L S cheap loads

I've never really bothered with much LS freight. If you think what BCO's get offered is bad, can you imagine the garbage they throw on load boards?

Rates don't always go down in open deck. When all the snow birds go to hide down south for the winter, of course those rates take a dive. I stay up north all winter and have my pick of high paying loads because they aren't picked off as soon as they're posted. If you're afraid of tarps then flatbed isn't the trailer for you. The freight that's going to run in winter is going to be weather protect because it'll be used in indoor manufacture more often than not, since not much construction goes on up here in the snow.

Also, if you're looking for a company to lease onto with no age restrictions, Farm2Fleet is on the table. My K100 was a glaring example of that when I was running it.

 

LS cheerleader here - not all of their freight sucks. I do some of it. Really what it comes down to is where do you run, how keen are you to spot anything worthwhile, are you able to make connections with the people, and is your service any good or just typical, time of year? Posted rates, even when low, are meaningless. Sometimes that is what it is though. I do a lot of repeat business with Landstar on the same load(s) along with other brokers. None of my repeat business stuff is low or cheap these people will pay for excellent service and good communication.

Guys like me either inside or outside the LS system will be on the top of the agent call list (not because of price), anything that was worthwhile we found on a board, won't ever get posted back.on there again if we can help it. That is why you have to watch the freight like a hawk. I've watched Landstar email alerts for almost 3 years on my lanes. What sort of effort have you put into it and what exactly was your plan? This stuff doesn't just fall out of the sky you have to look for it and you better be quick. I have no minimum rate and the minimum pay is $1. Believe it or not there are 40,000 lb load that pop up going 800 miles where the pay is listed as $1 which is not the rate. I see every load the cheap and the good when they pop. See the patterns. Know them. That is how you crack into a system like LS and get the good stuff. Not going to.happen overnight. Not going to happen if you're just randomly gazing at the board daily hoping for something of I should say a blind squirrel gets a nut every once in a while so maybe so.

 

No I'm not a BCO. I'm an outside carrier and get loads from Landstar broker. They have freight in good areas and going to dead areas alike. I never understood the aversion to hauling into a deadzone. Those can be some lucrative runs. So jack the rate and deadhead out or reload cheap but do either one with a smile or don't book the load if they won't pay. Like was pointed out to you this really ain't the greatest time for flatbed. That's not Landstar's fault that's just the normal cycle. Of course they do have their fair share of cheap freight and shyster agents but that's just trucking like anywhere.

 

tell more about where you will and wont go, details on that. may help solve your problem

 

I don't haul more than 5k lbs, and I don't turn my key for anything less than $10 per mile...

 

Lol. I was disappointed too when I first started to navigate the LS board. The guys that are successful stick with it and build contacts. The load board is a last ditch effort for the agent to move the freight. Most good paying freight is already covered. Other guys use LS as a stepping stone to getting there own numbers, and still end up hauling for LS as an outside carrier. Some guys wash out because they think $5 buck a mile freight should be handed to them on a silver platter.

Setup multiple subscriptions and keep that wagon loaded. Widen your radius. I good paying load say 500 miles out, may net you 20cpm more than what your seeing in that 150 mile radius.