Time for a change

are you kidding? there isn't any freight. Rates are lower then I've seen in a good 10 years if not more. Companies have suspended hiring because they can't find freight. Landstar has gone downhill steadily since they went public. In a good year all they have going for them is that you get to load yourself. look around here, we have landstar guys here. they can't find loads worth hauling and they know the system that you would be new to. I wouldn't jump into this with a truck payment right now, no way

 

When freight slowed down for the recession of 1982, my lease was canceled. There were no profitable opportunities. I sold the truck and became a company driver with the same employer on equipment leased from fleet owners. Then, the fleet owners went broke. At that point, I found local work. You love your job. Live within your income, and ride it out.

 

I can talk for hours and hours about my experience with this trucking business and how bad it has gotton in the last 30 years,but i will try to focus on your question....

Landstar drivers are very dillusional so be careful who you talk to.They are 20 years to late...back in the hey day it was unreal the money we could make.We were living like kings(trust me)...It was the cream of the crop...My only regret is i did not save all that money i made.I ran from N.Y. TO WIS for 2.00 a mile then made 5 pick ups in wis,indiana and ohio all paying full truckload rate...We built are trailers going back to ny and they were worth 8,000-13,000 dollars...That was to me the best i ever had in trucking....We ran 5 trucks every week out there and chased all the LTL and built trailers and ran around weigh stations,back to the NY area....Life was good...that was then....

Today landstar drivers are dillusional my friend.They are still living back in those times and can not,i repeat cannot except the landstar hey day is gone...ITS OVER....They have become another CH ROBINSON....

Before you go jumping and make some crazy mistake,You need to talk to me and i will give you all the info you need...

Trust me my friend i no what i am talking about and i have all documents and paperwork to back my claim...So give me your cell # and e-mail me and i will walk you through the truth and from there you can make a very logical desision about landstar and buying a truck....

There is only 1 reason i love landstar.and its not the money(there is none)lol,lol,lol

FREEDOM,FREEDOM,FREEDOM,FREEDOM,FREEDOM,FREEDOM,FREEDOM

When asked thats all i can usually come up with...lol....its not the money trust me...lol

 

I have to agree with the above. The few guys I know at LandStar are actually looking to join a bunch of us skate boarders over at Schneider. And I can tell you from personal experience, that LandStar's freight is getting slim to none. And their rates are "generally" lousy, have been for a couple of years now. When LandStar started allowing their agents to post loads on the open boards, that was the begining of the end for them in my book. And no, I have never leased on with LS. But, I have hauled allot of their freight over the years as an indy. LandStar LTL freight was my bread and butter as stated above.

Two days ago I ran into a LandStar driver at Speedco. He said he was doing ok. But, he did not have a load on. And later on in our conversation, I came to the conclusion he was not doing good at all. He was wondering how things were at Schneider. So far, so good.

Mike

 

Just the other day I ran into a few drivers from Landstar at a TS in Tx. They were telling me how bad it was and they had been sitting for a couple of days.

 

Know i am curious,about schnieder?...do you need a certain year truck?.can you run when you want or do they require you to run run run...or can you sit home for 30 days.

whats the scoop on this o/o choice package? fill me in

 

First off, no flats at Schneider.

I am leased on, went with their choice program. It is an open board like LandStar, no agents or brokers though, you pick and plan your own freight. This is all internal Schneider freight on a closed system. You get 65% of the load + full fuel surcharge and any other extras like stop pay and such. My loads to date to the truck are as follows.

This is direct money TO THE TRUCK. Schneider has already taken their pound of flesh.

$2 a mile Indy to KC MO
$2.20 a mile KC MO to JAX FL
$150 layover pay for the night.
$1.69 a mile JAX FL to Albany GA
DH to Atlanta
$1.80 a mile Atlanta GA to Louisville KY
DH to Owensboro KY
$1.80 a mile from Owensboro KY to Tampa FL
DH to Jax FL
.80 a mile Jax FL to Lansing MI. Death in family, Cancer. The only reason I took this load. And I am now sitting at home.

No forced dispatch, plenty of time to get from point A to B. Take off as much time as you like wherever you want. They are very anal regarding your log books. But, you have plenty of time to do your thing, so no need to mess up on the logs.

Majority of freight is a drop and hook. The live unloads have been right on the money. You get an appointment time and an unload time. I have yet to be delayed. I just say "Schneider" and I am at the dock. The shippers and consignees don't screw with us. Schneider must have one hell of a detention amount written into their contracts. Longest I have sat at a dock was four hours, a Kraft load with 80 skids! This same load would have been 8+ hours with one of my trucks a few years ago. Hell, my driver would probably still be sitting there.

As far as trucks, I do not think there is an age requirement as long as it passes Schneider's in house inspection. If you have a Holland "A" fifth wheel, the one with a bolt protruding from the front, they will not hire you unless you agree to replace this fifth wheel, or a retrofit on some models involving welding a plate to the nose of the fifth wheel. They have had problems with these fifth wheels in the past. They will install a new fifth wheel that meets their standards on your dime, roughly $550. If you do not have this fifth wheel, don't worry about it.

All in all, I have been treated very very good at Schneider. In fact, I am really surprised at how nice that they really are. At least towards us independent contractors, I don't know how the drivers are treated, but having spent 4 days in orientation, I did not hear any of the usual crying and whining I expected. I would say that they are at least worth a look. And, they have freight. Just don't expect to be home every night or every weekend. The weekends might be doable depending on where you live once you figure everything out.

Oh, and there is no charge for the qualcom. In fact, they don't charge you for much of anything. $1000 bond at $50 a week. Their or OOIDA's bobtail insurance and workmans comp at I believe $143 a month. I think that is it. Check em out, never hurts to call. And they are very particular on who they hire, just so you know. They really are not on much of a hiring spree right now.

Hope this helps.

Mike