Landstar questions

with the agent that i dealt with the direct freight that was a higher than average rate, so i never really had to ask for ore money, one time the had a load delivering to western alabama with 3 stops on a saturday, so i got them to add money because the odds are that you won't find anything on a saturday, if you do that's great, but most likely you wont. If it has a great rate on it like $1000, to go across town(20 miles), of $1650 on 400 miles, and as many of them as i wanted i never asked for more money because i would get the call before the load hit the board. That and i made it a point to learn there schedule and be empty when i though the loads would be ready. I saw no point in running all over the place when i had good freight that would pay well and keep me close to home. now as far as the broker freight, sure i would ask for more money, every chance i got. depending on the situation you would get it sometimes and sometimes not. i myself try to avoid the broker freight because it can be a hassle dealing with multiple layers of people can contacts, but i do haul them. can you survive? its possible, but if you were my friend i would tell you to wait till next year. save your money and keep researching, freight is down, rates are down, and there are plenty of trucks around. right now its hard to ask for more money when the next call will haul the load for the posted rate. i'm myself looking for getting away from the dry van and getting a flat bed and maybe keeping an old dryvan for some agents that have good freight from time to time.

 

also a lot of the direct freight is contracted, an the agent either cant charge the customer more, or they don't want to dig in there pockets so that when they call and tell you about there "great load"( usually in my mind i say if it was that great it would have flown off the board in a matter of seconds, and you wouldn't be calling me), to which usually its going somewhere outside of my service area, usually to a bad area for a crappy rate. typically gent never call you on broker freight, its usually direct fright that they kinda bid cheaper to get the work and stay competitive with other carriers. like 2.50 cpm from Indiana to South Dakota in February, with multiple stops. usually when they are in a bid and call you, you can ask for more money, but usually when they call me its a load thats going to a bad area, and they cant and money, so i tell them thanks but i'm not interested.

 

Preeeeety much. Soon everyone except you of course will be making $20,000 a week and they only drive 800 miles. All the threads end up like this and you'll find it was all BS. Plan on keeping the wheels turning and you'll make your goal and then some no problem.

 

I would hardly call Landstar an easy way. You need a head on your shoulders there no different than you would any other way, on your own or at another company.

 

They will call you with good freight if you have equipment they need. 53 foot dry vans are dime a dozen, you need to seperate yourself from the herd. Even just having a 53 flat can open doors. Don't be like everyone else.

 

On the loads you will see the line that says direct shipper. It will have either the letters Y or N. If you see N, that means no it's not direct in which you know there may not not be a real rate set yet. So, 20k or better is ideal to run this business. But with that being said I started with like 9k. THEN I PUT 5600 down on a 2009 emissions truck that almost $broke$ Me. I made it though, had the passion and God was on my side. I have three notes left on that truck now, never missed a payment, never was late.

HINDSIGHT ADVICE:

Folks try to make this more complicated than it is. Here's fool proof planning. WAIT N BUY A PRE EMMISION TRUCK CASH. I don't care if takes you another 6 months to a year. Make that sacrifice now and live like a king later. Go and get yourself into a stupid $65k+ lease and your first year or two will probably be about you learning your truck and engine the hard way by replacing thousands of dollars of parts and etc ESPECIALLY with any used EMMISION trucks 09' and after which is right around the famous introduction of the DPF/DOC filters each that cost around 3k a piece. So between maintaining your new "baby" and making truck notes you better be hauling the good stuff and have little overhead @ home. Then remember u will need to SUBTRACT your expenses from your total gross and get ready to pay close to 30% of that to the IRS. With per diem credits you will end up paying a little less than 30% but then you got health care fines to add on that if u don't carry the outrageously expensive health "care" plans.

So... Just be real, really take your time... Your asking questions with real people here and that's good... I was doing the same thing on this forum before I got in business years ago...

While you take your time chances are the right truck will find you... With some searching of course... But don't rush it or chances are you will be stuck running the treadmill for awhile 'going nowhere'... There's money to be made, here at LS that's no problem if you be smart and learn what works for you...

On the topic of trucks ima slide you a big key here, go to our classified section at LS at LCAPP.com go to the used trailer section and that will open up all for sale activity. Go there and get you a great truck from an owner operator who is retiring and took great care of there truck, pay cash. I'd pay $10k for a good truck and pay up to $20k or a little more if it has had a fresh overhaul with paperwork to prove it. I bought my trailer through that classified section and would of done what I'm telling you if I knew about it years before I got in.

Know as much about the MOTOR as you can before you buy. Can't go wrong with an N-14 or a Detroit 60. sound like Kevin Rutherford on that but it's true. Those two motors are the cheapest to rebuild and still deliver the same if not better power than modern engines and deliver close to if not better MPG than the modern engines because their rarely running right due to emmisions...

So prepare yourself dude, PM if you need advice or a extra opinion just don't ask me for $

 

Remember what they say "nobody sells a truck that is making money".

The exceptions are:
-owner is going into retirement and decides to sell
-a small family fleet is downsizing their fleet due to lack of good drivers (still questionable)
-somebody is selling due to poor health (which may also reflect the health of their truck)
-u see... There's not many reasons someone would sell a good used truck that is making $$ it's just not smart for business.. Used fleet trucks go until the warranty up. Fleets start slacking up on oil changes and preventive maintenance about a year or so before that truck gets sold.

People will battle my logic and say buy a new truck. Yea right. Be stuck with a $150k bill and a truck that uses over 30 some sensors to regulate it's Regen'nn system. Get out here. Each one of those sensors is an added chance I'll be shut down for some bogus regen reason. What about warranties hopeovermope??? NOPE. Don't care and don't want em. Keep your truck out away from dealerships. U add in your wait time most big dealerships are 3days to 2weeks out with work. They're not competent enough to solve root problems. And if warranty won't cover something... Which they probably won't... Your on your own... With all the BS trouble shooting labor time too. Yea right

 

I helped a new guy start out. He had nothing at all by the time he was ready to book his first load. He had 1/2 tank of fuel and maybe $100 bucks. Set him up with a factoring company. He picked up his first load and put in for a 50% advance. He drove that day with the fuel he had. By 7am the next day he had a direct deposit into his checking account for the advance. It was enough to finish the load and plenty more left over. The next day he had a direct deposit for delivering the load. Didn't take him long before he was off and running and money in the bank.

 

I posted up proof. Go back and look.

 

You can't work bankers hours with a dry van or pre-book anything in advance if you want to make money but you can pull some top dollar on last minute when everyone else is booked and in bed. Overall though you're right. A box trailer is a box trailer and they're a dime a dozen even in the best of times. You have to bust some balls to get a rate even when they're tight. But guys get hung up on the drop and hook or planning a week or two in advance. They'll always be working for less. In that other thread I should have probably put one of my biggest regrets, was not starting out as a rookie doing flatbed. It's so much easier to pull a rate in the open deck world. Back then I looked at it as hard work and slamming doors was easy.