[merrick4]

This is why I am thinking that it is better to lease on on people and their equipment. I wonder why the real big companies while having O/O they still maintain company drivers. It seems that just getting the work and leasing people on makes more sense but I guess these big companies know why that are doing. But some run strictly O/O like Dart (I think) Select Carrier Group, Crst Malone to name a few.

[GMAN]

Originally Posted by Bigmon

I was thinking being a small carrier you could custom fit a pay package for a driver, whereas the mega carriers have too many layers of management and BS. However, the mega carrier has deeper pockets.

Bigmon, big carriers have economies of scale working for them. On the other hand, smaller carriers have flexibility and the potential for higher pay working for them. Small carriers are more able to quickly adjust to rapidly changing market conditions. Most drivers I have had working for me make more than they would with a large carrier. I pay percentage.

Originally Posted by merrick4

This is why I am thinking that it is better to lease on on people and their equipment. I wonder why the real big companies while having O/O they still maintain company drivers. It seems that just getting the work and leasing people on makes more sense but I guess these big companies know why that are doing. But some run strictly O/O like Dart (I think) Select Carrier Group, Crst Malone to name a few.

The reason they keep company drivers is so that they can maintain control over their delivery system. The same could be said for their lease operator programs. A lease operator is basically a company driver with a truck payment. Most lease operator with whom I have spoken have had little input as to where and when they run. They usually work for less net money than if they were a company driver. An owner operator can take his truck and leave at any time. It isn't always as easy for a company driver or lease operator. A company driver could have benefits he leaves on the table if he walks. A lease operator must usually leave his truck, which is how he earns his income.

I don't know about the other carriers you listed, merrick, but CRST Malone used to have about 250 company drivers in their fleet, or so I was told about 2 years ago. CRST Malone primarily has owner operators and some lease operators. Like other carriers, they have a group of core shippers they MUST serve to keep the account. In order to do that, I think they keep some company drivers. The rates they get for these loads is too cheap to make it profitable for an owner operator. This company pays owner operators percentage rather than mileage, so the rate is important.

Perhaps the real problem is that it is too easy to leave one company and go to another. There is no loyalty from the employee or company. When a problem arises, there isn't the desire to work it out. Instead, the driver will get upset, complain to anyone who will listen, and quit. If he were smart he would try to talk through his problems. Rather than complaining to people he should go to the one who can help him solve the problem and try to work it through. He will cost himself and those companies for whom he works, thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

[merrick4]

Originally Posted by GMAN

The reason they keep company drivers is so that they can maintain control over their delivery system. The same could be said for their lease operator programs. A lease operator is basically a company driver with a truck payment. Most lease operator with whom I have spoken have had little input as to where and when they run. They usually work for less net money than if they were a company driver. An owner operator can take his truck and leave at any time. It isn't always as easy for a company driver or lease operator. A company driver could have benefits he leaves on the table if he walks. A lease operator must usually leave his truck, which is how he earns his income.

I don't know about the other carriers you listed, merrick, but CRST Malone used to have about 250 company drivers in their fleet, or so I was told about 2 years ago. CRST Malone primarily has owner operators and some lease operators. Like other carriers, they have a group of core shippers they MUST serve to keep the account. In order to do that, I think they keep some company drivers. The rates they get for these loads is too cheap to make it profitable for an owner operator. This company pays owner operators percentage rather than mileage, so the rate is important.

Perhaps the real problem is that it is too easy to leave one company and go to another. There is no loyalty from the employee or company. When a problem arises, there isn't the desire to work it out. Instead, the driver will get upset, complain to anyone who will listen, and quit. If he were smart he would try to talk through his problems. Rather than complaining to people he should go to the one who can help him solve the problem and try to work it through. He will cost himself and those companies for whom he works, thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Actually I did mean Owner/OP leased on not those leased purchase deals. And actually Gman you hit the nail on the head about people not complaining. It's amazing how people don't speak up sometimes. When LCT sent me on that 6 day trip to Colorado (which took me only 3 days to drive which meant I sat for 3 days) I called the head of operations and he was pissed off that they did that. It's common sense if I'm not making money, that means the truck isn't moving which means they aren't making money.

I thought of something while I read your post too, with so much free time on that trip I rented a car and toured Colorado Springs and went into the mines in Cripple Creek. I remember the guy saying that back in the days when the mines were up that guys would quit in a heartbeat and just go work for the next mine. Working in a mine is/was brutal (I would have lasted 2 minutes. As a matter of fact they packed us in the elevator going down and that would have been enough for me ) so I guess jumping around from one company to the next doesn't fix the fact that it was a bad industry.

In the same vein, I think working for these big companies with little experience and I guess people think it will be better in the next place when it's really not the job it's the industry. They treated me with kid gloves at LCT and did their best to keep me happy but working for $.30 a mile wasn't for me. And to be honest I'm probably not making that much more now, but at least I am only limited by myself; I can take this as far as I want. But as usual I digress