BEWARE!Universal Am-Can,Mason Dixon

I wish I could do that rickybobby but as you know that requires a lot more than just buying a trailer. A person doing that would have to have their own authority. I have only been an O/O since Aug of last year. I have driven for around 12 years but i'm not in the position in my opinion to have my own authority. Eventhough I have thought long and hard about it and have been told by many that is what it sounds like that I am looking for.

Actually I'm not that hard to deal with. I am just looking for a company that will show me and my truck some respect. When I get tired I want to go home. When my truck needs repairs I want to put it in the shop without an arguement from the company. I don't want to be told when and where I can get repairs done or how much time I can have off to do the repairs.

I called a company in Memphis today. I actually spoke to the owner of the company and he sounded very reasonable. He said he would appreciate if I would give him a chance to prove that there is some companies out there that actually work with O/O's and their needs and wants. He on'y has about 20 O/O's working for him and he said most are home everyweekend unless THEY choose to stay out longer. Maybe just maybe I have found a decient company to work for.

 

ok, keep us posted on the new job

 

You do not need your own authority to own your own trailer. Had 3 trucks, each with 2 trailers signed on with UACL. They would prefer that you pull their trailers so they can charge you rent on it but they wont keep you from buying your own trailer.

We were never "forced" to pull a load, if we didnt like the rate, destination or just planned on being home, we refused the load, simple as that.

Its true that some agents hold loads for their trucks. Can you blame them, if your agent gave away good loads to someone else instead of trying to hold them for you, wouldnt you be pissed? You have to learn to play a game with them. If you hear of a good agent in a area your running to, call them and offer to meet them for lunch or dinner and then sell yourself to them. They will remember a driver who bought them a meal and presented a good image than someone who just calls for a load. We had other agents in other areas who would hold or find us a load if they knew we were coming because we meet with them, promised to provide and delivered (usually early).

UACL may not be the best O/O based company but it isnt the worst either. Look at it this way, with any of them it like being a franchise owner, they provide you with some services but you still have to sell yourself and business and run your business.

 

Why would someone sell there self to a company they work for? I would not work for a company that has a conflict of intrest. I would just buy my own trailer and get my own authority. I can understand if your a company driver selling your self, but not a O/O.

 

The main issue I had with Universal is the fact that none of the agents worked together. It shouldn't be a situation where this agent was in competition with the other agent. It should be where ALL agents work together for Universal and to where Universal is 100% all O/O.

I understand that if you are an independant agent that has nothing to do with Universal then you are on you own and you have competition. But if you are 100% working for Universal and pulling loads under their authority, then all of your loads should be posted for all to see.

Universal doesn't work like this. All agents are working as free agents. Even if they are pulling 100% for Universal. Basically it's a screwed up deal of backstabbers and no one is faithful to anyone. Even the agents can't be faithful to the O/O's and company drivers that they have.

I disagree with Universal not being the worst out there. They are the picture of what a trucking company needs to fashion themselves as to not be.

 

I was talking about running a trailer and the loadboard without Universal. If you had read the posts before you would have seen that's what I was talking about.

Like I said I don't want to get into a pissing match but I can tell you never leased onto Universal. They do not charge for trailer leases. All of their trailers can be used rent free. I do not know about stepdecks or lowboys but I know flats and vans are rent free. You must be thinking about Mercer. They do charge for trailer rent.

There should not be a game being played. I was told from the begining before I leased on that there would be an agent I was assigned with and that I could also run off the loadboard. No one should have enough time to search through load after load and calling agent after agent looking for a load. The loads should be there for the taking and the network of agents should all be working together to the better good of the O/O's.

 

He's not talking about "selling" himself to his company but to an "outside" broker.

It the same thing that a salesman will do and meet and greet or get "face time" with a new prospect.

it's called being a salesman and opening doors to a better relationship with a new "partner" as that is what you want a broker to be!

Your partner as he's making money and so are you but we don't want to do business with someone who can't get the job done as it winds up biting us when we call asking if they have any loads needing trucks!

A face to face meeting to "size up" your partner is always a good thing! Yes trucking has been done on the phone more than a walk up but if you want a good relationship with your broker or want to meet them or even a broker who wants to meet his driver it's all the same thing. I see in your tag line several military units and you could look at trucking or being an O/O in the same light. You don't go into battle with anyone you haven't trained with or met and going into a job is about the same. At least meeting someone face to face some people can just tell if they want to do business with who they meet.

Besides who doesn't like a free meal??

 

Thanks Rollover, exactly what i meant.

Never had to take a load off the load board because of the relationships that were built with agents.

If we called the main office we knew who we were talking to because we stopped in and meet the people who handled our paper work.

 

Well, glad I read all of the posts!

Dave, sorry you got sucked into running outlaw as all get out. Hope you never learn that again. You might consider Landstar. We have a buddy who runs off the system loadboard only and he likes it.

Just wondering about Mason Dixon. Hubby got a call out-of-the-blue from a recruiter today.

In the end, Dave did a really great job answering some basic questions about how the company and agents function. Really appreciate it!

Many thanks.

 

At our company, agents get the loads. Agents may have their own trucks, drivers assigned to them and occasionally need "system" drivers.

Our agent, Agent X is a greedy ####### and loads his own trucks. He gets 75-76 percent plus his 8% on his own load. Then he loads his O/O's, if they rent a trailer from him. He gets 8% and trailer fee. Then come his O/O's who only pay him 8%, but they can be counted on to deliver an oversized load and they would take his trailer and bring it back. "System" trucks get the dregs.

Agent Y knows that Agent X won't load his trucks. Agent X driver hits Agent Y's yard, asks for a load, parks and goes to work. Agent X driver helps load Agent Y's trucks. Agent X driver's wife does all the towels, cleans the bathroom, cleans the kitchen and cooks for all of Agent Y's office and drivers. Agent X driver chips in 20 bucks to Agent Y's fund for drivers. Agent X driver gets a load paying $8500 from Agent Y and a second home base. It also pays more than Agent X ever paid his own driver.

We told our agent we would hop in a heart-beat. Our loads have improved.

We had our own authority. That's how we learned how to sell ourselves. It's great if there's work, in your area. Go ahead, get your own authority and keep the checks rolling in. Pretty soon, you don't get picky about conflict of interest, if it pays your bills.