Landstar is getting cheap.

I know nothing about flat bedding or oversizing. I have seen some stuff that goes in the $15 to $18 mile neighborhood on loads paying like $15K for BCO's. Dunno if that is good or not.
I'm just a dummy with a van. Left the house 2000 Saturday night. Got home last night ( Tuesday ) at about 1830. $2K net before income taxes.

My next tour will leave Saturday again, but I'll be gone 7 days. Barring unforeseen tragedies and complications, should net $5K.

Probably do better if the cat didn't do the load planning.

 

Wait a minute.....I thought the cat was the dummy?


Boy I coulda used you back in the summer.
I bought a windshield in Denmark, Wisconsin that had to go to Pennsylvania.

 

I had probably 8 agents call me today. One had a good load, but doesn't fit in my plan, especially with Dad. The rest were common garden variety, and some were just bad. I try not to be rude.
I have three agents with freight that pretty much never hits the board that pays. Waited, waited, waited, for the one guy, cause he doesn't make me stray too far. He told me when he gets all his loads for the week, and I'm the new guy, so I don't get the really good ones, but I get a choice usually of about three, and one is always pretty darn good.

Told this one lady that, and she was pissed. " Well good luck with that she snapped. " Hung up, after she called me. It's my fault she's now a $1 below the market right? The good market anyway.

Dunno man. It's out there. If I could run wild............................fuhget about it.

Schneider is where the money is though.

 

You will never see the good stuff LS has sitting on a board. Most of it never goes on the board, if it does, it might last 30 seconds.

 

Which is why it's strange reading their comments. I'd much rather them put "Our shippers(or we) are cheap" in the comments.

 

I just laugh at those agents. They are basically saying, "I bid this too cheap and can't find anyone to haul it".

 

I hauled for them just once. It turned out to be a double brokered Pepsi load from CH Robinson. I was a very, very novice at the time, so they kick me in my nuts really bad. I did call Landstar a few times more, but they always wanted to give me something so cheap that I don't even bother to call them any longer. I'd say, in my experience, Landstar agents are the worst, they appear cheap, greedy, wanting to take advantage of, very little decency in them, they don't even pay you straight....they take some billing fees, even though you don't want any quick pays, and come up with some idiotic excuses to owe you less. Screw them all the way!
I mean there is a lot of derogatory talk about TQL, but they are saints compared to Landstar agencies.

 

I would love to see some OS pro's tell us what they get $?

IMO they are double the work if not more....so 10 per mile +?

Plotting route, getting permits, checking permits, obeying drive times and speeds on permits, Sooooo many restrictions......how could a one man show do these for any less than 10?

Heck how could a mega carrier put one of their drivers on a OS for less than that!?

I am done with them for now....but I do quote them super high just to see what happens!

 

It's definitely more. Like anything though the more of it you do the less work all those details are. If you do it for a living that stuff is all just another Monday. Worth more money, but a lot less trouble when you've done it a hundred+ times before. You probably know most of the good routes, know who to call for permits (or just have a company that does it for you that doesn't suck), and who the good pilot car companies are. If you get really aggressive the pilot car might be a family member getting into the family business so you can keep all the revenue from the move.

My point is that any new venture looks awful at some point. Moving OS/OW loads is just trucking + a few variables. Those variables are worth a significant amount of money, but not 7+ dollars per mile. Unless it's massively OS/OD. Then you might be talking about 60k for a 300 mile move. Miles stop mattering as much when the freight weighs 160k pounds and is 26 feet wide. You also might need 2-3 trucks to get that done, police escorts, and literally a hundred+ hours of planning. That job is closer to a construction project than a freight move though.