Trailer Rent?

You are charging trailer rent, 7% is what it is. If you wasn't all O/O's would be making 75%. It's the same thing LS and many other companies do.

If any of the guys working for you that are buying a trailer from you had half a brain they would take the higher payment. Pay it off quicker and pay less interest. Now I don't know if or how much interest you are charging, but when dealing with a bank I like to pay stuff off faster with a higher payment and not pay a ton of interest.

 

bill, do you find loads for your drivers paying 90 per cent or do they find their own.

and would it not be a safer deal to do the trailer for a 12 month payoff at say 300 a month instead of 90 a month for 3 years?

that way its paid for if the older trailer has problems at say 18 months and someone might leave you holding the bag.

or would the driver have that option to do that on his own if he chose, if he cant make a 300 dollar a month trailer payment he is in trouble.

also when you sell the trailer to driver do you add any for a reserve to repair the trailer if a guy leaves it in disrepair?

just wondering as it will happen at some point.

when i leased on drivers, i haved for several mailboxes ran over, etc. etc , etc you name it it will happen.

 

Why would I take offense. You are making up numbers to prove a point. I have real numbers that spell a completely different story.

Last I checked, rollin was pulling a 2006 trailer in premium condition. Other drivers have the choice of pulling an older trailer, that does the same thing as rollins or LS or any other standard dry van on the market.

As far as rates and money to the truck. It is clear that what you know is what they company has told you. And that is not saying the company is lying to you. But you are a BCO so why do you think the company would sit you down and explain the various opportunities that are available to carriers.

I understand that 20% is the number that LS tells the BCOs that is what is being kept on a brokered load. And while I can't confirm on all the loads that we have pulled I do know that 10-12% is more the norm on the loads I have confirmed. Had a conversation today with rollin on his load that he was given the LS pay before the broker pay. And it was at 10%

But at the end of the day it is about what a driver nets. And the van world at LS is a whole different world than your open deck world at LS. Drop and hook loads don't pay that well at LS in general. And the many LS drivers I have talked with this year don't come close to making what my drivers make.

And when I look at just the LS freight that is still 15-20% higher than what LS drivers are making. Our new fuel program meets or beats LS fuel rates, we have a national account on tires that is comparable, now that I fixed my plate issue it is only $200 more than LS or they can get own plates and pay the same or less than LS (depending on state), dispatch themselves, build direct business and get a override on revenue generated and support and training to become independent.

I took what I thought was the best of LS and copied what I could, what I didn't like I found a way to improve upon it and added some things that are not out there. I even came up with my own flavor cool-aid.

 

I can't think of a single driver that hasn't paid made extra payments or paid the trailer off. Even one driver just picked up a new trailer this weekend and we bought his old trailer from him.

My guys get a business education and this is one of the first things they come to understand when working with me.

 

:smt068

Now I am talking about the drivers not the owner.

 

You seem pretty straight up and honest, that's hard to find now a days!

I just hate to see guys being taken advantage of.

I will say this.... Any trailer over or close to 10 yrs old, dump it! A lot of shippers/receivers are going to the theory that anything over 10 yrs old is junk. I don't agree, but its whats happening.

As for the LS brokering..... It isn't what you think it is. Trust me, LS isn't gonna be happy with just a cpl percent and I know this as fact!

 

Our drivers find their own loads but we provide help as needed. But they really don't ask for that help.

Our financing has no pre-payment penalty. I have drivers making extra payments every week as standard, some will put an extra chunk when they have a good week and others have paid it off completely in less than 4-months.

Yes, we keep money in reserves. We have had to pay for repairs and even swap trailers. But this is all accounted for and expected.

 

Bill maybe you forgot, but I was doing LS Savings plus when you were still drinking the CRE lease purchase koolaid. I've already been there and done that in regards to your operation, besides the farming aspect.. Of course if a load is hot there will be a lesser percentage taken to move it. The numbers get manipulated on the BCO side as well when it comes to that like $300 to tarp a single pallet and "driver unload" on top of that. I just tire of everyone saying what a ripoff LS is. When you run the numbers, your drivers are making the same or less than a BCO. I wish you guys the best, hell I wish every one the best. I spent an hour and half talking with a recent Swift l/p yesterday, giving him advice and looking over his contract for him on his 2012 T660. It really should be illegal to take these people's money without training them for at least a week on what's involved in owning a truck.

 

Thanks, I would rather lose money and live up to my promise than look for a way to make the driver eat it. Have been a business man for many years and understand that I can make a good deal of money over the long term by being fair and honest. I don't need to get rich over night on the backs of drivers. Everybody comes out ahead.

It is not as bad as you would think with older trailers. And most that want newer ones don't pay very well anyways. And the reason they want newer is because they load heavy in small square footage.

Not saying LS isn't making money on loads we pull. The agent makes more using outside carrier and LS is looking to increase the percentage of freight being hauled outside. Just like Mercer and some of the other larger carriers. I will ride these initiatives for all they are worth.

 

Where I'm at, they do not charge rent per say. When you hire on you start at one pay rate and that increases untill after 5 years. Then you max out at 67%
But if you pull a multi axle trl. they lower the rate. Yea ha. The bigger the trl. it goes down like 7% max.
Me and several others have our own trls.
I then get 75% of line haul and trl. charges.
They pay all the permits and pilot cars. Not out of my line haul.
Pulling their trls. there can be alot of dropping and switching, depending on the type of freight there might be.

It has it's good points and bad, but it has worked well for me before buying my own trl.
There are times when it's slow for my trl. and they offer me other work and I take it..