landstar, mercer, malone, ats??

I leased my truck to Malone, and when the motor died, I did LP for a few months. The rates were good and as long as you didn't go to a bad area, you didn't sit. Their load board is pretty good, but some of their agents only post the garbage loads they can't cover.

Malone is all IC, so if you don't own a truck, and don't want to be an LP, it may not be the place for you.

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I stayed in Northwest Indiana. The fleet manager was very possessive, and would dispatch his trucks first. He posted his garbage to the load board. Most times I would travel to another company office, and they would dispatch. Drivers who ran out of other office would use the load board. Most loads on the board would show what the rate and FSC was.
I went from NWI to Marshalltown, IA. The loads could be light and still pay. 375 miles, load paid $1,400, linehaul and FSC combined. We got 75% of linehaul and 100% of FSC. If I remember correctly, this load paid about $1,100 to the truck, making the FSC over $200. Fuel was over $350 at the time.
To o/os they paid twice a week.
Their ICs drove the gold pos, but most guys who owned their truck owned nice trucks, so they did ok.

 

Mercer pays within minutes of delivery (they say 8 hours but usually about 15 mins). You can pick your own loads from the load board or let your coordinator find loads for you. Absolutely no penalty for refusing a load. The figures ($) you hear are to the truck so you know exactly what to expect. It includes FSC, tarps, extra stops or pickups and everything else.

 

Do they have year limits on tractor?

 

They just implemented something. I think you have to have a ECM plug so 2000 ish.

 

Their website doesn't mention anything about equipment requirements. I certainly HOPE they don't start with any either.

 

Landstar has a first come first serve self dispatch system. You book it, it's yours.

Mercer has a load board and coordinators but with a numbering system. The First ones empty are number 1,2,3 and etc... Whoever that is higher on that empty list gets priority on load picking... So if you book a load, you may get notified that your no longer on that load because someone who was empty first decided to take it...

And Malone, I can't say much about them, I haven't really studied their system enough...

 

Mercer has beauty requirements. No turd buckets please.
On the other hand I have literally seen parts fall off a landstar truck while it was rolling.