400 trucks posted and only 352 loads in houston,tx

yea I'm trackin' but there were some long ones out 300 miles from ya that went in all dirrections. Tn, Va, Nd, Sd, Wa. etc.
It's too close to Christmas now for any decent rates on anything long I'd bet. Do a search for partials only and see what happens. One going long will give you a chance to load the truck along the way for a good overall rate.

Anyway, good luck and Merry Christmas!

 

Yes, I'm currently leased on with Landstar. I keep my equipments and myself in compliance. Just ask those people over at J&R in Bloomington, CA. I stop by on almost every trip into southern Cal area and fix things before it gets to the problem stage. I even camped out there nearly 3 weeks, rather than pulling cheap freights. It's great reason to: get out of the truck, go dining, shopping, even take care of little nic-nacs on your trucks, survey / inventory on your equipments, clean "house" til a load comes up that won't insult my intelligence. Last year - a buddy of mine in Landstar (he was also in my orientation class over at Mercer) ran constantly, always had a load on - while I parked for the better half. I've set him up w/ spread sheets (among others): we grossed $$ out about the same but I had nearly half the miles (loaded + empty) for the same time period

I used to pull LS flat (2012 Fontaine Revolution 52 - straight out of Haileyville, AL factory) but they lie/mistake/screw (did me wrong - whether intentional or not) me, so I went out and got my own. Paid cash on my truck when I got it and did the same with 2013 Benson/Transcraft 53' Low Step Pro.

I see people talking about keeping their empty miles low (?) and I don't get it. Recently there was a large move coming out of Nogales, AZ. I was in Bloomington, CA - John (he was in the same orientation class over at Mercer but now with Landstar) emptied out in Tucson, AZ and Lloid (he was also in the same orientation class over at Mercer but now with Landstar) emptied out in Well, NV. The load out of Nogales needed a tarp which John didn't have at the time (longer story in that) Lloid had a load in SLC area but it turned out to be OD load and they didn't want to pay any extra. I had decent bites in LA area but I'd decided to DH to Nogales to help (I have more than adequate tarps) John out. I'd called Lloid and as soon as he told me about that LD that turn soured, I told him to DH down to Nogales, AZ (he got paid Truck Ordered/Not Used for the DH from NV to SLC) from SLC. Sat there over the weekend and few more days. The LD only paid $4.36 per mile (gross) for 1950 miles to OH - plus detention. Load rate went up after we accepted on the loads and they up it, (2) days detention, people in Mexico didn't tarp it right (more $$), Lloid LD was OD (8'10" = $4k more???), John had to get the LD moved back (over axled by 1.5k LBS ) at another company in town (= extra day detention!) and all these lds were around 29000 LBS. After fuel + other misc expenses for less than 12 days invested, running 2000 miles - no one got paid under $5k to the bank and we're not even including cash advances we took. We got to hang out and run together. Emptied out in OH and made some $$. NOT BAD in my book.

 

I took of the full fiber glass fenders on my drives, grind the frame and painted it, painted our motors, used my electric grease gun to grease our truck + trailers, serviced our (all 3) APUs, installed Maxima LED lights for our sleepers, cleaned our trucks, etc... and on the clock doing it in a nice warm climate. We don't get to do that all the times but mixed in well enough and the numbers add up. We're on the phone all (I mean all the time) and look give each others heads up.

 

We rarely pull heavy (except Lloid) but that depends on the $$. We use PC Miler (terrains / elevation) to maximize our fuel mileage vs fueling (cheaper fuel routes + cheaper fuel tax tax states) and traffic congestion. For LTLs - It's usually better to get the same agent to setup the "total package" instead of going in alone and seeing what comes up. I've noticed not that many agents "list" the LTLs even if they got them or access to them. I give them the trailer deck space / dimension available and go from there.

 

I love hauling LTL loads and building off them. the problem i am seeing more and more is these agents/brokers are listing TL as LTL. A 20' long SD load is NOT a LTL, so the $1.50mile doesn't cut it. I have been offered several LTL's in the last 2 days, but all had to be picked up by XX day and deliveried on XX day..... that's not an LTL either. And LTL is determined by size and I get to tell YOU when it will be delivered. Straight thru turns it into a TL and gets TL rate. Don't like it, then move it on to the next guy, cuz I ain't doing it at all.

 

I use Pc Miler but play around with practical miles, shortest miles and pick stop (great w/ OD loads) and not just from city center to city center routing. Latter being more accurate. What I was getting at was, you wouldn't believe how many (o/o - drivers) people out there who has computers in their truck but only use it to access the internet?

 

Heck, straight thru should turn it to expedited with expedited rate!