We are considering leaving FedEx ground for Landstar. Anyone have any info on what it's like to lease to them?

 

If you are just wanting to find out about the company, go to the top where it States "New Page To Compare Companies, and click on O/O and you can find out some about them.

But still nothing like finding someone that has worked with them. I am not sure, but I believe GMAN has leased on with them, or was.

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I have checked the compare companies board and also done a topic search on landstar on this message board. Found some good ressponses from Gman. We have one of their recruiting packages (but we all know how accurate they are ), but I'm just looking to hear more from former/current leasees. Thanks again everyone and have a safe and joyous holiday!

 

have you tried the mother of all Landtsr threads yet? Gman is everywhere.
http://roundtable.truck.net/viewtopic.php?t=57629

 

I was leased onto Landstar for 3 years,I made alot of money with them.

The only way to make money with Landstar is to get hooked up with an agent,IMO you will have a hard time making it off the load boards.What happens is an agent will have 20 trucks on with him not necessarily his own,but guys that have been running for him for a while.

Now after the 20 guys get their pick of the loads the agent will post everything left onto the load board,well you can imagine the quality of loads that will be left over.

I almost went broke in my first 2 months there because I was trying to do all my own loads off the board,and I live in Michigan,this was back when automotive freight was still thriving.After I called them and told them my situation I got hooked up with an agent in Upstate,NY and made a killing the next 2 years or so.Then my agent got caught doing some things and got fired from Landstar and I followed him to a different company hauling the same freight.

Some of the things I hated about Landstar was the 2% they take right off the top you get 67% of 98% of the revenue,never could get them to explain what that 2% is for.If you run automotive you will have to buy a qualcom system which cost me $2300 and I specifically asked them about them matching to logs and they assured me that they would not,well the first month I had 30 log violations and over 20 the next month.nothing major just not exactly where they pinged me once every 24 hrs.

My best investment with them was buying my own trailer,you get an extra 8% and my trailer payment was only $400 a month for a brand new trailer,made much more on that 8% than I ever did on my truck percentage wise.

I personally think they are a dirty company and I am hoping to get some money from the ooida lawsuit,I feel that they were getting bigger kick backs from the fuel companies and tire dealers and not giving them all to the people buying the tires and fuel.

I would have to be guaranteed a pretty good dedicated run to go back there.

 

After having called about Landstar rates on the load boards, I could not agree with you more. They average the worst rates of any broker that I've seen. It's actually a joke. 48,000lbs for 1.69/mile and they want it tarped and there's two drops. 11'-11" wide and 2 drops for $2.50 a mile + permits. The lease guys get the cream for sure. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just sayin' their excess freight isn't worth spit.

CAVEAT: Some of my research leads me to beleive that Landstar has undercut other carrier's accounts thus Landstar may not have room to negotiate rates (in my lanes).

 

Landstar is no different than any other broker. Their agents are very diverse. Some have good rates, others have crappy rates. I know of one that has rates in the $3/mile range. Not all of their rates pay that well, but some do. I also know of another who has them in the $1.35 range. I don't call that agent. It takes a while for anyone to get a handle on who has the good rates and who has the cheap ones. It takes at least 5 to 6 months to get a feel of how their system works and who to call for the better rates. Once you find an agent with consistently good rates, you keep calling them. If you do a good job for them, they will call you. Once you build a relationship, they will call their dependable carriers first. If they can't book the load then it is posted. Some will immediately post a load. CH Robinson has a reputation for cheap freight, but I have gotten some really good paying loads from them. I have been offered more of the cheaper loads than the good paying ones, but since they know I don't haul the cheap loads, they don't normally call and offer them to me. The same thing with Landstar and some other brokers.

I don't like the fact that Landstar has a lot of small charges and if you lease to them they pay on 98% of the load. I was told that it is for their insurance. If that is the case, I am not sure it is legal. Even with that, you can still make money with them. Things could change, somewhat after the first of the year. It is my understanding that they will start taking their regular cut of the fuel surcharge instead of passing 100% of it to the owner operator. Landstar is non-forced dispatch. If you don't want to take a load, you are free to turn it down. In fact, I don't understand why any owner operator would lease to a carrier and have forced dispatch, but that could be another topic.

 

I don't find much variation in their rates GMan. But we operate in a very specific area so I don't have occassion to deal with many different agents. I also haven't had much luck negotiating the rate up with Landstar. They reallly stick to their guns.

But I digress. this thread was supposed to be about leasing to them.

 

Yup....i have a friend thats leased on with them and he is going broke off the load B's. I know another guy that stays out 5-6 weeks at a time and makes $25-30k then sits home a couple weeks. they really skim off the top on their rates. I also hope OOIDA sticks it right up their you know what!

 

Rates can be wide ranging with Landstar's agents, even on the same load. You may find some having a load for around $1/mile and another for over $2/mile. It depends on the agent and how badly they need to move the load. And I have negotiated better rates on some loads and others they won't negotiate. Again, it boils down to the agent. Each runs their own business and makes ther own decision about loads.