CRST Malone (Flatbed Division) SUCKS!

There always loads going to Mo.. I use a combination of the load board and the agent list. I don't think I could ever go back to someone dictating to me where I will run. I love being able to run where I choose. If you fuel at a T/A or petro you get an additional discount off of the pump price. It varies from .12 to .30 depending what state your fueling in.

 

If you get the gold truck....how well do they work with you on getting it set up to run....like equipment storage....headache rack.....etc...

 

You also get smaller discounts at Pilot/Flying J and Love's. It's not as much as the Gold Pin discounts at Petro/TA normally, but it's something. One of them... I think Loves.. rebates it to your card straight away, and I believe Pilot does a monthly settlement.

 

According to my friend who says he is doing very well with them. You are assigned your truck sight unseen. He recommends looking it over and then if there is nothing serious wrong with it to start out making money right away and getting it back to the shop to fix anything that needs fixing in the third week. That is what he did and it worked well for him.
He is also looking forward to getting a different trailer.

 

Trailers are luck of the draw right now....some guys have come right out of orientation and been given brand new trailers (some even with sidekits), but not likely. For the first few weeks I pulled a trailer that didn't even have a headboard and no storage boxes, but I made do and stayed on my disaptcher to keep his eyes open for something better. About a month after dragging the POS around I was given a trailer with a sidekit and all the storage I need. The money I was making.. made dragging the first trailer around a little easier pill to swallow.

 

Some of the agents also have trailers you can rent from them. We pull trailers from Olander in Crooks, SD, and his trailers overall tend to be much better than the CRST trailers. Plus, he has flatbeds and stepdecks both.

 

I didn't realize that Doug was renting trailers. Is he still running his own trucks?

 

If you can't get a trailer financed right now and want to leave Mercer, you may check to see if you can rent one. We have a couple of local places that rent trailers. I also know of at least one other trailer dealer that sells, rents and does lease purchase.

 

I believe he runs about 20 or so, mostly Peterbilts. He also sells Timpte hopper trailers out of his yard, but, the last time I was there, all but one of those were removed so that trucks could park there. The yard got pretty muddy, and you didn't want to go back there.
I think to do that, you pretty much have to run out of Crooks/Sioux Falls, although I'm not 100% certain about the specifics of how it works. We get whatever trailer accommodates whatever load we take, so I could end up getting a stepdeck, picking up a preloaded flatbed, keeping this trailer and live loading it, etc. Doug or Todd would the ones to talk to regarding the specifics.

 

I usually dealt with Doug, but that was a number of years ago. At the time, I think he only had about 5 trucks of his own. I don't remember if Todd had yet come into the business. There are some owner operators who run out of his office who do very well. Doug would have one of his drivers pick up at a shipper and then reload it on another truck in his yard. I am pretty happy running my own authority, but if I ever decided to lease to another carrier, I would consider going back with CRST Malone. I made good money with them.