Landstar

I'm currently in the process of getting approved with ls... Can anyone tell me if there's van freight coming in/out of central fl or south ga?

 

Your recruiter should be able to print a snapshot off of their loadboard for you to check. Just tell them what area that you are looking at getting freight and they can pull it up and fax or email it to you.

 

Florida is pretty much the same market it was 30 years ago, for anybody LS or not.

 

For the most part, you should plan on deadheading out to north Florida or south Georgia to find a load. Make sure to get a good rate going in or you could lose your shirt. If you can find something coming out, great. If not, then with a good rate you can afford to deadhead to an area where you can find a decent load.

 

Yea they sent that to me... Most of the loads were going to canada.. I was hoping to find someone who lives in northern fl to see how they are making out... Thx for the response!

 

Thank you... That's kinda of I was planning on doing

 

That's for sure!!! They like to pay you with sunshine in Florida!!!!! I prefer money... Lol

 

Sometimes you can get something out of Tampa. If you want to haul really cheap freight you can get some mulch out of Plant City. On those rare occasions when I do go to Florida I just head north toward Jacksonville unless I have something already line up. It is usually easier to find a load when you pull a van. I have had to deadhead up to Savannah or Charleston to get something. At one time you could stay fairly busy doing intrastate loads in Florida. You can go from Jacksonville to Miami or Fort Lauderdale and over to Tampa and back up to Jacksonville. Rates used to be decent on those loads, but I have no idea how they are today. If you want to get out of the state that is when it becomes difficult. There are loads coming out of Florida, but it can take time to develop those contacts and there are no guarantee's. If I lived in Florida, I would consider buying a reefer. I once met an owner who hauled flowers and nursery stock out of there and made drops all the way to Washington or Oregon. He did OK with those loads. Most owners who have freight don't talk about it so that they won't lose the business. I would expect that most agents who have Florida freight don't advertise the fact, either. Not everything that is available is put on Landstar's loadboard. If you post your truck on their loadboard, you may get a call. If they put it on a loadboard they would be bombarded with calls from BCO's. What type of freight will you be pulling? Do you have your own trailer or will you be using a Landstar trailer?

You will probably do your orientation in Jacksonville. Actually, it is considered north St. Augustine. In fact, you may be able to call and speak to the terminal manager to get some idea of who may have freight out of the state. Until you actually have a contract and go through orientation, I don't know how forthcoming he may be for you. Most of the managers bring in agents who can help you to get rolling out of orientation.

 

I can not thank you enough G/MAN this is a lot of good info... I'm going to start by hauling a Landstar dry van... I'm working on getting a reefer. The process to get signed on has been long and somewhat difficult...(but I reckon that keeps the deadbeats away) My truck is parked at the house and I'm on the road in a company truck to make matters worse. From the way things sound, I'm going to need to get in good with a few agents to make money, but it can be made if I work smart...

 

You are welcome, Delixemodel. I don't know how much reefer freight Landstar books, but if I lived in Florida and didn't want to move, then I would give serious consideration to buying one. But, I would want to know that Landstar could keep it running. During season, you can pull watermelons out of south Florida with a vented van. I did that once when I was leased to Landstar. The rates were good, as I recall.