BEWARE!Universal Am-Can,Mason Dixon

SixDogs, while I agree with the general sentiment of most of the others who have posted here, I don't completely agree with the high and mighty attitude of many in response to you. I also can see why you rub some of them the wrong way with your confrontational attitude when they give you the hard truth. I do think that you should take a little better ownership in yourself and your actions.

I own five trucks, employ three drivers, drive one full time, find loads for them all, do all the office work with some help from my significant other, and have one truck empty currently. One of my trucks has been a maintenance nightmare over the last 12 months, somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000 spent on that truck alone. Did that put me in a pinch? Not really, but it did make me a bit uneasy. I have put 10 cents per mile for every mile that each of my trucks run into a maintenance reserve for a long time now. That reserve NEVER gets touched for anything but maintenance.

A few years back, before I wised up, I was one significant breakdown from being out of business or at least in severe trouble. That day came when my truck(I only had one at the time) bit a major bullet and I was pushed right to the edge financially. I swore to myself at that very moment that I would never be in that position again. You see, I LOVE being an owner operator. I love not having to thank anyone when things are going well other than myself, and I like not being able to blame anyone when things are going bad besides myself. There is no way that I could not be an owner operator in this business. At this point, I couldn't take orders from someone else, it's just not me.

The point is, most of us owner operator types have been in a bad spot at some point or another. The guys on here who are debating with you have been in some sort of a pickle, or will be at some point. Some guys are better prepared for it than others though.

I know that you are not looking for any advice in this discussion,especially from someone who hasn't been doing it as long as you have ,but I am going to offer you some anyway. The biggest key for me is the use of multiple spreadsheets and other tools to track every single penny that comes in and goes out. Once you start doing your bookkeeping yourself and do it religiously every week, you will start to have some light bulbs come on. You will see areas that you are overspending on and can make improvements pretty easily. Just a few tweaks here and a few tweaks there along with alot of self discipline is the only real difference between the guys who are very successful in this business and the guys who are just scraping by.

As for your original intent of this thread, I would simply say that if they are messing with your money via deductions or just treating you badly in general, just move on and don't look back. If you lay out the situation to your "broker" and explain to him what you plan to do along with a promise to work hard and do right by him to pay him back, if he is a reasonable feller he will support your decision. In general, I try to stay out of situations that cause me stress due to someone else's negligence or incompetence, although it isn't always easy to avoid. As far as Universal as a company, I don't know squat about them, nor do I care to. I am just speaking in general terms for any company that I might have been leased to.

If I come off as condescending to you, I'm sorry but I just said what I had to say after reading this whole thread. I truly tried to offer you something constructive rather than just taking the high and mighty stance(which those who know me, know that I am VERY capable of doing.lol). Take my random thoughts as you wish, and best of luck to you in the future.

 

Sixdog is right on here. A good company would stand behind it's contractors. An O/O is NOT an independent contractor, he/she is a Dependent contractor, even the IRS has figured this out now and is about to fix the wagons of all the carriers who try to write everything off (except the profits) on the backs of their INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.
Universal already has a terrible rep anyways, try ASAP to find a good carrier to lease to, best of luck!

 

Can we get an update on universal

 

I have been busy since I started. Sorry for not updating.

I will tell you guys my experience so far to the best of my ability and without bias.

