Landstar Reefer

One of the sides to temp control Hazmat is Keep from Freezing. That should start kicking in over the next couple of months. But that is VERY seasonal.

 

if i was going to landstar especially with a team i would start out pulling a company dry van as a team drop and hooks are even more valuable than with solo drivers . when you buy that trailer you just eliminated yourself from a lot of easy high paying freight . most team lanes on a true team load pays up to $1 more a mile ( they won't pay you more if a solo can run it ) than a solo on same lane . I would definitely try out with a company van for at least a couple of months and see if you are doing enough drop and hook loads to more than make up the difference between owning your own van and just by checking the load board for reefer loads and live loaded van loads . you can't go by % either it's very variable ... I was at a power only load and a guy who was under his own authority was very proud that he was getting 100% of the pay from the agent and I was only getting 70% from the same agent and I admit that did seem a little stupid on my part until later on in the conversation I found out he was getting a 100 % of $850 a day plus fuel surcharge and I was only getting 70% of the 1350.00 the load actually paid plus fuel ... 945.00 was actually 72 % but you get the idea. it's not the % that matters it's how much $$ you get. it depends on where and what you run that determines if it's worth getting your own trailer or a reefer. once you get started with landstar and you do your job you will have enough agents that you deal with to find your niche and what you need .... about 75% of my loads are drop and hook at at least 1 end so it's easy for me to figure out. but if I was only doing a couple a month I would be better off with my own trailer. then with a reefer you have a lot more dead time besides the fact that loading and unloading time are sometimes ridiculous most everything is done by appointments in my experience I make far more money with a van than I would with a reefer and I only have to deal with aholes once or twice a month instead of just about every place. I pulled reefer for 6 years and I think things are worse now as far as the bs and with eLogs.

 

The getting your own trailer thing is far more diabolical than that, and I'll let everyone figure out for themselves.

 

I rarely did drop and hooks, And usually had to get stuff fixed on a healthy percentage of the trailers I did swap.

Getting your own trailer can open up some freight and eliminates the "leave it for the next guy" issues. But could eliminate you from some freight beyond the drop and hook. Have to ask yourself some basic questions.... Logistics post: Yes or no? If Yes.. spacing

floor? Wood or Metal or mixed

Swing door or roll up?

Vented or no vents?

Interior walls: plastic wood or metal? insulated? heater?

Getting your personal trailer you need to figure out what upgrades you are going to do..... Like lift gate or ramps. Also what storage you add on for straps, load bars, pads, and maybe decking.

All that equipment adds weight and may keep you from some good paying heavy loads.

 

started to figure that out recently. god oh god how on earth did I ever forget to disconnect the #### pigtail?!?!

on the bright side, trailer was only 5 grand cash from Schnuder and a mechanic checked it out prior to purchasing. So that extra 5% on van and 8% on reefer loads is well worth it.

 

Should be %7 for van

 

So you're getting an 8% for reefer loads with your $5K Schneider van?
That's why I'm no good at this.

 

I know I wish I knew how to turn those schnieder reefers on ........ orange trailers only get 5 % you need a white trailer to get 7

 

Dry ice?

 

65% of the load if you use Landstar trailer, 72% if you bring your own trailer, 75% if you bring your own reefer.

So... 7% extra for obliging them with the provision of our own vintage 53 foot pumpkin, courtesy of Schnüder's used equipment sales.