Crst malone, the inside story

For anyone trying to get a hold of me, asking questions, I sincerely apologize, some of you asked questions long ago. I left Malone march of 2012 so I could spend more time with family and my, now almost 3 year old daughter. As for Crst Malone, it was one of if not the best company that I worked for. The only downside to crst malone is maintenance. I was paying 12cent/mile for maintenance and they take care of everything. The bad part is there was alot they didn't want to do and my pay suffered severely. I estimate that I lost approx. $30,000 the first
year because of the money going to maintenance that you don't get back and the poor fuel economy my truck was getting. If you want to try out a L/P crst malone wasn't a bad deal. I don't know how things may have changed since I've been gone, but if they are somewhat the same then it would be a good place to try running your own business. If you dont think of it as your own business then don't try! You will only fail and then post on places like this saying that its such a horrible company. Now I want everyone to make sure you're looking at Crst malone, the flatbed division, not crst the van division. From what I've seen the van division is not the best, to be honest I've heard its pretty bad. But ive never worked for that part of crst so I really don't have any room to judge.
Back to Malone, if you do decide to go, I suggest putting 30% of what you are paid in a savings account and putting yourself on a budget. Say a max of $1000/wk. If you make more than $1000/wk after you already deducted 30%, put the rest of that in savings too. Your goings to have good weeks and bad weeks. On top of that uncle sam is going to want his cut so keep receipts for everything, it will help reduce what you owe at the end of the year. You can file yearly, but hiring a cpa to file quarterly and keep you from screwing up will save you in the long run. Finally if you do decide to do Malone's L/P get some experience, learn the freight lanes, and either hurry up and pay off the truck so you can start keeping your maintenance money or find a good used truck. You want a quality truck but dont overwhelm yourself with the expense of a new truck.
If your already driving for someone, ask around, find a Malone driver and ask them how they are doing. Just dont judge the company by just a couple drivers. You may end up finding the few that have the perfect setup and are making a killing. Then you get started and dont even make half, get discouraged and quit. Then again you might find the ones that are trying to run the truck like a company and barely have enough money to eat. Doing a L/P anywhere is alot of work, your a driver, your a broker, your meeting clients and networking to build your clientele. Doing everything you can to make customers happy, because shippers talk. Weather you are good or bad, other shippers and receivers will get wind of "that guy or girl" and will either hold out for them or avoid them like the plague. I had shippers that got to know me and would start calling me to see if I could haul a load for them. They would add extra fuel surcharge or tarp pay to make it worth my while.
In the end you need to do your research, figure out if you can handle running your own business.
I will try to keep my eyes out for more posts on here to give any guidance I can but honestly ive been out of a truck for almost 2 years and alot has changed.

 

I can't say it's a guarantee that the positive feedback is all actual drivers, but I'd say it's probably a pretty safe bet. Ahorton, since you said your trainers, that means you're talking about the van side. It is completely different from the malone flatbed side. Like I said before, I don't have much room to talk since I never worked the van side. From what ive been told I dont ever want to. Jkcee, yes it sounds horrible, thats because it is. But I have to say even dealing with maintenance it is a great company to get started and on track to owning your own truck. If I hadn't left to spend more time with my family then I would own a truck or two right now. Someone that has the money to get their own truck, trailer, and equipment, but doesn't have the contacts for loads could do extremely well. Are there better companies out there, there may be. But I was introduced to CRST Malone, learned alot, and through hard work done what many dont have a mindset for, running your trucking company.