If you guys don't know I'll give you some background. I've been a company driver since Dec '00. I've tossed around the idea of owning my own truck but never did. Finally in August of '10 I committed and bought a used '04 Kenworth T-600. I knew I needed to get with a good company to sign my truck on with. My first choice was Landstar. I haven't had a Haz-Mat in several years though and Landstar required it. I kept searching and found a very small company here in Jonesboro, AR. They said I could be home most weekends and run as many miles as I wanted through the week. We went over deductions, pay, cost of operating the truck, fuel discounts, etc... The short story is...The company lied. They told me it would be $100 a week for license. The first week it was. The second it was $237. The third was $237 also. The deductions was basically whatever they wanted to hold out. I was only running about 1400-1800 miles a week and after all of the deductions I was left with around $400 to $1200 a week. I met with the manager and he said to just stick with it and it would get better. I smelled a fish. Anyway I said to him I would give it one more week and if the deductions wasn't straightened out and I wasn't given more miles then I was leaving. They put me on a load going to Las Vegas then told me to drop it in Jonesboro for another driver and sent me home. Needless to say I tore off the decals on my door and told them to shove it. The best thing is I got ALL of my license deductions back this week. I guess they were scared I would take it to small claims court (since I did sign a lease and I had a copy). I was pleased to get the check. Anyway enough about that company. If your in the Jonesboro, Knoxville,TN or Central KY area message me and I'll tell you the name of the company. They won't be in business long I don't think.

Ok for Universal. I had a very different view of Universal before I started working. I figured it was a deal to where you as the driver had to find your own loads. I didn't think that there would be a dispatcher or steady freight. I didn't figure I would speak to the same person more than once or twice a week on the phone. I WAS WRONG.

Universal is an agent based company. They own Central Transport, Mason Dixon Intermodal, Mason Dixon Flatbed and Dry Van. They own several other companies as well. I was told that I could pull for any of these companies and you can.....BUT you are assigned a personal agent that you MAINLY pull for. It's NOT a free-for-all deal where you go on a loadboard and just grab a load go somewhere and get another and keep running on your own. Maybe a few do it that way but I've not talked to any. All that I talk to get placed with an agent. The agent finds you a load. They tell you the miles, pay, drops, etc... and you choose if you want that load or another. Still there's only so many loads available with each agent. If you refuse all of the loads they have to cover then you are own your own and plus you will have pissed off your agent. YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!! Each agent has customers. Each agent has a set number of loads to cover each week. Each agent has a certain number of drivers. Some agents has company trucks. Some agents have all O/O's.

I started out with an agent in MN. All I was offered was broker loads. They didn't pay very good. The miles was good but a lot of the loads were muti-stops and didn't pay anything except for miles. No drop or stop pay. I told the agent after a few days I didn't like his loads or the area he wanted me to run. He said well I'm in MN and your in AR it's not a best case scenario. I agreed and called corporate and asked to be placed with a different agent. They agreed I should be with a different one and I was placed with an agent out of Little Rock last Friday the 12th. I went through orientation Saturday the 13th. (The first agent couldn't ever get me into orientation...or so he said) Regardless the agent in Little Rock got me into orientation before I pulled my first load for them.

The agent I'm with now only has a couple of customers but a large number of trailers and they pull a lot of freight a week. My first load coming out of orientation went from S.E. Missouri to Midlothian ,TX that load paid very well. Plus they put me on another even before I made it to Midlothian. It picked up in Tyler and went back to S.E. Missouri. I then got on a third load before I got back to S.E. Missouri for delivery of that load. I'm on it now. It is going to Palestine ,Tx. I'm sure I'll be reloading and heading back to Missouri Monday morning when I deliver in TX.

As far as the pay at Universal it's super fast. All you do is put your signed bills, logs, fuel receipts and mileage start to finish on a trip pack. I usually get paid in 24 hours or less!!! Once I got paid twice in one day. I dropped off a trip pack on Saturday and another on Monday. I got paid for both on Tuesday morning. The great thing about how they work it is this. All of your settlement money goes on your Comdata card. You put in your own PIN number when you activate your card. After that your own your own with your money. You can set up direct deposit if you want. If not you can just pay yourself with a Comcheck. You can leave as much or as little as you want on your card. You can pay for your fuel with your money on your Comdata or you can call in for an advance for your fuel. When you call in you can also request what load you want your fuel advance to come out of. Like if your running low on fuel and your about to deliver, you can go ahead and get fuel and request it to come out of your next load so your pay on the load your on won't be short.

