Rate comparison between own authority and Landstar

I run Illinois, Indiana and surrounding area pretty much elusively. I only use about 45-50 hours a week of my 70 and drive less than 1700 miles a week. An illustration of the type of loads we haul was one I turned down today. It was $700 and less than 150 miles. I generally only use about 260 gallons or less of fuel a week. Since my truck is paid off our expenses are very low, so if I need to take a less than ideal load to get to a better freight area, or day then we do. We are not very laid back in finding and booking loads, but we are in the pace we run. We have our parameters and if a load meets them, then we book it, if it doesn't, then we pass. I get over 7 mpg because I only run 57 mph, carry the lightest loads I can find and stay out of mountains. In short we work hard at keeping our costs very low and our revenue up. The result is a growing cash reserve. Here is a little secret, the more cash you have in reserve the more freedom and flexibility you have.

 

My wife has a habit of calling me and then keeping me on the line while she searches the load board. It can be anything from entertaining to annoying as she goes down the list of loads. I constantly hear things like, "seriously? Not gonna happen." "That rate? What you want us to pay you to haul your junk?" "Good bye, thanks for playing." Eventually I hear, "This looks interesting, what about ...?" At that point she gives me the details and then she will book the load. I need to teach her to do conference calls because more and more we are getting agents calling us before they put the loads out as load alerts, or on the board. She knows what she's doing, but wants me to green light the load before booking it. Mostly she decides the money and I decide the schedule for pickup and delivery. She won't book anything with extra stops, or if I have to drive overnight. In fact she's pickeyer than I am. The result is that our rate for all miles is higher than it was when the fuel surcharge was $.20 a mile higher. BTW, I'm not giving out exact figures, because I don't want others copying what we do. I just want to know how rates compare between what I see on the Landstar board and what I will see on other boards if I go independent.

 

We have found a way to run that works for us, so what we are looking at are ways to continue doing what we are doing, while increasing profits and expanding our potential freight base. When I first came to LS I tried a power only dedicated at Walmart and hated it. I find I'm looking for more independence not less. I like the idea that I'm only committed to a load at a time, even if we stack 2 of them together. I also like the idea that I don't have to just go, go, go all the time. I've actually been able to finish the first draft of a book on truck driving and start outlining the book of Matthew for a commentary project I'm beginning.

Like everything we've done in this business we have been methodical and made decisions based on research. This forum has been a large part of that research since it is an opportunity to glean information from drivers who have been where I am headed. That is the purpose of this thread. Many times people reveal information without realizing that they have done so. In our case what we do is set parameters for the load we are looking for, such as pickup day and time, delivery day and time, deadhead from my current location, loaded miles, rate per mile, total dollars, and weight. If a load matches most, or all of our parameters then we call and book the load if it is available. We don't waste time looking for the perfect load if what we find is good enough for our purpose. Good enough changes from load to load. I guess what I'm saying in the end is that we aren't looking for advice on how to run our business, we are looking for information to help us predict what will happen if we continue our business model without Landstar and getting our own authority.

 

Right now I'm pretty ticked at both the Bloomington IL TA and Landstar, but I have learned in life you never base decisions on the weather of the day, or as emotional reactions. Those are sure ways to get yourself in trouble. Frankly, my motivation is the same as many NFL head coaches when it comes to control over personnel decisions. They don't want to get fired when a bad general manager can't put together a decent team, yet they get fired when the team loses. We were called today about a distressed load because Landstar took a trailer out of service even though it was ready to roll. Several things have shown us how exposed we still are even after getting the title on the truck and leaving a company that used a dispatcher system. I'm looking to gain more control over my business.

I will say this, with Landstar if we aren't close enough to get where we want, it isn't on Landstar. We need to do better at scheduling and load planning. I'm not attacking anyone, just sharing a life lesson we have taken to heart.

 

I didn't start this thread to have it degenerate into trashing people, or trucking companies. I'm hoping that the information I'm searching for will be useful to others as well. We all get angry, have bad experiences with trucking companies, other people, other truckers and sometimes we can't get along even with ourselves. Still this isn't about any of that. This is about going from the known into the unknown. This is about gleaning information from those who are where I would like to go. Information will be general of necessity, quoting rates on specific loads can only be helpful as an illustration.

Here is what I have seen so far: Rates will be on par and maybe slightly higher than what is posted on the Landstar board, I should find out what brokers I already work with will continue to work with me on my own and while I should make more than I do now, it will be because I have more work and more responsibility.