Why pull cheap freight.

I shop around for the best fuel.At Landstar it is usually the TA's where i get the best deals..I do like L/S for the cheaper fuel prices..At the Petro in NY it was $4.50..I got it for $3.81...I thought it was not a bad deal..

 

Yep, you can get a better percentage at other places. But, the percentages is not the whole equation. One needs to look at all the factors, in a deal, before deciding what is good and what is not.

 

Considering LS is supposed to have such good rates, I am surprised to see so many old tractors and trailers with the LS name on it. Just an observation.

Last I knew, I had the second newest tractor at F2F and I had a 2007. The newest was a 2009. All the rest were older than 2003.

All things that do matter to me. Can't afford new(er) equipment, why? Sign of poor rates? Weak pay package?

 

Landstar is not what it used to be,by far.Many years ago they had the best equipment on the road..I have watched it go down year after year..You do have a point on the equipment..

And IMO it is the fact our ''Agents'' are not doing there job.They are playing the ''cut-n-paste'' lazy game.They had ''direct'' customers for many many years and the pay package was wonderful...Now it is to much 3 party rates and lazy agents wanting to make 7 % from there living rooms watching there little baby boy johnny being raised.

 

New trucks don't bring in a penny more than an old truck and a well maintained old truck will cost less than a new truck, while still doing the same job. Why go into debt, when there is no reason too?
A few years ago I spent $5000 to rebush the whole rear suspension. It had lasted 20 years, now it'll go another 20. Someone I knew, hauling the same DOD freight, was shelling out $3200, every month for 6 years, for a new truck and that didn't count their down payment.

Why would someone go into heavy debt, to do the same job as someone who is debt free? When my money goes to the bank, it goes into my account and I can get it back out, because it it mine, not the banks.

 

Landstar's rates are no better or worse than anyone else's. Honestly, and this of course anecdotal, it seems like the best paying companies out there do not have any age limits on equipment. Look at the megas paying chump change per mile and they have age limits from 6-10 years and no older. In fact I can't think of a single chump change per mile carrier that'll even consider contractors with equipment 10+ years old.

 

Denver and Miami rates have gone up, over the years, but they still don't match Ohio and Illinois rates and never will until those areas become producers and not consumers.

 

As they get their 100% of the 80% that they get on LS loads and foot the whole bill for expenses. The only ones getting 100% of the freight bill are the ones that are dealing direct with the customer. Throw in any broker and they no longer get 100%.

 

Our IFTA money doe not go into a "pool". We all recieve a statement, each month, showing whether we came up short, or had a credit. At the end of the year, any credit is applied towards our base plate. This year, my $1900 Max Weight plate, started with a balance of $1632.70, after applying my IFTA credit from last year.

Your Prepass was expensive, there. Mine is only $2.50 per week.

As to the base plate, we can run our own, if we want. For those of us that don't, it is not difficult to go to the DMV and get a Temporary Registration (Trip Permit), to drive the truck elsewhere. Been there, done that.

 

With my OOIDA membership, it's now $14.90 per month.


I wish I could get it down more. Lots more. But I don't have the fleet power someplace like LS does.