So far I love Universal. I love the way they operate. I think the agent I'm with is going to keep me very busy, even more than I want to be actually. It's true they don't hold your hand though. They tell you up front. You are responsible for your truck, breakdowns, fuel, and maintenance. They just offer you loads and keep you running. So far they are doing a very good job.

If anyone signs on with them just remember this... They do not hold your hand, they don't force you to take a load or to stay with an agent. If you don't like what is being offered then SPEAK. Don't get into an argument with your agent though. They will just stop offering you loads. If there is a problem then call corporate. They will help you anyway they can. They will get you another agent or help you find a load. They will also help you with your business plan. They will tell you where the cheapest fuel is in the area where you are. They told me they sometimes get .20 cents a gallon or more discounts. It just depends on where you are and where you fuel at. So far so good with me and Universal. Then again I'm not a whiner. I don't expect to go buy a truck, set it up the way I want it, then have someone standing over my shoulder telling me how to run it. I'm glad I made the choice to run with Universal.

 

Good post..Im thinking about making a move the first of next year..

 

i just have to reply to this thread, i was leased to mason dixon and mananged to get my self in the hole with them and for about six months i never brought home a pay check! if you get in the hole with them you will never get out! there deductions are crazy, yall need to lighnten up on this guy, i became an o/o 11 years ago with no money and im still here doing ok, i hear all these people say that you need to have enough money to live on for 3 months or so before getting started hell if i had that kinda money i wouldn't have needed to buy a truck! but anyway i would not recommend mason dixon to anyone! i believe if your leased to a company and you break down on the road they should at least try and help you, after all you are pulling their freight. just my thought.

 

Well to be honest rebel. Like I stated on here. I was with another company before Universal. I made money with them but only about $700 a week on average. I made more than that as a company driver. Also I was with another agent before the one I have now. Not ALL agents are the same at Universal. To say you couldn't ever get paid is saying you can't do your job. At Universal you have so many options. You didn't even have to stay with Mason Dixon. If there was a problem you should have called corporate after your first settlement if you saw you wasn't making money. Why just sit there for 6months and keep doing loads and not make money and not say anything??????????????? It's bogus. You can't be serious.

With Universal it's different because you get paid ...per load. Not per week. It's NOT true you can go a long time and not get paid. It will be your fault not Universal's if this happens. I got paid over $900 on one load the other day. That's not $900 for the WEEK. That's ONE LOAD. I did 3 other loads the same week. I got paid for all of them. They all got loaded onto my Comdata card.

Being an O/O is all about planing,saving, and being conservative. These are traits that most truck drivers don't have.

 

I think there must be a problem since a couple have stated they had problems there. The problem isn't coming from the company though. It's coming from the driver. I assume that these drivers have a lot of problems not just with Universal.

First off you DO NOT have to take a load at Universal. It is 100% no forced dispatch. If you accept a load. Then that means you have done the math and you fully understand you will make or lose money on the load and your ok with it. There's no need to accept the load, lose money, then gripe and say you can't make money. If you see you aren't going to make money on the load then....TURN IT DOWN. Plain and simple.

As far as people gripping about deductions. The deductions are....Insurance, Bobtail and Physical. They do your fuel tax on each load. They take out between $2 an $5 for cargo per load. Also license is withheld once a week and escrow. Escrow and license doesn't start being deducted until 30 days after you start.

You always have the option to get your own license, insurance and you can pay cash for your escrow. This way you won't have those deductions from your settlements.

As for peoples comments on needing help with repairs. I have said it and will say it again. If you don't have cash to purchase a truck and don't have cash set aside for repairs then DO NOT BECOME AN O/O. Just stay company driving.

I don't understand the mentality of "I'm going to buy a truck, be my own boss, run where I want, take the loads I want. But if I break down your paying for it." LOL That's asking a little much isn't it?????

 

You dont have to use your assigned agent for every load, thats why they give you a list of agents. Building relationships with agents in the areas you run is the best thing you could do to get good paying loads out of an area.