I had my eye on that ebay trailer also. It appears in some of the photos to have damaged or missing cross members, not mentioned in the ad.

 

Ya, your probably right Mike. I think the shippers just take advantage of the extra width when they load the cranes on. I've really never seen a hard requirement for a 102".

 

Henboy, (Curious where that name came from???)

I don't have many brokers that I deal with at the moment but the list gets bigger as time goes on. I have 4 regulars that I can call and if they have something they hook me up right away. I've found that if you pick up and deliver when you say you will and meet the deadline, YOUR IN BIG TIME.

Those brokers don't call me any more on the road for status and don't call to find out if the load was delivered.

The rest of the time I post my truck on ITS and GetLoaded and wait for the phone to ring. Just make sure your ready to roll. The phone usually doesn't ring until noon or 1pm when the brokers realize they haven't covered the load yet. When they do call it's usually a good rate because they would rather make something then nothing at all.

I don't write anything in the comments section when I post my truck other than a joke sometimes. I'll say things like, "Destination without any people" or "Will haul to Tahiti for $1.00 per mile"

I also don't factor and do wait the 30+ days to get paid. It took me since last November to accumulate about $10,000 extra cash on hand to pay for fuel and my personal bills.

I really haven't spent any money on myself since I started and just keep tucking it away although I'm going to take a week off at the end of this month and roam around Florida.

 

Henboy, you will probably save several hundred dollars by getting your own base plate. And if you plan on going out on your own, it will be a little easier to make the transition. When I went from getting a base plate through a carrier to whom I was leased and got my own, I saved about $500. If you are paying $45/month for fuel taxes, you are either not watching where you buy your fuel, or Landstar is taking more than they should. My fuel taxes usually run from about $10-75/quarter. One thing I found when I leased to Landstar is that they make money on about everything they do. I have been told that some fleets can use a mileage average when calculating fuel taxes. Depending on where you run, you may be paying more in fuel taxes than you should. The only way to find out for sure is to track your own fuel taxes. If they use a fleet average, you could be paying more than those running in the high fuel tax states while they could be paying a little less.

I have several things I do to check out a broker. I can get on line and check their authority. Not everyone who offers loads are brokers. Some may not have their bond or authority up to date. That is a red flag. I usually have credit references which they supply and will often call a factor with whom I do business. Usually if the factor will take the business, they are OK. Since this particular factor is non-recourse, they are usually up to date on most shippers and brokers. Recently, I was talking with a Canadian broker with whom I have not done business. I called the factor and they have been taking more than 55 days to pay. I don't want to wait that long to get my money and the factor will probably not do any more business with this broker because of the long lag time between billing and receiving payment. If it is a military load, I have had some brokers to want to charge me a quick pay rate of 5% to get my money even though they are paid from 1 day to 72 hours. That is also a red flag. It tells me that the broker is either not as financially stable as I prefer or he is trying to take advantage of a situation. There are also credit services specializing in the transportation industry. There is also The Gold Book which lists the better brokers. Most brokers that I do business pay in less than 30 days. Some pay in a week to 21 days. I would allow 30-45 days for most brokers to pay from the time when they receive the bills. One thing to keep in mind is that most of the better brokers will check you out to make sure you have authority and insurance. Some may check your safety record. I have gotten business because I have a good safety record. That can easily be checked on line. Some independents don't want to take the time to check out brokers. If it is a broker with whom you have never done business, it is in your best interest to check them out before doing business with them. If you don't want to take the time, then it is a crap shoot as to whether you will get your money. I don't haul cheap freight and I don't haul for FREE!

Landstar has agents who have freight most anywhere you go. Often their agents have freight far away from where they are based. That is part of the learning curve you need to allow when you lease to them. It takes time to learn who has the better paying freight, where it is located and who has it.

If you want to check the load boards, you will need your authority to subscribe to most of them. I believe you can subscribe to getloaded with the permission of your carrier. Of course, you can always check the DAT board in many truck stops. CH Robinson, Landstar, Schneider, etc., have their own load boards. You can check the Landstar board without being set up with them, but most require you to have authority and be set up to check their loads. Most brokers post their loads on several boards.

