THEY WILL HIRE YOU but NO FREIGHT

[monfortlane]

i know,for a fact they will hire you,to the hand who wanted to know about landstar.your truck can be any age.they will send you to one of there agents yard.he will inspect it.you put the sticker on it.its so easy.most never even look at it.there freight brokers not mechanics.they say there 100 % owner operator,but have a loophole. about half or more of there agents have a fleet of trucks financed by landstar.so you know who gets dispatched first.what you see on the loadboard is crap,no one wants..you can walk in off the streets and get the same discount on tires.they charge you to pay you your check...your always in a so called bad area.thats why you have that cheap load,to get to a better area.you can tell the company trucks,there mostly volvos and century freightliners.the drivers go around saying they own them,because the freight broker tells them,they will sell them to them,with a im possible note to pay.i feel for them being trick..remember ooida just got thru suing them last year.they kept all the fuel surcharge,that was suspose to go to the o/0...hands are losing there houses trying to pay there truck note.setting for days for a load...you can get expedited freight if you drive for one of the brokers.its not there fault,theres just no freight to speak of.if your in the click,you ll get by.talk to the ones who been there a long time.the new ones dont know anything,they talk like they do,but reall dont know the system.they will wait 2 or 3 months,then hit you with mileage road tax in each state you run in.you will have a negative check,intill its paid off.man that hurts.they will give you advances to buy fuel and eat.if your in the click,like i am you will make your truck note thats about it.been there 11 years.my wife works in one of the broker offices,thats how i survive..usally hands fiqure it out in a couple of months,by that time there behind on there truck note.i just ran across the site surfing the net.i usally dont say nothing,but i have talk to some nice 0/0 and felt i needed to tell someone who might want to know.the other hand was talking about military loads,thats now cheap o freight.i have heard landstar hands on the cb saying there getting 1.25 a mile.thats not true.when they take out there percentage you end up with about 69 cents ,and then you have to deduct the fuel from that.also the amount they pay you,is not what the load pays.it maybe 1.80 a mile.the broker keeps that..i know someone will get on here and say something .get them to fax you there pay sheet.the hands are very proud,i used to be that way.trying to say the pay was good,but i seen to many hands go down.i just told you some of it.but its the truth.alabamasuperman 29 years otr

[RickG]

Sounds like a bunch of reliable info straight from the C.B. to me .

[fisher guy]

Originally Posted by RickG

Sounds like a bunch of reliable info straight from the C.B. to me .

thats what it sounded like to me to. very garbled and hard to read.

[Roadmedic]

The way it is typed out makes it hard to read. I guess you would say I ended up squelching it out.

[Scott Mac.]

My eye's hurt. But I got the jist of it in the first few lines.

[takteam]

We have been leased to Landstar for a year and cut our income almost in half. It is hard to tell if it is the economy or the loads at the bottom of the barrel. I do know that the load board is probably about 60% of the loads through their company. The drivers that do well are close to agents...married, years of relationship, etc. We have repeat business with certain agents, but no one has yet to adopt us as a regular or look out for our truck. We spend lots of time calling agents, searching on the load board, and using the load alerts. This has not been a very strong team operation for us. Another team is contemplating going off the road for a hotshot operation. They are not making it on the Landstar board and having been trucking for years.

[gandrew]

Our friends left LS after about 3 years with the company. Could not make it in this economy. Had to let their expediter truck get repo'd which has to be a very sad thing to do. Are currently with another company driving someone else's rig and seem to be doing okay. Lots of negative stuff on the web about LS lately. Wondering if it's a reflection of the scarcity of freight or declining business ethics, changing corporate attitudes or just what. Wife and I are just barely staying afloat, probably because we have no house payment or car payment. Just a truck payment and some credit cards and a small monthly on some property we own. Hauled gov't explosives recently for 1.17 to the truck and were glad to get the load. Otherwise we would have been sitting and waiting or running empty to somewhere else. Tough times make some people grouchy, some folks greedy and some folks make business decisions that are shady. It is darwinism in action. The strong, adaptable ones will survive. I'm trying to be one of these.

[takteam]

Thanks, if you have any profound tips...it would be appreciated! We are also a believer in the idea that if we do well together, we will do well as a company! Well wishes to you!

[gandrew]

Not sure how profound this is but we stay out almost all the time trying to make this work. We went off the board for my mom's death and subsequent funeral, for Christmas, and in May, for our son's wedding. Otherwise we are available all the time. July 1st we said yes to all 7 load offers that called us. One would not fit our box. Not one load worked out, and most were for 1.25 a mile to the truck which includes fsc. These are rates lower than when we started in this business five years ago with Conway Now. Back then fuel was about 1.99 and my truck payment was under $600. Now fuel is 2.60 and my payment is $2000. We are not doing better than five years ago, but we are going to survive because we are adaptable and damn hard working. I am still debating whether to start going to Canada again. Had so many bad experiences we stopped. But the issue is on the table. We do not say no to any area of the country. Yup, I've been stuck at the mexico border and deadheaded out, but I've gotten lucky loads out, too. Agents are working this economy the best they can, so I work with them as best I can to move their customer's stuff. We are punctual and I run an electric razor on my face to make me somewhat more presentable at the shippers dock. I always wear clean clothes and a company logo hat and logo shirt too, if one is clean. You just don't get a second chance to make a first impression for your company at the shipper or receiver.

[takteam]

Hi...wow! Thanks for responding! We definitely are not doing better than our first year. We did much better with another company, but we did not have the option to choose. We really do not have that now if we follow the money!! We go anywhere, but we have not gone into Mexico! Speed-limiters might stop us now! We have been averaging about 1.27 over the last three months....to the truck! We do not own a trailer and $1050 monthly truck payment. We need those agents to start calling us! We usually deliver a day or more earlier...and definitely are on time. We are polite and present ourselves well. We had a strict policy for apprearance at our previous company! Shippers and receivers will tell us about their loads, but it is the agents who need to call us. We call them all the time. Send thank you's!! Some of our fav agents have already moved on...boohoo! We communicate well and often with the agents when we are under their loads. We just need that brake with an agent who needs someone who has been with this company for a year. I have three years driving experience and my husband has 20 years of over-the-road experience. We run hard. I do need to get home now and then...to see my little grandson! You are awesome to share info...any further insightful advice that we may be missing based on this additional info. Thanks...be safe and enjoy the fourth!