Crst malone flatbed.

Just wanted to let you know that yes you can make money out there, but like anything else it is not gonna be easy, there will be days you wonder what the @#$**##***** was I thinking , man was I stupid for doing this, but then again there are days when you say, Man this is the American Dream.

I started Feb 20th of this year, and they have kept me busy as I want to be. I have been home every weekend except for 2 which I took loads I knew were gonna cause me to miss the weekend with my family. I have stayed in the so called box for the most part and made decent money, nothing to brag about, but enough that since I started I have bought steer tires, 4 drive tires, had couple thousand in maintenance on truck, 900.00 on pm service, and still have money in my maintenance account.

Then key to making it here at CRST Flatbed (Don't know nothing about the Van division) is you have to be willing to look for your own loads...... yes I am saying you are your own dispatcher. Now I cannot tell you about the Lease Purchase for sure, but do know this, when I first started they had both o/o and l/p with the same field agents (Dispatchers).

They changed that about a month ago to where now the field agents have all the same which is good.

Did I like the looking for a load HECK NO%%****##!!!! I was used to having my dispatcher calling me and asking how about this or that. The first two weeks were brutal, and I mean brutal.....I thought about quitting a thousand times, but had truck payment, etc..... to take care of, everyone kept telling me hang in there (I talked to alot of people when I started out about how hard this was, and had many blessings sent from God in the form of People telling me to keep going it would get better.

Right now I am in Norman Ok, will deliver here in the morning. Went to Chicago delivered 4 Coils Monday Morning, reloaded one coil for Talladega, delivered Tuesday, took off Wed, Thursday, went to Bham and loaded up 2 coils for La Porte Tx, (15 miles from Houston TX) unloaded Friday Morning and reloaded with pipe to Norman OK. From here I hope to get a load heading back toward either Illinios or Indiana.

People often ask me can you be off every weekend, my answer is I belive you can, but sometimes if you want to make the money then you take the weekend runs, they usually pay better. This load is paying me 2.30 a mile, no tarp, which is great, but not all loads pay this, I have seen some people take 1.35 just to get out of a bad area, I won't do that,

Alot of times if you get a good paying load to a area, then the stuff coming out of that area is not a good paying rate..... If your gonna jump on a load without looking ahead, then your liable to be screaming they screwed me, but remember you make your loads either work for you or not.

When I first started out, man did I pay for the learning curve.. I deadheaded from a 1.70 mile load once delivered to get a 1.90 load, and dh 200 miles to it to get out of a bad area. Will post again on school and pay from there.

One thing I learned the hard way, watch who you tell what on loads, some people will start chatting with you and ask you about your load, how much where you got and going to, who got it for you and then the amount..... Man when I first started out was I dumb, dumber than dumb, I would tell them and then bam I couldn't get another load (the good ones) So watch what you tell what and who to! They are people like this everywhere you go.

 

Ok, about the Orientation. It is either 3 or 4 days long according to how experienced you are. (Now keep in mind I am talking about the Bham AL Place, don't know anything about any other place)

We started on Monday, alot and I mean alot of paperwork, tons of paperwork, you will have to keep a logbook for your time you are there. Toward the end of the first day, they will tell you who has to get a DOT Physical. One from Chiropractor will not work, their insurance will not accept them.whi Lost a couple that day. Each and every day is packed and you don't have time to goof off or you will miss alot of stuff.

Their main two goals in school are: 1. Making sure you are qualified to do what you say you are, and then 2. Getting you out there on the road so you can start making money.

During School you will sign a note for the things you may need, no your not forced to, but if need be they have the stuff you need. I got the total package, and I belive it was around 2500.00 which they take out 100 each week. I thought that was high, and started pricing it and man I wanted to get it before they raised their prices. They get most of the stuff from Utility Trailer, and i believe the Tarps from Dothan Tarp in Dothan AL.

Trailer rent is 185.00 per week if you need a tlr. Now understand this the word is RENT, you know like if you rent a house, but go on vacation for a month, the rent on the house is still due. So if you take off a week or don't run much one week, you still owe the rent on the trailer..

You have a bond (O/O is 2000.00, not sure what L/P is) this is taken out 25 a week until it is paid.

If you want them to do the Plates, Permits, IFTA for you they will and it is not free, mine cost 2158.00 and taken out at 75 a week. I had my own authority with my own plates etc... but dropped them to just do theirs and let them keep up with the IFTA. Still have to turn the miles in but they file it and if i own any.... Yes you have to pay this.

Your yearly inspection cost you 75 and you pay for it.

If you get on the maintenance plan, which I am. This is not the same as the L/P, but a plan where 0/0 can get so much pere mile deducted and put in a maintenance account. I choose to have .10 per mile including deadheading took out, I have used it to pay for 2 steer tires, 4 drive tires and still have $1951 left in my maintenance account to pay for the next 4 drive tires which I will be getting soon.

If I knew how to paste and post I would do so and show you my last paystub.

One thing I have heard alot of people complain about is: CRST charges me for everything..... You have to remember they are not here to lose money, but make money. If they gave everyone a free set of chains, etc... from time to time it could run into the thousands of dollars.

