Crst malone

I believe you need experience in the last 3 years to qualify with them, as with most carriers. It would be best to give them a call and speak with someone in recruiting. Unless their policies have changed they won't allow you to have your authority if you are leased to them. If you want to get your authority then there is no need to lease to any carrier. If you have maintained your CDL for at least the last three years then you may get past the insurance companies if you choose to get your authority.

 

If you lease on with a company, you run under their operating authority. You can run your own IFTA and base plates, if you choose to do so, you can either buy your own trailer, rent one of theirs, or pull agents trailers. The guy I worked for leased on two trucks, and pulled Doug Olander's trailers, which worked out pretty well, especially as he ran both stepdecks and flats (he also has an RGN, but I don't think the freight he was getting for it made it worth the extra hassle). You can use any broker, any load board. Now I never actually leased on with them myself, so I'll leave it to those who do to speak on this matter.

 

thanks for the quick response! I did let my CDL go but I got it back when I decided that I would probably be going back into trucking. I do realize most companys would either make me go out with a trainer or want to put me into some type of school. I do have friends that still drive and own their own trucks so perhaps I may can crawl into one of theirs in order to regain the recent experience that most carriers demand.

 

If you can get at least 6 monts of recent experience you should be able to get on with CRST Malone. If you could run for one of your friends to get the recent experience it would help greatly.

You can haul brokered loads, but will need to run them through CRST Malone. When I was leased to them you could get a little higher percentage if you had to broker a load. I believe they changed that after I left.

 

Thanks for the help GMAN, I forgot to mention I have cousins that run a bull wagon but that is weekend work. Run sales all week then load up for west texas on friday and haul a^$#. I have helped them out often as that is a team effort. (and da^& hard work!) Runningman seems to be doing ok but he has to run aggressive as i always liked to also in those days.

 

Will be going to orientation on the 12th, want to know the truth. I will be riding with my husband and booking loads, how hard is this?

 

It isn't difficult, but could take some time to find the better paying agents. Where you run is the key to doing well with them. If you stay in their primary freight lanes you should do well. If you limit where you are willing to run then it might cost you in your pocketbook and you might find yourself sitting to find a decent paying load. CRST Malone has an assigned dispatcher, or did when I was with them. If you get a good dispatcher they should keep you moving. They should also know where the better moving freight runs. If you run from about Chicago to Birmingham or Atlanta and Pittsburgh and stay in that part of the country, you should do well with them. If you get out of their main freight areas, then you might not do as well. They have agents all over the country. There are a few that I know who typically have decent paying rates, but also have some who have cheap rates. If you want to run the left coast then you may not do as well. New England is also not a good area. Basically, if you stay between I-35, I-95, I-80 and I-10, you should be able to stay busy. I would recommend that you establish a minimum haul rate and not deviate from it. I would rather deadhead than haul a load for less than my cost of operations and a profit. You should be able to meet your dispatcher while you are at orientation. It is a good time to start to get to know one another and ask about where to run and your preferences. It is critical to keep the lines of communication open. Keep in mind that your dispatcher will usually have at least 35-50 other owner operators to keep moving.

 

Had to push back orientation until the 19th, how difficult will it be to just break even going into the winter months? I will be sitting in on orientation, what questions (other than the obvious ones) do I need to ask? And how many of you are still working with CRST MALONE at this time? Thanks in advance for any help

 

I have been here 8 months, and still make great money. Im usually home every w/end and have averaged $1700+ a week to the house over the last month. Like the previous poster stated if you stay in there main lanes you will do fine. I book all my loads off the web sight or by calling the agents. I very seldom use my fleet manager, but they will help you find loads until you learn the system. Just keep in mind that they can't dictate to you what loads to take. Some dispatchers will try and pressure you to take certain loads.....if your not interseted, just say NO.
I have been out two weeks because I chose to take a load out to California. It payed great going West, and I was lucky enough to get a good paying load out of Neveda going to Colorado that payed $2.56 to the truck per mile. I then got a decent paying load out of Colorado coming back to Chicago, which puts me back in there good freight area.
As far as Freight during Winter slowing down, im sure there will be a little drop off, but are bread and butter is steel and aluiminum which shouldn't have to bad of a drop off.

 

Nearly all carriers will have a slower time during winter months, especially with flats. But, you should still be able to make a decent living. Companies will still need to have their steel to keep manufacturing going. It has been several years since I was with them so I don't remember how about how slow it got around Christmas. For years, I have taken off between Christmas until after the first of the year. It is generally a slow time for freight. There are those who do want to ship everything on the floor before the end of they year and others who don't want to receive anything until after the first due to taxes. Holidays can be a challenge for freight, but you can still make money.