Any advice on running logistics for other truckers?

The first thing you will need is a driver file on each owner operator or driver. You are required to check the last 3 years work experience. You will need for them to sign a lease agreement. Everything related to the relationship should be listed. You may check with OOIDA to see if they may have a sample lease agreement you could modify for your purposes. When you lease owner operators on to your authority you will need for their base plates and permits to be in the name of the carrier. You will need to get IFTA stickers and make sure that you have a means for them to send in their paperwork, including logs and IFTA information to you. Some states will allow those who lease to a carrier to maintain their own IFTA account in their name. If it is in your name then you will need to make sure to collect information for all gallons purchased and miles ran in each state and file their miles along with yours each quarter. It might help keep things straight if you got fuel cards for them. You need to decide how you are going to handle fuel advances on loads. A fuel card is easier to load and will help you to track fuel tax information.

When you lease on owner operators to your authority you will need to add them to your insurance. Your premiums will go up on each truck you lease on. I don't know what you are currently paying for insurance, but it will go up by that amount for each truck you lease to your authority. For instance, if your current premium is $6,000 then each truck that you lease on will increase your insurance premium by that amount. If you lease on 3 trucks and your premium for one is $6,000, then it will increase your annual premium by $18,000 in addition to what you are paying for the one truck you own.

Carriers are required to get a copy of drivers MVR each year. You must also collect maintenance records on each truck that runs under your authority. These should be collected at least quarterly. Maintenance records include everything that each owner has done to his truck. If the owner operator receives a ticket, they are required to notify the carrier and you may need to do paperwork for the ticket. You should keep a record in the drivers file for any inspections and tickets. Whatever happens with the owner operator will affect your CSA score, safety record and insurance premiums.

I would look for experienced drivers with good csa scores, good mvr's and good work ethic. You don't want owner operators who move around a lot. Many carriers won't lease or hire drivers who have more than 3 jobs in the last 2 years. It takes time and money to check backgrounds of drivers. Any time you lease on a new owner operator or driver you will need to check references and make a file on them.

This is a few of the things you will need to do if you plan on leasing on owner operators to your authority.

 

You are wrong on the insurance premiums.

 

Only slightly. If you qualify for better insurance then it is about 65-70% of a single truck premium.

 

The best thing would be to give your insurance company a call and tell them what you want to do and ask if they could give you an idea of how much of an increase in premium you would incur with them. I have gotten different rates from different agents with the same insurance company. Whomever is the underwriter can impact the rates that you will pay. I remember when I considered adding a driver to my insurance a few years ago. He was a friend who had some tickets. I have preferred rates with my insurance company. I could hire him, but would increase my insurance premium by about $2,000 on the truck that he would be driving. Most insurance companies have criteria that they assign risk when quoting premiums. Ask your insurance company what they need in order to qualify for the best rates. They may not quote you an exact rate until you send them your driver's information.

 

How does one get preferred premiums when they have had their authority revoked several times for non payment of insurance?

 

When I back out physical damage, bobtail, GL and just look at the added insurance it was $687 less per truck for trucks 2 on. That is a flat fee regardless. I do have criteria on hiring that has to be met. But the only thing that changes from driver to driver is the cost of physical damage on equipment.

Now, Progressive will rate each driver.

 

Also the carrier IS NOT responsible for the base plate, an o/o leased on can run his own plate, and they can file their own IFTA, you will need them to submit a copy. And as far as submitting logs and other paperwork the u.s. mail system works fine I would not invest in trippack etc...if they want to pay for fedex or ups it should be their option

 

I just remember my agent said that if I hired this guy that my premiums would go up about $2,000. He had a couple of serious moving violations. I would imagine that it would have been for the liability. I just remember the estimated cost of my increased premium. I don't recall how it was broken down.

 

An owner operator may get his own base plate and IFTA account as long as he either has his own authority or the written permission of the carrier to whom he is leasing. I have a friend who leased to a carrier, but he wanted to get his own base plate and IFTA account. He had to get a paper signed by his carrier which gave him permission to get his own base plate and IFTA. Some carriers will not allow owner operators to get their own base plates and permits. They must get them through the carrier. It depends on what is in your contract.

Most carriers have either trip pak or transflow which is billed to the carrier. Some carriers pay for the service. I know of one carrier that will pay the same day as they receive your paperwork via Transflow. I believe the cost is about $2/per load. It is a small price to pay for an owner operator in order to get his money more quickly. Again, some may require it. I know some will allow owner operators to mail their bills in, but won't pay on the load until they receive all paperwork. If the bills are sent via Transflow you know when they have been sent. Mailing could take several days and they could also get lost. Most owner operators that I have met would pay the fee. I used to know an owner operator when I was leased to Landstar who would always send in his bills by FedEx. That is a little expensive, especially when you can send them in for much less.