Landstar

thanks gman. i'm trying to get as much information as possible for being an O/O.

i'm sooooooooo ready to stop being an employee.

 

I have known of a couple of owner operators who were given a "snapshot" of loads and rates off their BCO loadboard. They were thinking about leasing on to Landstar. Have you made a decision as to what you plan to do? If you do go with Landstar, keep in mind that they use an outside company to do their background checks and they don't seem to get in a hurry. This time of year is a good time to make a switch.

 

Landstar is a good company. But if you try to lease onto them check your credit scores before spending the time to apply. If your credit score is below 620 they will not lease you on.

 

I haven't heard anything about them using credit scores when making a decision as to whether to lease on an owner operator. The way the economy has been the last 2-3 years, it is surprising that anyone would use credit. Many people who had pristine credit 3 years ago have their credit in shambles today.

 

That's BS. My buddy just leased on in May. He filed bankruptcy in February.

 

They must be doing a push on hiring because I applied at Landstar in April of last year and they never contacted me until about 2 weeks ago. They sent me one of those load snapshots and they pretty much had nothing but long loads on there which is not the stuff I would be running. I have a friend who started there a few weeks ago and I have his password to the load board and honestly I am not all that impressed with their load board. They have alot of stuff that would be paying anywhere from 1.00 to 1.20 per mile and that is not even including the deadhead miles. I honestly can't see averaging anymore for all miles than I am getting where I am now at $1.40 a mile.

 

There agents don't always post their loads, especially the better paying ones. Some are using brokers to get loads rather than finding their own freight. It takes time to find the brokers who have the better paying freight rates. I am not trying to promote or detract from Landstar. I occasionally haul some of their loads and get a very good rate. I have a friend who has leased to them for many years and he really loves them. If you can lease to them and get some good contacts you should do well with them. I am not necessarily trying to get anyone to lease to Landstar. But, if you want to experience what it is like to run your authority without spending the money for insurance then it is a good way to go. There are some other good carriers around where a good motivated owner operator can do well. I could check with several carriers, see what they have to offer and then make a decision.

 

One of my friends has been at Landstar for 9 years. He has no problem finding loads grossing $ 2.50+. At that rate the truck would get about $ 1.78. That ain't bad.

I have been getting some load snapshots sent to me lately that seem to support this.

 

Well yes but the loads with the higher rate usually go to an area where the rates from there will be bad so then the average drops.

 

The key is to find a balance. If you go to an area where rates are typically low then you should make sure to have a rate going in that is high enough to deadhead out to a better freight area. You have to learn how to work the system.