When you send in your paperwork... we use transflo, it cost .25 per page to send it in either at Loves, Flying J, or TA, Petro, or you can scan it from your laptop and send it in but the cost is the same.

Some people start orientation on Monday and are on the Road Wednesday, and some, I was one that took another day to ensure I understood about the securement part, stay another day and leave out Thursday.

Is it alot to comprehend....HECK YES it is, let me tell you it was overwhelming to me, but it does get easier, if you will work at it.

0/0 are paid twice a week. Paperwork in by Tue pays on Fri, in by Fri, pay is Wed. Don't know bout L/P except they only get paid once a week.

I hear so many people on here trashing CRST, and my experiene prior to coming here:

I was a 0/0 had a 03 W900L KW Daycab, hauling logs, pulpwood 3 days a week, then hauling lumber 2x4 for a lumber company 2 days a week, load already loaded, strapped and only had to hook to it and go short hauling within 500 mile radius.

Both companies went belly up and I had to find something else to do, and CRST was my best option, the other companies would take my 500 mile radius as OTR, wanted me to be a company driver then do the 0/0. Didn't want to do this.

Said that to say this, you can make it, it is murder to start with if your not experienced at doing the load thing, but I made my mind up I was not gonna give up (though I wanted to every day for first two weeks, and some since then)

But it does get better and now, not making a killing but paying bills and starting to enjoy this more. I would still rather be home every night and off on the weekends, but then again who wouldn't.

If you have any questions, I will be glad to try and answer them best I know how, but if your gonna bash CRST, wrong place, not a recruiter here, just wanted to let you know how it has been for me.

 

There are alot of good and bad, and FB isn't for everyone.... Gosh knows the first few weeks, I thought for sure it wasn't for me, but I have adjusted to it and like it pretty well. As far as the 2.00 a mile, some does pay more some pays less. They give you a line haul rate of say 1000.00, you get 75% of that and then all the fsc, and tarp pay (very seldom do you see tarp pay).

Now this is how they get the avg 2.00 mile. July 5th took load to TX for 1.99 to Truck, Took pipe from Houston to Norman OK, 2.29 to truck, OKC OK to Birmingham 1.87 mile, Al to Chicago IL, 1.72 mile, Indiana to AL, 1.82 mile. This comes up to 1.92 avg. They figure it from city limit to city limit not actual place to place, so the figure is off a little. There is alot of great paying freight out there for crst, you gotta pay your dues and get in with the agents that have it.

I refuse to run the 1.38 coming out of Houston hauling chain link fence. I was told by the agent it was the only way to come out of Houston, to which I replied "Nope, I can come out with my own money in my tanks to a better paying area, started making calls and got a load of pipe out of there that paid close to two bucks a mile.

TX is suppose to be a cheap place and if you cannot make good contacts and get a good paying load then it will be, but I have been blessed for the 3 times I have been to TX (Houston Area) to have gotten pipe loads out.

When I was in Norman Ok, was told only load was to NJ, told them I was not going there, and started making calls to any and everyone I could think of, got a AC weight only 8300lbs to Birmingham paid 1.87.

Main thing to remember this is not easy, no one is gonna hold your hand to help you through the rough spots.

I have been in corporate as well, was plant mgr of two different hoisery mills, and liked it, but my family has always been in trucking, Dad, Mom, Uncles, so I did the corporate thing and then when I hit 38 decided to hit the road.

Don't get me wrong, I Like it very much, but nothing is like sleeping in your own bed and house every night, nothing like getting up and going to your own toilet that you and your family use!

I would think long and hard before I made the leap to doing this. Not trying to discourage you, but if you think about it long and hard, when it gets hard and long you will be better prepared for it.

You can make it, but you gotta be willing to work for it and know that it is not all fun and gun for sure. Election year always slows everything down, notice how they are pricing cars with special deals now? Thats cause people are holding on to their money waiting to see what will happen during this election.

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them best I can, BUT REMEMBER, I am a 0/0 not a LEASE PURCHASE so I cannot tell you much, only what I have found out while talking to them.

 

The load board works the same as most other ones do, you find the loads, call either your field agent or if it has a agent listed then you would call them. It will have gross revenue which you get 75% of and then fsc, which you get 100% of, and it will have the miles.

The miles is where it can be different, they do not go from doorstep to doorstep, but rather city to city, so it could be off a little 5 to 10 miles or large city 50 or 60 miles.

During School you will sign a note for the things you may need, no your not forced to, but if need be they have the stuff you need. I got the total package, and I belive it was around 2500.00 which they take out 100 each week. I thought that was high, and started pricing it and man I wanted to get it before they raised their prices. They get most of the stuff from Utility Trailer, and i believe the Tarps from Dothan Tarp in Dothan AL.

Freght Rates right now are down a bit, but this is due to election year and people not certain what will happen. A good way to tell how rates are is look at the ads on tv for car sales, when they are offering crazy deals, the economy is usually not holding well, and therefore since FB does alot of steel hauling, it does affect us.

You are allowed to get your own loads through other broker and load boards, but if your still leased to CRST then you will still have to give them 25% of the gross revenue or line haul rate.

And one thing to remember is if you do find another load, the broker/agent must be approved by CRST first before you pull the load. Reason behind this is CRST will pay you regardless if they are paid or not by the broker/agent.