My journey at Landstar

AsphaltFarmer · Nov 3, 2022

xlsdraw said: ↑

IF it's the one prophecied, it will be worse than you can imagine. IF!
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Which economic coup is the one prophecied?

F4T6UY · Nov 3, 2022

xlsdraw said: ↑

IF it's the one prophecied, it will be worse than you can imagine. IF!
Click to expand...

IF…if, if my aunt had a pe nis , she’d be my uncle.

Been listening to prophecies the last couple years.

I’ll just keep my head down, hope I’ve prepared enough for whatever, and cross bridges when I come to em.

YardMule89 · Nov 3, 2022

runningman0661 said: ↑

So I pulled my last load for Landstar this week. I made a tough decision about a month ago for my business that I think will help me survive the coming storm of low and volatile freight rates and the economy in general.

Don’t get me wrong, I continued to still pull decent paying loads, but they were getting harder and harder to come by. Instead of spending a few minutes finding good paying freight that met my criteria, sometimes I would spend hours refreshing the load board, calling on loads that just popped up, to find they were already gone. An extreme example that was the straw that broke the camels back for me was, I had booked a direct customer load, got to the shipper in SC, after sitting there for two hours, the load canceled. I started looking for a load, and it literally took me five hours to find a load that met my criteria, that wasn’t gone within seconds of being posted.

In 9.5 months this year I’ve grossed over $199K at Landstar, but after listening to market analysis, and economists, it’s not going to improve anytime soon. Some analysts say it could be 2024 before things head back up. I was around in ‘08, and saw what happened, for me and my business I want stability and shelter from the coming storm.

I was leased to FCC for four years before I went to Landstar, I’m sitting in their parking lot as I type this, getting ready to start back here again.

They are awesome people, have steady contract freight, great freight lanes, and will keep me and my truck busy and profitable in the coming months.

I will miss the freedom Landstar provided, but I believe this is the best business decision for me in today’s environment.
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I'm asking this to try and learn the business, not being smart-assed about it, if it comes across like that I apologize.

So you were still running profitable at LS chasing revenue but loads were fewer and farther between that "fit that bill". I understand that part, but how is running for $1.50/mile and chasing miles any better? Is it the overall compensation at FCC with insurance/fuel discounts/etc that you feel won't hurt your bottom line?

Lonesome · Nov 3, 2022

People have been predicting doom and gloom for years.99% of the time, it's no where near as bad as the experts and media wants us to believe. Be wary of the future? Sure.Hunker down under the covers? Not me.....

mitrucker · Nov 3, 2022

xlsdraw said: ↑

IF it's the one prophecied, it will be worse than you can imagine. IF!
Click to expand...

You have my attention. Please expand on this.

JohnBoy · Nov 3, 2022

Lonesome said: ↑

People have been predicting doom and gloom for years.99% of the time, it's no where near as bad as the experts and media wants us to believe. Be wary of the future? Sure.Hunker down under the covers? Not me.....
Click to expand...

Me personally, I’d like to be around when the end comes. Either by a big rock, a nuclear apocalypse, or just a friendly press conference from the big boy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave that the earth shifted off its axis and we have a week left on this old worn out rock.

BigR · Nov 3, 2022

runningman0661 said: ↑

So I pulled my last load for Landstar this week. I made a tough decision about a month ago for my business that I think will help me survive the coming storm of low and volatile freight rates and the economy in general.

Don’t get me wrong, I continued to still pull decent paying loads, but they were getting harder and harder to come by. Instead of spending a few minutes finding good paying freight that met my criteria, sometimes I would spend hours refreshing the load board, calling on loads that just popped up, to find they were already gone. An extreme example that was the straw that broke the camels back for me was, I had booked a direct customer load, got to the shipper in SC, after sitting there for two hours, the load canceled. I started looking for a load, and it literally took me five hours to find a load that met my criteria, that wasn’t gone within seconds of being posted.

In 9.5 months this year I’ve grossed over $199K at Landstar, but after listening to market analysis, and economists, it’s not going to improve anytime soon. Some analysts say it could be 2024 before things head back up. I was around in ‘08, and saw what happened, for me and my business I want stability and shelter from the coming storm.

I was leased to FCC for four years before I went to Landstar, I’m sitting in their parking lot as I type this, getting ready to start back here again.

They are awesome people, have steady contract freight, great freight lanes, and will keep me and my truck busy and profitable in the coming months.

I will miss the freedom Landstar provided, but I believe this is the best business decision for me in today’s environment.
Click to expand...

Good to have you back here brother! Good luck to you sir, not that you will need it. You already know they will keep the wheels turning here. Hopefully we will cross paths one of these days.

runningman0661 · Nov 3, 2022

BigR said: ↑

Good to have you back here brother! Good luck to you sir, not that you will need it. You already know they will keep the wheels turning here. Hopefully we will cross paths one of these days.
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I look forward to it.

runningman0661 · Nov 3, 2022

YardMule89 said: ↑

I'm asking this to try and learn the business, not being smart-assed about it, if it comes across like that I apologize.

So you were still running profitable at LS chasing revenue but loads were fewer and farther between that "fit that bill". I understand that part, but how is running for $1.50/mile and chasing miles any better? Is it the overall compensation at FCC with insurance/fuel discounts/etc that you feel won't hurt your bottom line?
Click to expand...

Look, I’m a numbers cruncher, and before I made this decision I crunched a lot of numbers. So many people just look at the rate per mile.

On these two loads I’m currently assigned at FCC with the fuel surcharge are paying me $1.98 and $1.96 the naysayers will say that’s a horrible rate, but it’s not just the rate per mile that led me to this decision. I will save close to $14K annually at FCC from Landstar on things like plates. Here if you run at least 120K miles a year FCC pays for your plates and license fees. FCC pays all tolls, they pay my fuel and mileage taxes, they pay for my permits, and my 80K renewal. That alone is $8900. My cost to run Landstars plate was $2069, LS also charged EOBR air time fees, which last year came to $1996.00 for the year. FCC doesn’t charge for any of that garbage.

They have more freight than the can handle, they still have customers asking them to take more lanes and more freight. The head of sales today told me FCC plays the long game. When rates were through the roof they took care of their Customers, instead of being lured to put assets on the spot market and take of advantage of those historic rates, they remained loyal to their contact customers, and are being rewarded for that loyalty.

YardMule89 · Nov 4, 2022

runningman0661 said: ↑

Look, I’m a numbers cruncher, and before I made this decision I crunched a lot of numbers. So many people just look at the rate per mile.

On these two loads I’m currently assigned at FCC with the fuel surcharge are paying me $1.98 and $1.96 the naysayers will say that’s a horrible rate, but it’s not just the rate per mile that led me to this decision. I will save close to $14K annually at FCC from Landstar on things like plates. Here if you run at least 120K miles a year FCC pays for your plates and license fees. FCC pays all tolls, they pay my fuel and mileage taxes, they pay for my permits, and my 80K renewal. That alone is $8900. My cost to run Landstars plate was $2069, LS also charged EOBR air time fees, which last year came to $1996.00 for the year. FCC doesn’t charge for any of that garbage.

They have more freight than the can handle, they still have customers asking them to take more lanes and more freight. The head of sales today told me FCC plays the long game. When rates were through the roof they took care of their Customers, instead of being lured to put assets on the spot market and take of advantage of those historic rates, they remained loyal to their contact customers, and are being rewarded for that loyalty.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was curious about and I appreciate you responding. I figured there was "more than meets the eye" but wasn't sure.

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