The Do's and Don'ts at Landstar

Heck I've bobtailed to the pig to get my rib on while there. There is really nothing that good at that exit though. Jenks has been terrible the last couple times, and the last time we actually ate there. My point stands though, you don't come to the star for their awesome state of the art terminals, or their state of the art Windows 98 website.

 

I took time off in June and being on the van side after a week of inactivity Skyblitz reports the trailer inactive and trailer utilization will call you trying to either get you moving or drop the trailer. Well let me say here it is August and I still do not have a empty. Yea, I know most probably would have been gone by second week of July if a big company like Landstar cannot find a empty by then. I usually take some time off anyway so this to me is just a bit extended. But it does prove one thing. That Landstar is NOT the company it once was. Its too big and nobody can deal with your issues on a personal basis. What is even worse about this trailer availability issue is that this is not so rare that I am the exception. I personally do not mind a policy that requires you to drop your trailer for extended periods of time off. I get that Landstar wants to utilize their equipment. But if you do that, then you must have in place a ability to assign a trailer to a BCO when that BCO is ready to move. Otherwise you risk losing a BCO and that is a loss for Landstar and the BCO. In fact I have been told that the SkyBlitz tracking system is part of the problem. Its become so annoying and big brotherish that some BCO's disconnect it or cause it not to work. So then Landstar has a difficult time tracking and locating it. End result is trailers that nobody knows where they are or if they are empty. I supposed in hind sight I should have never dropped the trailer and would have still had it today. Could be working instead of calling trailers and complaining. My advice to anyone thinking of Landstar or new to Landstar is to remind yourself that Landstar is a big company and with that comes confusion and disconnect. They are no better or worse then any of the big companies. Just try not to let their policies hurt you as a business.

 

I don't deal with the van side, but couldn't you have had your #1 agent put a dummy load in the system picking up when you planned to come back? You'd be under dispatch so they wouldn't take it, right?

 

Yes, I suppose that would be a way to cheat the system. But then you have new BCO's going hundreds of miles just to get their first trailer? To me this is the one problem Landstar has on the VAN side. I am sure agents tie up vans in the system with dummy loads too. So they have a trailer pool which is non existent in trailer control. I have talked to agents who lost customers because they could not get enough vans for the freight. Landstar has some problems recognizing the fact that many customers these days want drop and hook and Landstar still seems rather stuck in live load and unload and trying to mix in some drop and hook. I have to wonder why they can't just lease more van equipment for good customers to keep them happy. I have had several customers say they will drop Landstar because they cannot do drop and hook properly and effectively. One customer in particular cannot understand why they cannot get more empties? They want to give Landstar more freight but Landstar cannot come through with the trailers? If agents have the same issues I have with getting a empty, this presents a big problem with getting business. I am just surprised nobody at Landstar corporate see's this as a road block to success?

 

I drove 400 miles to get my first trailer, into Florida of all places. Then had to deadhead another 150 to get a halfway decent load. Im now getting ready to go home for the first time as a LS BCO and will be there 10-12 days. Hope I dont have any issues while im on hometime.

 

Only problems I've ever had with empty trailers is Home Depot's DC's. I one time need a trailer & Landstar paid me to go get the trailer & the agent paid me layover.

I'm slight confused as you are saying LS isn't finding you a trailer. They're still deducting money to pay for fees & such, with no trailer you can't earn no money so in hindsight you can pay your deductions.

And also, you say customers have lost accounts because of not having drop trailers & I call BS. Plenty of BCO'S love great paying drop & hook freight, we also hate cheap drop & hook freight. And it's two agents in particular that calls me too pull their cheap 1.90 freight & they think it's great because "it's drop & hook". And don't get me started on them cabinet loads that's drop & hook but 8 stops. Nobody wants those either

 

Well we both have different experiences. I have been to customers who wanted me to drop a trailer but they did not have a Landstar empty on site. Now the customer said, a Landstar driver just came in and took it? Who knows? right? I know if you drop an empty at a orientation center you better put a king pin lock on it.
I hate cheap freight too, and yet Landstar would rather I do that then assign me a company van trailer? I've talked to new BCO's attending Rockford orientation that were told to go to California or Colorado for a empty trailer. I have worked for big companies for most of my trucking career since 1989 and have never had to bobtail that far to get a empty. That's not even that safe coming from a company that touts safety. But I guess you get that more when you don't have terminals and trailer yards per say. I myself being with Landstar about 7 years now have never had such a wait time for a trailer.

 

#### I was thinking of putting an app in, may do something different now.

 

I would make your case to keep it if I were you. I used to be someone who felt playing by the rules was correct. But that was until I did the right thing and dropped my trailer for extended time off and now have had to wait weeks for a empty. That is not right for any company to do.

 

Easy fix to it all, buy your own trailer.