Gman, I've only been with Landstar for about 16 months but where I'm running is an issue I dealt with a long time ago. I've heard you say you know people pulling van for $2 per mile to the truck. It's not doing me any good. I'm taking a tire load into the Bronx Monday night and I told the agent I'm on the brink of leaving and if he has anything consistent I'm in the market. He was generally encouraging but he may have just been blowing smoke. So, is there great freight in the system? There is. Is there a lot of it? Oh Heavens no. Can you find it just running the boards and the phone system. Don't think so. I'm not sure how much asking around and searching I'm going to do to find an agent who has the good stuff and who takes a shine to me for whatever reason. I want to take the bull by the horns and position myself, not wait to see if I just come across a good deal someday.

 

It isn't a dumb question at all, ThumperS25. If you get a map look at those states between I-35 to the West and I-95 to the East, North to I-80 and South to I-10. If you stay within those states you should do fairly well. Bad areas are the West coast, Southwest, Northwest and New England. I would not go any further East than New Jersey. In fact, I would probably not go that far. I would mostly stay in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and South. Those areas are normally your better freight areas. Texas has been soft for a while now. I used to get some decent rates out of Houston and around Dallas, but those rates have been soft since last year, longer around Dallas. If you want to run the slow freight areas you should expect to sit or have to take cheap freight to keep moving.

 

It's just going to be easier to ask, which lanes are not bad? You go to all these different places and hear things like, 'well, at least it will get you out of the area.' 'It'll keep you moving.' But, I'll hold and let Gman answer your question. Probably would help to know if you are currently a Landstar BCO or you are thinking about buying a truck or thinking about coming over. You're looking for generalities or Landstar specifics?

 

I don't know what type of rates BCO's are getting from agents, but I am getting some fairly good rates from some of them. I am also getting calls about some cheaper loads. The tire loads should pay fairly well. Some of the tire agents also have other freight. Agents will often work with other agents to get BCO's back to their area to keep their freight running. Something to keep in mind is that the entire industry has been slow for almost a year.

 

Trust me if you check out our bcoforum.com the guys will tell you.They have guys on the site DHing 1000 miles and not just that it even gets worse with the Flats.One guy on the forum said he was leaving Landstar because of the too many dead areas on the load board.He was actually getting his authority.The best thing the company needs to do is to set up a system where guys like us can venture outside of the system and solicit loads from other sites to a specific agent.The guy who has been with landstar 3 weeks is just a statistic of the 43% turn over ratio within the company for new hires.
I just got a call today from a friend of a friend who has been a company driver for 6yrs and is about to finance a new Columbia for 40k at 1500/month.He was thinking about Landstar and Fedex CC.I adviced him not to do it because, with 4 kids if he can't bring home $3,500+/month gross then he will be expecting the truck to be repoed within a short time.I just don't know how guys make it with Landstar in these times with new trucks.TELL ME CAM!

 

Tell you what!? All I'm hearing is an echo :lol:

First, to clarify, when you say $3500/month gross you are thinking more like a driver's gross, pay before taxes. An owner operator with expenses, you would be better off saying 'net before taxes' which is just the money you have left over after you've paid for everything and all that is left is self employment taxes and income taxes.

No, your insights are helpful to me. They confirm that's it's not just me, it's not just some incompetence or whatever on my part. I don't know what to tell you. Someone on the other board said Landstar started pushing the agents to broker out more freight last spring. I don't know if that is true or not. If it's true that might explain a lot. It would explain how Landstar is suddently so difficult when everyone is still saying how great it is. Further, I find it hard to believe the overall freight situation is so bad when the Dow is climbing and it certainly appears we're still in a period of economic expansion. I just don't know!!! If Landstar has done something like that, changing their practices, that's fine, that's their right, but it's also my right not to stay a victim to it. Where's the freight! :lol: I don't know. but I'm going to find it even if that means getting it with another company.

