Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

I dont want to disrespect to any of my fellow drivers here but I just dont get it. How come people complain but in same time dont change anything or even not try to change. August 2015, when new schneider contract came and we all started to argue here about it. I told everyone very first day, this thing doesn't work for me and I will leave before the contract hits. I did leave.. Because if it doesnt work, that means time to move on. Long story short, my original plan was getting my authority and become an independent however I was not ready. So, I leased to Landstar and worked 13 months and same time tried to be ready for final step. Finally I set everything up and became an independent last november. That is the best decision I've ever made. Not only I making much more money even the freight Its not super good, also I have full control on my business. Yes a lot of bad freight out there Im not gonna lie, brokers try to give you dirt cheap loads. But also there are a lot of good rates out there too. If you dont know how to negotiate or if you dont know about freight lanes, then you cant do this.. If you able to run a business without someone holding your back then you will be allright. And anyone wants to answer this, please dont come and say ooohh but schneider or landstar give me fuel card ooohh they give me discount blah blah blah... not only I keep %100 of revenue, also I still have fuel card which gives me really good discounts, I still have discounts at TA for tire purchases or etc... plus I dont need to fuel pilot or ta all the time and get ripped of their fuel price.. I go to small truck stops like sunoco or chevron, kangaroo, speedway. Those places already have 30 40 cents cheaper gas than big chain ones. Im not saying being independent works for everyone but at least you guys dont afraid to try something if current conditions dont work.

 

How was ls compared to sni

 

Landstar makes you feel like an independent. Because you have to call agents to book a load and if something happens, you dealing with that agent not the landstar. You feel more freedom at landstar. No one bothers you, and because most of their freight is live load/unload so you dont need to chase trailer. There are a lot of dedicated freights out there, especially walmart in Texas and NC, PA etc. Customer service is really friendly and helpful. Good discounts on fuel and tires. Even if you have a breakdown and you dont have enough money to fix your truck, landstar gives you money and they deduct your paycheck every week. These are good things about it. Bad things are, they nickel and dime people, even transfer your money into your account they charge a fee. Still 65 percent unless you have your own trailer. And you gotta make relations with those agents otherwise its really hard to make money honestly.

 

Appreciate the info

 

Yes, dry van. When you look those free load boards it doesnt show you the real world. Once you have active mc number and signed up for load boards like DAT or Truck Stop, then you would see the differences. Im using DAT power, one of the best but expensive ones. I wanted to get something live board with a lot of amenities. The good thing being independent, not only you can negotiate everything but the amount of loads. When I look state by state reports every day, usually around 40-50 thousands available jobs daily. Of course there are a lot of horrible jobs even if you negotiate it doesnt work but like I said before if you have knowledge of freight lanes, you would get really good rates.

 

I complain on here because complaining to Schneider is like cutting yourself, only you feel the pain.

I am still here strictly because I have a lease thru SFI.

Yes I could move to another carrier but my own Authority isn't an option while leased thru SFI.

I have no intention of keeping this truck when lease is up just to many breakdowns.

I also don't want to swap companies to finish the lease too much hassle and uncertainty.

I do not like burning bridges or breaking agreements if I absolutely don't have to.

So unless it becomes completely unbearable I'll count down the days and continue to voice my complaints not for no reason but SNI reads these forums and so do potential IC's.

Congrats on your success though.

 

Morning chores await.....

What a VIEW.....

 

Thank you TennMan!! maybe I forgot to mention that. I mean, dont understand people who has chance to move on but still complain. Not like you who has a lot of logical reason to wait. Good luck to you!!!