd Transcraft I've had that had this persistent problem of crossmembers breaking their welds.

On a lighter note, Landstar is running a contest where if you pass a Level 1 roadside DOT inspection, you are automatically entered in to win a new Western Star tractor. I just got a Level 1 on both the tractor and trailer at Dunsmuir, CA and passed both with clean inspections. Got a letter in the mail from Landstar saying that I was now entered in the contest. Pretty cool. I probably won't win, but hey, a guy can dream, right?

By the way, I am only at my computer one day a week when I am home resetting my logbook...hence my belated replies.

I used to have a Transcraft trailer. I know. Other than those darn welds breaking all time they aren't bad trailers. They pull really nice.

I got ALL my inspections done at a Sapp Brothers!!!


I wouldn't bother with the reefers. Once you go flat, you never go back.


Your gross is pretty good. I'm getting jealous. I knew I got out at the WRONG time.


If you have the time and don't mind lots of people try to make it to the BCO days in Jacksonville. I sure liked it. Lots of interesting stuff to be found out there, about the company and the industry. LOTS of food, Landstar puts on some classes, pays for 2 nights motel, free evening entertainment, free raffles and lots of gifts. I felt that it energizes a guy to go out and try to do better.














I miss Landstar

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HOW IN THE WORLD are you getting those kind of loads out of the front range???????????????????????????????????????????


My biggest complaint and probably the biggest thing that got me out of OTR was I very rarely found any thing outbound that was worth a darn.

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OK well i figured out your miles useing map quest and considering all miles ran dead head and loaded you got an average of 1.499xxx in revenue so your in the ball park if the truck gets around 6 miles to gallon you should clear about 1.00 a mile after fuel. that should leave enough for a good cushion after a while. I was wondering why you would pull a landstar reefer why not buy your own if they are paying that good but remember to this is the high produce time of the year and it want last year around so maybe haveing 2 trailers would be the way to go a reefer and a flat so which ever rates were up that time of the year you couls swap out. just a thought.

Because a new refer trailer isn't much cheaper than a new truck. But you can still haul 99% of van loads in a refer too.
There was a time of year that produce ran so good out of the west that it paid good enough for us to deadhead from Detroit to arizona to laod. Doubt it could ever pay that much again with fuel prices like they are now. At that time in GA we were paying less than $.90 a gallon. That was about 10 or 11 years ago I guess. WHen the produce runs that god you can't find loads out since every refer in the country is sitting out on the coast.
ANd produce never really dries up compleatly. It's either runnign from the coast or it's in South GA/FL, or potatoes in the midwest or you are loading at an airport somewhere as it comes off a plane. People don't stop eating, the only thing that dries up is the rates it pays

Oh i know about the reefer buisness did it for to meany years to count and i loved the old days when we unloaded in NY and ran MT back to the coast toget another load because you didn't have time to wait for the backhaul the produce was ready so thats all you ran. We used to relay in ark or ok with another team and we would get chicken out of springdale and run back to the west coast unload in LA and head north to start loading take 2 days to pick and then run the devil out of it back and do it again. But like you say then fuel was cheap and you got allot of free stuff when you fueled up. Carton of cigertes and a meal for a complete fuel up. BUt thos days are gone since deregulation.