Hang tough. I'm not encouraging you or anyone to quit. For me, if I come across the right opportunity...gone! :wink:

 

I think you guys, Cam & Henboy need to take the plunge and get your own authority. It's that percentage they are taking thats killing you.
The amount of money you can make far outweighs the cost of your higher
insurance costs. You really need to find $2.50 and up mile freight to make it worth while. $2.50 is like making $1.66. How often do those kind of loads become available? Hardly ever. Taking $2 mile loads is like taking a $1.30 mile load. :x :cry: Good luck to you both. I hope you say goodbye to landstar and do well on your own.

 

When I was leased to them we could find our own loads and just have an agent do the credit check and other paperwork. If you are gong to do all that, perhaps you should just get your own authority. If you are running down your own freight from outside Landstar, you are doing the same thing as you would running your own authority, except for some of the additional paperwork.

 

It's just not the time for me. Probably owe about $4,000 on last year's taxes. Need to put $4,000 for an SEP for last year. My quarterlies are about $2700. Have to have a trailer. Cargo insurance. I want to get to a $25,000 home equity loan at 8.25% (I didn't take it out, I'm just paying it off in exchange for some equity). Own authority is an option for the future, but even Pepe will testify it's no...panacea (I go to m-w.com a lot, I just like useful words).

There is money to be made being leased on and I always just call upon Han Solo to kick anybody's butt who doesn't think so (that's just a joke, it's a joke, ok?) That's the money I need to pursue right now and in the future maybe I'll do something else.

Sidman82, you remind me of Brian. You give us these numbers that no one else is living up to and then you leave us hanging like we're a bunch of doofuses because we don't know how to do it ourselves. That might sound hard but I'm just asking you to help us understand you. I wonder how many own authority operators on this board are averaging $2.50/ mile loaded? And what was that incredible figure you gave for a fuel cost to gross ratio? What exactly are you pulling, who are you pulling for and how do you do it? If you have something spectacular then please don't paint the picture like we also must have something spectacular to make it. I'm all for spectacular, but I'm still working on 'making it' first. So, c'mon, give us some details and please help me to understand what I'm missing. :?

 

I meant you guys have to find $2.50 mile freight to make it even with somebody hauling on there own, to make about $1.65 mile freight, which is easy to find.
I pay quarterly about $1400 with my accountant fees. Look for a new accountant.
I am leased on to a company so I know how it works. Most likely not in the contractors favor. I am an exception within the company I am leased to. Most of the guys are doing shi*ty. I don't know how they make it.(boneheads are all leasing truck, paying out the rearend :shock: )

I run on Long Island delivering millwork to local lumber yards. (Dedicated Contract). I get paid by the mile, the stop, and by exclusive use. I do about 100 miles a day or less.

A driver linehauls trailers down from upstate every night. I get there at 6:30am and hook up to the trailer, take the paperwork out of the horse bag in the back. I do my stops, finish around lunch time, park the trailer and go home.

In the winter, or when I get done real early. I might book a load to Jersey or CT. I do that a couple times a week to make extra. I will use getloaded.com or post my truck like steve does. I have to take my truck off because they drive you nuts calling with loads.

I will be moving to Georgia in about two years and getting my own authority. The gig I have now, the contract is up next May 08 and I don't know if my company with get re-signed.

My operating costs are low. (Actually, not that low) $800 to $1000 a week. I only get $95 taken out of my gross settlements, after that my fuel on average runs me about $300 a week, including my pick-up truck fuel for the ride to work. Cell phone $75 a month, load board $35 a month, taxes and maint about $350 week, salary to myself $1000 a week, postage $25 dollars a month, cash $100 a week, office supplys $200 a month. Truck payment $680 a month. There are a few other small things that I am sure you or anyone else can think of. So, I am not doing that good, not to bad. I don't have to much left for profit to the company. It is sloooowlly building up. But I am working on it. If some guys can live on $700 a week salary, then there business would be making $1200 a month more then me. So it depends on your requirements.

I have a hook in GA I think. My future brother-in-law has someone he may hook me up with hauling equipment and oversize. I always enjoyed that when I was younger and would like to do it as owner operator with right company.
Whoo.... that was a mouth-full ehh?