JB Hunt - Power Only program

Plus its not a lease, we just use them when our freight slows down, some of my buddies use them during their slow season (fall-winter). Its not the best thing out there by far but we have had sucess with them.

 

NP Hanadarko, the guy I worked with up there was Bobby. Cant remeber his last name but its a weird long one. He was pretty staright up. Didnt sound like a used car-salesman (no pun intended). Plus he hooked me up with an insurance agent who took care of my policy for and was actually cheaper with the General Liability than what I was paying for insurance w/o it. Its just like every other company out there, they all have good / bad qualitys

 

OK, could only get thru 3-pages before I had to respond so sorry if this has been said already.

One of the selling points JB has is the length of loads. I have talked with Kirk and get his emails. But when I look back at the loads that I have pulled in the last two months that are under 600-miles, only one was below the rate JB is offering. And that was $1.35 to get me home. One other was below $2 at $1.79. The rest $2+.

And these are brokered loads. So you are all puffed up and proud that you "independent" and not leased on with someone. Hey, I'm independent, not leased on to someone, and, oh yeah, I'm making money because I own a trailer.

So this deal you are looking at with JB is no different FOR YOU than being leased onto someone because you can't drive to your trailer and make money like the big boys do.

I will tell you what I like about these type of programs. When you put an employee in the seat and let JB do the work for you. I did the Schneider deal like that with two trucks I owned for almost 2-years.

 

There is no reason to expect a driver to do something stupid at a shipper or receiver if you are selective about whom you hire. In any case, insurance will only protect you up to a point. Just because you have insurance doesn't necessarily mean that they will always protect you.

I don't worry about getting paid. I ONLY deal with those whom I know will pay me. I make a point of checking credit regularly and have reduced the number of companies with whom I do business. If you get a good rate, you should not have to worry about paying lumper's. In fact, in the rare instance that a lumper is used, I make a point of seeing that the broker or shipper pays for the cost. They can add it to the rate, or pay it directly to the lumper service.

I am not saying that what you are doing is wrong. It apparently works for you. There is no size fits all in this business. You need to find something that works for you. What works for you may not work for me.

 

General Liability is very important for any business, and owning your own truck is a business, first and foremost.

 

That's not a bad rate. Rates haven't gone up much at all since I had GL for my cleaning business over 10 years ago.

 

I'll throw in here that my GL for $2million is about $270 a year. I have a (direct) customer that requires it for some reason, so it's kind of a no-brainer for me.