It is difficult to stick a toe in the authority pond without actually jumping in with both feet. It is expensive to get your authority and get rolling. Insurance isn't cheap, even if you get a good rate. I recently paid a little over $1,400 for base plates. The cost will vary from one state to another. That is money which must be paid when you get the plates. When you lease to a carrier some will finance them for you or furnish them all together. As you stated, Landstar will finance them and take a flat rate out of each weekly settlement. When you run your own authority, most states will require proof of residency. My home state required me to have a listed business phone. I use my cell phone most of the time, but still need to have the business phone which cost me just over $100/month. It is only one additional expense when running your authority.

Insurance rates are usually high and difficult to find until you get at least 2 years of verifiable experience under your belt. Northland and Great West are two of the larger insurance companies who write liability and cargo insurance for motor carriers. You might do better finding a good insurance broker who can shop your needs with more than one underwriter. Rates vary according to experience, credit score, MVR, where you base, where you haul and type of freight. The first criteria they check is your MVR and experience. They may not call previous employers, but will check to see how long you have held your CDL. Where are you living, now?

 

Steve,

Since you are already registered with Internet Truckstop just subscribe to FuelDesk Plus ($25 or $35 more dollars) Fuel Tax Online comes with it. It's connected with ProMiles internet version. Works like a charm, all you do is input your trips, when you purchased fuel and it does all of the calculations for you. I have been using it for about a year now and I love it because it makes things easy.

 

Steve, why don't you just pay a service if it's that big a pain in the ass? I pay $38 a month and they give me pre-paid envelopes to send in the form and receipt for each trip. I just paid at first to get me going as I wanted to concentrate on other things but if it's that much of a pain, I'll just keep the service. Actually they are pretty nice and if I have any question on permits or anything else related to taxes I just call them.

 

It's all the recording that's a pain in the ass. I could pay someone to do it but if I did, I basically would still have to do 90% before sending it in so there is no point.

You on the other hand are basically doing your IFTA on every single trip a little bit at a time. If you were a true independent you would do it all at the end of the quarter like the rest of us.

 

If you're needing a strap winder check Ebay for a great roller "CARGO STRAP ROLLER TRACTOR TRAILER FLAT BED EZ 2 USE" with this link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/CARGO-STRAP-ROLL...QQcmdZViewItem

I bought two of these and they are a fantastic buy. I had used the truck stop crap that bend after a couple of uses or have the handle that binds. These from Ebay are real heavy duty and have a large circular stop so the straps roll nice and even. The guy selling them bought them from the original company that stopped making them. The literature that comes with them has a brochure and they were selling them for 89 bucks. This guy is selling them for 20 plus 12 shipping. I would have been willing to pay the 89, they are that good. If you do get one tell him whether you want it for a flat bed or step deck. It just concerns the height of unit and either one will work OK but the step deck model angles upward a little bit. If you own your own trailer you can use the bolt on pocket that comes with itt. If your going to swap it to different trailers a little customizing is in order to make it attach like the cheap ones do. I had to cut a piece off the bottom then drill and tap a hole to put a thumbscrew but it was worth the effort. The handle can be attached for left or right handed use also.

 

Thanks Snake I bought one from http://www.doubleccanvas.com/ and it is very similar to the one on ebay.For you guys in the Dallas area these guys even fix tarps and ratchet binders.
Gman, I am not sure but TN maybe cheaper when it comes to getting your base plates and I will assume you have all 48 states on yours.My renewal last week cost $1092 for 30 states(why put places like CO,NE and OR when I never see those places).Last year's base plate with only 5 states did cost about $950.This was because I was using their estimated miles on the form.I just figured out the mileage deal on the form.The only estimated miles I used from their chart where states on my BP that I had never been to.They tried to charge me for the full 31,000 miles for GA which costs $550 but I insisted I never drove that much in Ga to have to pay that much.I think all 48 states for GA cost $1700.
Redclay, I called the ebay guy and I mentioned that he had missing crossmemebers in his ebay auction.The guy knew that and said he would set a reserve at around $12,000 if the flatbed was in perfect condition.He said it would cost around $300 to get that fixed by a welder.Even with good ebay feedback ratings they never dsiclose all the info you need.
Thanks for observing that.

 

Yep, I have all 48 states. I keep getting 48 states because there may come a time when I may want to go to Washington or Oregon for a super paying load. If I don't have them on my cab card, then I can't go there without adding them. It usually costs more to add them later, not to mention the extra hassle. By the way, it is my understanding that when they finally get the new registration system in place, we will all have to register in all 48 states. There will no longer be a choice.