Canadian Owner operator advice

I've spoken with OOIDA on the phone and their fuel card works at some fuel stations in Canada and alot in the states. Appearently NASTC does as well but I didn't look into them yet. Honestly I'm in Alberta as well about ready to go on my own but people either don't want to help or are clueless when it comes to loadboards etc. Everyone seems to lease to a company and not know anything else. I sent you a PM as well

 

Petro pass maybe

 

That's because trying to run Van/Reefer out of the west on your own is SUICIDE. Not trying to be an #######, but I've watched DOZENS of guys try this and all go bankrupt. You're best bet, is to be a ABL power only contractor if you don't want to lease on. That way you can get the fuel discounts, don't have to fight to get work, or to get paid, but you're still on your own numbers/schedule.

On the fuel issue, its not he card that has the discount, its the volumes. You can get EFS, Comdata, T-Check, Husky Pro, Esso Commercial etc etc etc doesn't matter. The discount will always be based off the volumes, or else all you get is cash posted priced $0.02-0.04c/gal off. NASTIC and Loves won't talk to you, cause you don't have a credit rating in the US. If they do, its not going to be the same discounts the US drivers get. I've seen guys resort to using an American Express Business card at Flying J, and just using the cash back rewards as a discount.

Again, not trying to be an #######, I totally understand the wanting to go on your own thing, I've almost done it many times, but every time the numbers just didn't make sense. I also avoid BC/WA/OR, just a losing battle going into those #### places.

 

Pretty much the most expensive next to COOP.

Canada your best bet is HuskyPro/Esso Commercial for pricing and getting approved as a 1 truck operation.

 

I don't know what the rates are, as I'm exclusive with IHaul now, but TransX has a lot of drop and hook in California (CanXpress) and Lanes into the Midwest/Texas. (See them down there a lot). No Idea on Bison, but I know they like Triangles, I see lots of Bison contractors in So Cal, Phoenix and Texas.

One of the best things about Bison, is they can't keep Company Drivers or Leased on O/O's at all (105% turnover), so I think they are using like 35%+ ABL contractors now for all their loads. Out of all the companies, I see the most contractors pulling Bison trailers.

If you're going full ABL, it would be a good idea to get setup with multiple companies, TransX, Bison, IHaul forsure, maybe Versacold, Heyl Truck Lines, I would avoid Day and Ross, Lightspeed, Trivee, Triple 8, People Express. That way you can bounce around if one place doesn't have work for you. However, with how terrible most companies on this list are to work for as a company driver or leased on O/O, i'm pretty sure once you sign on ABL with any one of them, you're gonna have more work than you can handle from just one carrier. (That's been my experience anyway).

 

I did with a buddy of mine for 2 years (TransX, Bison, SLH, Purolator Contracts), then I leased on for 2 years (A Mullen Company), and now I'm an IC (Independent Contractor) with IHaul for 1 year now. Its similar to being leased on, but they're not allowed to force dispatch me, or tell me what schedule I can have, but they also don't guarantee me work and I'm not allowed on dedicated lanes; sort of a best of both worlds setup IMHO. It also allows me to have my company name on the truck, in addition to my IHaul decals, If they start to push cameras or forced dispatch on me, I will go back to ABL but still with them. The reason I did this instead of ABL, is I wanted to work for them exclusively without being full leased on. One issue when you're an ABL, and you only work for one company, is the CRA/Government starts saying you're not a contractor but an employee; so you need to lease on. So if you're doing ABL, make sure to mix it up a bit, most guys say you need to do 1 load for someone other than your main company, every 2 months to avoid problems.

I run 46 states in the US and Western Canada (No Ontario, QC, Maritimes), I go to BC only when needed. I avoid Portland/NYC/NJ/Detroit/RI/Boston. My Main lanes are California (I perfer NorCal), Arizona, Texas, Georgia, PA, N/S Carolina and Florida.