Newbie with an "IF" question.

Yes, a LS BCO is leased to LS and you have to meet their requirements to do that. This is typical with just about all companies. Very hard to find a decent company to pull for (under their authority) with your experience. Mostly an insurance thing but even if my insurance didn't have those limits I am not sure that I would do it any different.

The companies mentioned that you can pull broker loads for only care about you being legal and having good safety rating. From day one of active authority you can get contract with LS and CHR. Not sure about Mercer as I didn't work with them till after a year plus of being active.

But because you can does not mean you will be able to get a specific load with LS (mostly open deck). The LS broker is independent and does not have to give you the load. We haul a lot of stuff for LS and much of what we haul never hits any LS board and they will never offer it to someone that is new or doesn't have a good history with LS. CHR is much different.

This is just a time in the business thing. They are not going to risk a good customer with an unknown.

But still plenty of loads that you will be able to pull and over time you will be able to build the relationships and possibly find a more regular, good paying load that they call you before posting.

Now area is another factor. At one point I would have said FL was the killer. But I have a driver that has been dedicated to making FL work and he is now doing that. He has a couple accounts that are giving him regular, good paying, year round freight. So I am backing off of the "good areas and bad areas" statement. With dedication you should be able to make any location work. Some just take longer than others.

Good luck

 

I'm on the same page as this guy but I'm in the northeast

 

A small point to make but a college graduate expecting top salary right out of school and you running a business is apples to oranges. You still want to get top dollar, or at the very least, profitable rates. Just because you're new doesn't mean you're going to be willing to run your truck for something that doesn't turn any profit. There are drivers who will say "you have to run cheap for a while with CH Robinson (or insert your favorite mega-broker here) before they give you any good paying freight" nothing could be further from the truth. Your truck moves only after you set the rate it moves for. Brokers are not going to just give you your rate if you don't ask, and if there's no negotiating upward just let it sit or some other truck pay that broker to move it... They don't sit there and say, "well this driver hauled 30 loads for nothing I think it's time we gave him $3 a mile on 600 miles" - just not going to happen.

 

Thought so but not 100% sure and there are folks out there who will mistakenly tell you to that you have to "show what you can do by hauling cheap starting out" which is all wrong. All you really have to do towards earning trust is do exactly what you say you will do when you said you would do it plus keeping them informed every step of the way. Always be willing to take phone calls 7-24 about freight without whining or complaining - do it with a smile. It won't be appreciated or recoginzed for what it is by many you work with, and really not necessary with most freight, but at some point when you find the right freight it will pay off. Then you are doing something a majority of the other trucks working spot aren't and the next thing you know they're calling asking what it takes to move your truck every day. Don't forget the ones feeding you this freight either - send them handwritten thank you note with maybe a gift card to a nice resturaunt so they can take the family out once in a while if it's been steady. If nothing else just the handwritten thank you for the business will be appreciated, stuffed with a few business cards - sets you apart from the crowd...