Best Flatbed Owner Operator Companies

IMHO the best companies are the small niche operations with under 100 trucks that nobody on here has ever heard of. You just have to do your time, pay your dues and find the right fit for your personal situation, needs & desires. It might take decades, you just gotta keep after it. Relationships are gold, build as many as you can.

 

I like Admiral Merchants. No EOBR, plenty of agents & I can use brokers or shippers if I choose to not just their agents' freight.

 

Ditto what board hauler said. Keep in mind that almost ANY flatbed or stepdeck company has work. Most don't advertise because they don't want a parade of clowns calling and hassling them. But you can always ask if you have the right questions.

 

I have a friend at Packard. He can haul for their agents or he can find loads from brokers, etc. No mandatory eobr, but you can run an eobr if u want to. He gets good fuel discounts. He is happy with them.

 

I know a guy who is there also. Runs out of Chicago and is home most days. Just hauls steel around

 

I am on with Packard also really good company and people. They practice what they preach. They have told me that some of our agents lie,when was the last time a trucking company ever told you something like that?

 

I've hauled one load for Packard. If I start counting the lies I run out of fingers pretty quick !

 

there are a lot of o/o only co's that have a buddy list too. every co I have been with had one, some with good reason most with poor excuses. but with every job, there is always someone you notice getting more & doing less, it's just life.

 

This is true. I leased to one company that had 2 load planners and they definitely had their favorites. Of course one was busted for receiving "gifts" from a O/O with the company. With Landstar there are 1400 agents. Yes, some have their own fleets, but most you deal with on a individual basis. I have many choices in who I want to haul for. The folks with the better rates you go a little more out of your way to accommodate them and build a good relationship with. Those agents with bad rates you just ignore. Either way, I am in control of who I work for and how I conduct my business and not subject to the demands of a dispatcher.

 

I like the smaller co, but the bigger ones like landstar I may like too. honesty & integrity are not held in high esteem with some dispatchers. If I don't know your not telling the truth, I do not accuse, but to lie & have me know it.. does not sit well with me & never will.