Landstar vs Schneider Choice ( Comparison )

The lead unit I'm driving tonight has 630 miles on it , so no help here ha ha

 

It's been a lot said in this thread and I want to comment on every single thing that I seen that I feel like was false or misleading...

But first, Landstar BCO's get the biggest fuel kickbacks from T/A & Petro. You fuel up at the pump price (in most cases after the 5 cent discount posted on the screen) and once your done fueling you'll get the rebate added to fuel card immediately. Most of the time if it's 100 gallons+ you'll get around a $30-$50 kickback. All T/A's & Petro's have different discounts. Pilot, Love's & Wilco's offer rebates but not as much.

2nd. Unless you are getting an awesome rate into Florida ($3.50+ for me out of VA/NC) then stay the hell out. I hear so many BCO's complain about Florida. Stay Out. Unless you're willing to deadhead 50 to 100 miles into GA there's no need. Usually the freight out of Valdasta, Tifton, Albany are kinda of cheap because they know guys are dying to get out of FL and will jump at the first thing half decent

3. Yes there is a large quantity of "Brokered" freight on the Landstar board, but who cares. Not to long ago I hauled a $4 load from Columbus, OH to Allentown that was a CH Robinson Load that was brokered onto the board from an Landstar agent. If you can make money off of it, haul it, if not, leave it alone. That's simple

Also, which I recently found out from BigBadBill on here, A lot of shippers will tender out loads to different Landstar agencies. So you'll see the same load on the board 3 or 4 times for different rates. That can kind of be a pain in rear, as you'll call in on the rate and then they'll try to wiggle it down. If it's not the rate you called in on or wanted, just say no thanks and move on

You can also negotiate rates with agents. Especially if they call you on it first, they are willing to add $100 to $300 dollars to the fuel, not from the line haul I mind you, and you can go from there. I hear Schneider rates are set in stone

4. I must be a "myth buster" because the myth I hear with Landstar about having "Direct Relations" with agents to make all the money is bogus. Yes you could hook up with an agent to haul a certain piece of freight that works for you but you don't think many Landstar drivers before him had the opportunity to get that load on a weekly/or daily basis?

Example, I would haul a load to Hagerstown out of Richmond occasionally, I would always see this load out of Winchester that was 45K that no one would touch that paid decent to get back to Richmond. The load would always sit on the board, it was even a drop & hook. Turns out it was Scrap Cardboard that was going to a Paper Mill that only took about an hour to get you unloaded. It was a pretty #### good load (agency isn't at landstar anymore) but she would always call me first to see where I was before posting the load on the board. She would even work with me if she could to save the load for me if I could find a way to get to Winchester. That's how a lot of guys "get in" with an agent.

Don't limit yourself to one agency unless they're getting you rich.

5. Too the gentleman that's talking about hauling an $2 mile load for $1.30, yes that could be the case over here for some (Actually depending on fuel being taking out it could be upwards to $1.50 a mile) but for the guy that's more concerned with running miles over having a set gross for the day it could work for a lot of guys. It's quite a few guys that run for 3-4 weeks at a time. Running 3K miles a week. I believe in working smart & not harder but if it works for them ok. Still making out better than most guys who are lease to large carriers at $1.30 a mile.

I only work during the week, right now I'm avg 1.95 a mile after Landstar cut. I run Midwest & SE at about 2K a week. And I could do so much better but I'm beyond lazy, but I'm paying my bills, got my truck running well and funds saved up with the Credit Cards clean so I can't complain.


Only thing I like about Schneider is they have alot more D & H freight than Landstar. That's about it, The load alert system here & the pure freedom to do and go wherever trumps the Orange in my opinion.

 

Just read the whole thread and wanted to chime in on a few things. First, I have been at SNI since 2007, company dedicated, in house instructor, intermodal and now IC Choice. Some will say I have had to much of the orange kool aide, but, in the 18 years I have been at this, SNI has treated me better than the others.

As for choice and rates, they are all over the board and they vary greatly depending on the market you are in. I try very hard to pull loads that only pay $1.60 or higher per loaded mile. I tend to keep my dh miles to less than 50 miles for every load. My wife is home everyday and works the load board from home to find and book freight. She usually starts around 0800 eastern and works until 1400. We communicate several times a day about loads and hours available. I built her a spreadsheet to quickly calculate the net revenue for each load and the trip planning so she gets an idea of my forecasted hours if she books a load. We have set parameters for freight that I am willing to pull and areas that I refuse to go. I do not run the northeast (rates suck coming out) and I do not run loads over 25k. Occasionally I will run a heavier load if the rate is good and it moves me into a good market.

Closing out this week I have $5491 in gross revenue on 3k miles which makes my odometer mile rate $1.83 that includes all of my deadhead as well. I have $1300 in fuel for the week, $633 for my truck payment, $180 in insurance costs. that leaves me $3387 net in my pocket at the end of the week.

Trips this week were:
Mcdonough, GA to Bridgewater, VA - 554 miles / $2.01 per mile / $1116.81 to the truck / 11k pounds

note: only counted miles from concord, nc to bridgewater, va in this weeks mileage. I brought this load through the house on monday.

Luray, VA to Beaver Dam, WI - 818 miles / $1.22 per mile / $1001.23 to the truck / 8k pounds

Beaver Dam, WI to Brookhaven, MS - 1082 miles / $1.55 per mile / $1672.02 to the truck / 35k pounds

Pelahatchie, MS to Laurel, MD - 973 miles / $1.78 per mile / 1651.23 to the truck / 11k pounds

SNI paid me an extra $50 for unhooking another o/o's truck from the trailer when he had to go to the hospital. I did that in my POV.

All that and I have been home for 2 days this week, Monday and Sunday. Those are very real numbers and while they are not the best in the world, I am not complaining about what I make on the Choice program. It is about knowing what it costs you to operate and managing those costs and picking freight that pays you enough to make a profit.

The mty search is not so bad, since March I have done exactly 1 trailer search. I have had one load cancel and received a VNU for it. The fee for a relayed load was reduced this year from $500 to $400.

Jar Head you will do fine on the Choice program...

If you have any more questions just ask....

 

@chickenwing, very we'll said.

 

The company I contract with delivers new units for NaviStar , Freightliner , Mack and Volvo , from plant to dealer or trucking companies

 

Thank you for breaking it down in a factual intelligent way , Sir

 

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Thanks Jar-Head for the valuable information. I have also been looking at SNI choice along with others companies. Very interested in following your experiences at SNI with your own truck. There are a number of good threads here on the SNI choice leases, but would like to see the difference when bringing your own truck. Looking foward to your new thread.