Landstar

Will do! There might be a load that could get me over by memphis too!

 

I am in the process of leasing on to LS, hope to be in orientation in the next few days. I live on the coast of GA between Savannah and Brunswick. When I get started I would like run from here to TX and then to other points and back home. Any way you could help me when I'm ready?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Do you have to have a passport to go to Canada? I've never driven there so I don't know. Thanks again.

 

Yes. You also need a passport to cross into Mexico.

 

I'll sure try. We personally don't have a lot of freight out of GA going that direction but I can occasionally get you home from TX and I'll do everything in my power to hook you up with the right people.

 

Bluejay, I don't recall the type of freight that you want to haul, but there are several Landstar agents that get freight out of Georgia. It is usually not a problem finding outbound freight. I have seen a number of loads leaving Georgia going to Texas and other destinations this week. Rates are all over the place. Once you get approved and through orientation, you need to start building relationships with several agents. Living in Georgia, you will most likely do orientation in either Jacksonville, FL or Jeffersonville, GA. There is an agent that usually gets freight out of Jeffersonville or Gainesville. Freight is also usually available out of Jacksonville and Savannah. Landstar has agents all over the country. When you go through orientation, they will most likely help you with some agents to get started. At one time Landstar would give all new BCO's (owner operators) a book of current agents. It is my understanding that they no longer do that so I would suggest that you get a composition book or small tablet that you can list agents that you haul loads for and make notes about them. Find out where they have freight, rates and other information. I keep a list of agents and brokers that I have done business over the years. I can check my list and see the traffic lanes, type of freight, etc., There are also some that I won't do business and I also make a note of those people. If someone pays slow, has cheap rates or I had problems with them, I make a note of it for my records.

Another thing you can do is keep a log of all your loads. When I leased to Landstar, I had a book where I kept all the load information on each load. I put in the rate, pickup and delivery information and the agent. You may also want to consider buying some software to help you keep track of your business and do your bookkeeping. Trucknpro www.foglinesoftware.com has a bookkeeping program specifically designed for Landstar BCO's. They may offer a discount for BCO's, but I am not sure. I believe that they offered a discount for OOIDA members at one time. I think that it may also be available from some TA's and perhaps at some of the Landstar orientation centers. I have had their software for a number of years. It is simple and easy to use. They just came out with a new version that has some interesting features. There is a section where you can put your broker or agent information. I probably use that more than anything. It also has maintenance tracking and other helpful features. You can also customize it to your operations to some extent. I think that you can go online and download a trial version for a couple of weeks before buying. There are a couple of other software packages that can be used by owner operators or fleets, but this is the only one that I know of that has one version specifically designed for Landstar BCO's. It can track your fuel taxes and give you a report on a single load or several loads. It will print out a profit and loss by the load or specific time period. The newest version has the capability of scanning in documents to kelp preserve receipts. If you lose the hard copy you can go in and print out one from your program, if needed.

If you don't want to spend the money on a trucking specific software package, you can use a spreadsheet to track expenses and loads. You can even use a composition book or notebook. Regardless of which method you use, it is important to keep track of your progress. I like the software because it will give you your cost and profit by the mile as quickly as you put it into your computer. In any case, good luck.

 

Two places that are black holes for RGN out bound, Texas and Utah. How is the outbound loads for RGN in those areas?

 

If you check www.landstarbroker.com you can get an idea of what is available. Some loads may only be available for Landstar trucks so those won't be on that loadboard. If you call recruiting or one of their agents they should be able to print out what is available out of those specific areas at any time.

 

Thanks for the intel and will do that, I have inbound but no outbound for either state. Was just looking at the board and understand the holding for company units since from my experience most good loads are covered and the posted are either out of reach for company units for one reason or another.

One company that will remain unnamed picked up the same loads Landstar has listed today, funny thing is when I called they would not answer if they were the direct broker or not. I just said no thanks.

 

More and more agents of carriers are dealing with 3 pl's and brokers to get freight rather than spending time developing their own freight base. Landstar is no different. There are some who do have their own freight. If you find a load that has a cheap rate then it is probably either double brokered or comes from a 3 pl, which is the same thing, but a different name. They still take a cut out of the rate.

You can broker freight with Landstar, but must run it through one of their agents. If you can't find something on their BCO board then you can get a load from a broker. I actually saw a truckload from one agent that had a rate of $0.80/mile this morning. I have also seen a few that are close to $3/mile, but not too many.

I don't know how much RGN freight Landstar has, but they do a fair amount of military freight. I would expect those rates to be decent. The heavy haul is a small segment of their total business. Those with whom I have spoken seem to be doing well.

 

Thanks alot I start orientation tomorrow in FL, and I can use all the help I can get.