Ask a Landstar agent?

First of all, thank you for such a thorough and detailed response, I appreciate it!

I love hearing about successful stories like that one where you helped a network. It's what this business should be all about anyway!

There's all kinds of stories out there. I've had experiences with all kinds of BCOs and would never generalize anyone. It all depends on who people are on a personal level. Same goes for agents of course.

I don't understand the stigma of going through a 3PL to book loads. I honestly often get better rates from brokers than shippers directly. I believe that keeping the options open is the best way to go!

Thank you for stating those three priorities you have for an agent, I'll definitely make sure to pass these along our new agents and trainees!

 

I completely understand the frustration with the load board. It's annoying from the agent perspective as well, believe me. For example, it's unnecessarily hard to move good paying Hazmat freight as an agent if it's seen by multiple agencies. Agents will "overbid" each other continuously to an extent where 5 people with the highest rate have nowhere near as much in the load as it's posted, resulting in them saying it's covered or coming up with a different excuse.

 

I think you just need to be on the lookout with the board until you come across agents who you will enjoy working with. Consistency is key. Be cautious and don't get bullied by agents just because you're new but also don't be the driver who books a load and then doesn't pick up the phone for an hour either.

From an agent perspective, I can say that it's (almost) always very important to update the customer of where the freight is currently and when the truck will be arriving/departing. I'm not saying you should be texting your location every half an hour but a simple update at arrivals/departures with an estimate ETA can go a long way with customers. It's even easier if the customer offers a tracking application, there's no need for any updates or calls. Apart from that and being overall professional when showing up at places and facilities is what any good agent will be looking for. I don't question the drivers in how they're doing their jobs, I only ask to stay updated and that's it. Therefore, I don't think there's a need for you to 'prove' yourself to anyone except yourself. Work your way and you'll come across good business contacts.

Thank you for your question!

 

I honestly don't know and only imagine it to be possible with direct freight loads. The spamming approach that you mentioned earlier I can agree with, lots of agents are doing the quantity game with posting huge amounts of loads daily, resulting in more loads to follow through with which they don't so it ends up just sitting there for hours.