Landstar-day One

Hey Gazoo, way to go! Glad things are working out better already. Good luck with the occasional CHR crap; back when I drove for Covenant, they used them for our loads from Jan-April, and they were always a pain in the arse, even when you were dealing with the same office multiple times in the week!

 

I have been with LS for 6 years and love it. I run team now and that is a great advantage. It is amazing how many people, in my case women, want to leave their 9-5 and hit the road. Teams definetely recieve preferential treatment at LS, but there are tons of loads here alone that don't get covered everyday.


I pull a flatbed and would rather deal with tarps and detention over appointment times and the other hassles that go along with vans. Ammo and Explosives is LS's major money maker with contracts with the government that go back decades. Of course only teams do A&E. LS is great if you know how to work their system and create your own revenue.


I have even found my own customers and given the Landstar agents new leads by doing my own sales. In fact you can excel at customer service at LS and even branch off to start your Agency at LS if you find your own customers. I have local customers that only use me that I foind through my own contacts. Try doing that with another company. Landstar offers more opportunity than any other carrier I have ever heard of except of course if you have your own authority.

I have people tell me all the time that Landstar doesn't pay, but I strongly disagree. Agents at Landstar love operators with a good attitude and work ethic and I like agents that pay me money. It is a mutually beneficial relationship. I recently talked to an Interstate Transport team that was boasting about their .49 per mile rate and their 6300 miles per week running for a little over 3000 net a week. I couldn't believe it! We run half that and make twice as much for a lot less work. In fact we take 4 months off every year on average and easily gross over $200,000 a year.

I don't haul anything for less than $2.00 a mile and I always get paid detention, layover, or Truck order not used if the case presents itself. LS is big on safety and having no claims. If you stick with them, they will take care of you and keep you very busy whenever you want. Or not. It is all up to you.

You can sit around perpetually with LS if you want, just so long as you send in your logs and pay bobtail insurance and worker's comp. THAT'S Right I said SIT AROUND! Because when you run for a minimum of $2.00 a mile and always retain at least %15 of the load as a fuel surcharge, you make enough money to do what you want.

 

Interesting..... I spoke to Landstar recruiting (Nina) and she was trying to discourage me from teaming... Me and buddy of mine was planning on getting a truck and teaming with Landstar..... She said the freight was just not there for teams..... This is strange....

Anyways I have sent the app in a few day and actually I just spoke to the process center a few minutes ago...

 

Polarbear, how is the fuel surcharge handled with LS? Are you saying that you just keep part of the rate, or do they pay an additional negotiated FSC per load?

 

FSC with Landstar works different with different agents.

For example, some agents will post a load on the board for 1.87/mile. Then, when you view the details of the load, down at the bottom in the comments section, it will say "+FSC". This means that the FSC is added to the 1.87/mile.

Other agents will post the same load at $2.20/mile and the comments section will either say nothing or something like "all incl" for all inclusive.

However they handle it, it is always good to negotiate a higher FSC before you accept the load because you get 100% of the FSC but only a percentage of the linehaul.

The last couple of months I've been getting between .36 to .48 for FSC.

 

First of all every load is a "team load". Just because the agent has booked the load over a certain amount of days doesn't mean you can't get it there sooner and in most cases the customers are very happy when their load arrives a few days earlier than a solo could do it in. Landstar doesn't have the typical team freight that a lot of teams are used to in that there aren't a lot of regular team runs like at Fed-Ex or UPS where you are constantly doing the same thing all the time. If you are getting 2 to 3 dollars a mile and the load delivers in 5 days, just ask the agent if you can get it there sooner. I have never been told "NO". There! You just turned a solo run into a team load.

Those loads are out there, but LS isn't the company to go with if you are looking for a steady Fed-Ex type run, although right now LS is contracted with UPS and uses teams to do runs for the holidays. In fact teams can make around $20,000 net in the month of December alone by only doing UPS and if you mix in other loads in between the UPS runs you could net around $30,000 in December depending on your ability to keep yourself loaded.

For instance if you are on a round trip to Louisville, KY where you run UPS trailers for 3 days during which time you make about a grand a day, during the off time you could find supplemental loads to "fill in the gaps" and bring your monthly net for December up to 30 grand. Or not.
It all depends on your record and attitude.

It takes a few months (at least 6) to become known in the LS system. You are competing with people like me after all who have been here for years and have an excellent track record. When an agent calls me, they know the job will be done right and they don't have to worry. If you are just starting out, you have a rep to build. Been there, done that. Hang in there, do a good job, and word will spread.

I am not talking about seniority either. If you have been with LS for 10 years and your performance starts to fall off, then they give the load to the new guy. It is all about attitude.

A&E is not easy to get into. You can't just stroll into it. You have to have a clean record, good credit, a stable track record with the maintenance of your truck and a professional demeanor. They don't want a driver whose maintenance is shoddy or who is late all the time.

Then there is the one major factor which overrides everything here that I have said and that is knowing someone. I drove for several trucking companies as a company driver b4 coming to LS and the biggest thing about LS to me is that I can find my own customers, even in the gov't, and sign them up with an agent to specifically use me.

There is a driver for instance who owns the largest truck in the industry which is 39-1/2 feet long. He and his wife run A&E team and have a 48 foot reefer unit they pull behind what I call a professional RV. He has a contract through people he knows high up in the gov't. How did he meet these people? He did an excellent job at LS for years and had a great attitude.

He kept a clean appearance and conducted his business very professionally and through this he met Generals, Colonels, Majors, Captains, etc. and developed his own niche. He could leave LS and retain these contacts, but I know he never will.

I sat down with an agent at LS about 6 months ago and learned that he had the same difficult time starting out at LS that I did in that he had customers, but no driver would haul his freight because the drivers didn't know him or have any experience with his loads. Within 3 years of signing on at LS, having a good attitude and being a professional in his work he is a million dollar agent who now owns three agencies. He started with nothing.

Bottom line is that if you build it they will come. Be a professional. Git' Er Done and do it right and the agents will be fools not to give you the good freight. After all you are making them look good and that is what keeps the customers coming back, LS's wallets full, and the agent's wallets full. Not to mention your wallet.

 

Thanks for the advise... I spoke to many LS teams (20 or more ) and they said nothing about the things mentioned above..... Although the recruiter did say we could run solo freight and see if we can deliver early but she said there is no guarantees.... Well I already know there are no guarantees in trucking lol... Except DOT hassling us lol

Anyways I am a hard man to discourage when I have my mind set... Done the math over and over and I already know the first year is not going to be the best, with all the learning and getting to know people ext....
Maintenance should not be a real issue long as the truck we buy is not a lemon, where buying new....
So basically if we are able to get on at LS we are going to do it anyways....