Looking to make a change, need information about Landstar.

Well OZR has laid out the minimums pretty well in other threads here, but the best way to know is to apply. LS doesn't take just anyone, and they pride themselves on it. If your a felon or have a recent misdemeanor, DOT accident, high CSA score, etc you won't be hired. We haul a lot of high dollar freight.

LS lists their loads in gross terms because every BCO's situation is different. Super old timers have a different contract they run under, old timers have another and less than 5 or so years another (me). Plus if you own your trailer you have a different compensation rate. If you have a third axle on that trailer or truck you get more, and on and on.
Linehaul percentage, stop pay, and layover for van and platform is 65%. Detention, tarp, tolls, FUEL SURCHARGE, permits, etc is 100%.
Owning your own van trailer gets you an extra 7%, platform 8%.
I make 73% of the gross before the 100% FS, tarp, etc owning my step.

Bottom line is a 2000 mile load paying gross 2.00 a mile and FS being .50 of that load will net a company van BCO 1,000(2000*.50) FS+ 1,950LH(3,000*.65)=$2,950. You do not get paid to deadhead, so you MUST count those miles into your rate to see if YOUR getting the right price. I routinely deadhead 500 miles to pick up $5-10 per mile freight.

There is no reason in the world that a van driver here can't average $1.50 per mile besides they have no business sense. You get cost plus pricing on fuel which day by day, TA/Petro to TA/Petro. If the futures buyer did good, you'll see a bigger discount. I usually see .25-.30 off pump pricing, and at infrequent times over .50.

The biggest thing to remember here is what another BCO has on his rig, LESS MILES, MORE MONEY.

Fill out the app and get prehired before you make any decision.

 

LS has lowered their standards!!!!

But alot of drivers still don't get accepted.

And there are other companies besides LS,

it's not for everybody.......

 

and the LS folks have a website...........

 

As with any trucking company, you're going to find people who love working for Landstar, and people who hate it. The majority of the guys who'll ##### and complain are the ones who aren't willing to work hard and want things handed to them and are younger guys.

If you buckle down, learn the system, and make it work for you, you'll love Landstar. They will nickle and dime you on some fees, but all in all, if you don't become a premadonna and refuse to haul anything and everything unless it fits your every single guideline, you can easily make over $65k a year and in some cases, far more.

Landstar is strict about their acceptance policy and safety. It's no BS. You will get randomed and BAC'ed if they perceive you as a problem more often than not. On the other side of the coin, BCO utilization and customer service will go the extra mile for you if you greet them and treat them respectfully and professionally. I've said it time and again, trucking is about relationships. The better your skills at building relationships, the easier it will be for you to get good loads.

The big thing with Landstar is weeding out the crap agents who are only out to take advantage of you. They are out there unfortunately, and they give the rest of us a bad name. There is a forum specifically for current and former Landstar BCO's that has a Bad Agent No Haul list and a Good Agent Will Haul list.

I've requoted my post from another thread on this same subject. Good luck to you, many folks, myself included are proud to be part of Landstar.

 

preacher man,

I was not talking about the company website..................

 

Great outfit and great people. You have to know what you are looking for and your cost to operate your business. If you don't know and most don't they have a business class that will teach you. (Worth taking even if you feel you have a grip on things.) Unlike all the other companies around Landstar does not own any trucks and it really is a no force dispatch, so if you are not making money you are to blame, you can work harder or work smarter that is up to you. Everyome there makes different rates per the BCO. There is cheap freight for thoise that want it and good paying frieght. You are your own dispatcher so you should always want to stay 2 1/2 loads ahead (one on your back and two out in front) this way you are not under the gun and end up desperate. It would be hard for any one driver over here to give you a bottom line figure because it really is as close as you can get to running on your own authority, without having your own authority. Van is over populated in this industry so you will cap out lower because everything is about load to truck ratio. I have nothing bad to say about Landstar, it works for me. It sounds like you are in Van loads so bottom line there are loads .80 mile to 3.25 plus your 100% fuel surcharge based on national average. Which ones do you want? Where do you want to go or set up your lane that works for you? If they quailify you, try it you can always go back to the .80 and .90 cent companies. Deadhaed miles are always something you control here.

 

I have been wit LS for about 5 months now, and I enjoy every benifit that i have with them. I had to get out of trucking in 2006 to take care of my wife as she had a golf ball size brain tumor that the doctors sucessfully removed. she is doing lots better now. When I came off the road I was driving for Interstae Distributor Co. out of Tacoma. and was almost redy to get a truck then and lease on with them before she got sick. In the time i was off the road I was a manager with an auto parts chain, got laid off after economy turned and came back out on the road. I was off the road for 4 1/2 years. I had to go thru a bottom feeder company and get a refresher. With that in mind, I knew i still was going to own a truck and put it someplace to make money. I decided to get a short term lease with Central Refrigerated. I leased with them for 9 months. The truck i leased has an APU on it. I knew i wanted this truck at the end of my lease. I had already set it up with my credit union to do so. (I would strongly recomend using a credit union, as they are more flexible than a regular bank.) At the end of my lease I obtained the buyout price (and yes i knew what it was going to approx be) and I got my truck thru my credit union at a 4% loan and am currently paying $600 less than what my lease was with Central per month. I started looking at Landstar serious when I had approx 4-6 weeks to go before lease was up and i was making purchase. I explained what i was attempting to do to recruiters and they worked with me during the process. I purchased truck and sat for 3 days till I knew i had job with LS then i gave my notice, and drove off from Centrals yard went to hotel for night and got my package sent to hotel. put stickers on went to orientation and running ever since. I had a plan and followed thru with it. that made all the difference in the world. Just be Proactive.

 

i will be going to landstar next week probably, finish all the process my last day at my other job is 7/13/13 i was trying to get some feed back from drivers about landstar ,so far not heard anything bad about them .it just took 2 months for all the process to go thru im excited but also nervous.any other news or tips from landstar i should know ?? thanks