New o/o needs advice
 

Hi I just found this forum a couple days ago and already have learned alot, Thank you all. The kids have been migrating back to our house so my wife and I talked and decided " heck with it why don't we leave" so I bought a truck. This truck is a little short in the WB with a large sleeper so I'll have to have a custom headach rack made for flatbed use, (I have been a company flatbed driver) so I was thinking of pulling van or reefer for a while. I have offers from 4 or 5 companies and would appreciate any input, good or bad, that you might have. I'm a little tenative about the leap. These companies are: Pacer Transport, Mason Dixon, Roadrunner Dawes, MCT, ATS, and possibly Landstar. Thanks. [/img]

Welcome to the board Mileater.

Unless you just want one! I was told a few months ago that by law you don't have to have an headache rack anymore!

Thanks Pigrider. I didn"t realize that it was not reqired anymore, nice to know, but I would want one anyway.

That's the best reason to go trucking I've heard yet.:)

Welcome to the forum, mileater. You didn't mention any recent experience. Most carriers will want at least 1 year experience in the last 2 or 3 years.

Welcome Mileater,
I just bought a bulkhead for an aluminum trailer on e-bay for $150.00.
I have the same problem, the sleeper is too long, but in my case I had to put the bulkhead on the trailer,......no room on the catwalk.
There are great deals out there, I saw a bunch of headache racks when I was searching,.....might be able to save some $$'s, there were a couple of nice custom ones also.

Hey guys thanks for the input. Yes I have the experience, these co's have already offered the jobs to me. As for the headach rack I wanted something with doors to inclose my tarps and other equip, because I will be running with someone elses trailer.. I would be very interested in your opinions on the diff. co's,

Makes sense to keep your stuff with you :wink:
How big is your sleeper and whats your wheelbase?
I picked up a 265" Internatinal 9400 (1995) with a 100" sleeper for $9,000 off e-bay.

Hey Doghouse.It's a volve 230" with a 77" sleeper. I'd love to have one as big as yours (this sounds bad out of context)

That 23 extra inches made the inside real nice,....but the truck was a stripped down mess when I bought it,...so even though the price sounded good,.....I have put about $15,000 into it to make it the way I want it.
Volvo's are nice and that 77" should be enough room,...is it the one with the refrigerator and pull out sink?
Also, my inside height is only 75" high,..certainly no condo :lol:

Re: New o/o needs advice
 

When you consider a leasing to a carrier there are some factors you should consider before leasing. A big one is whether they have forced dispatch. Another is whether they pay percentage or mileage. I would not want to lease to a carrier who pays mileage or has forced dispatch. You will usually make more on percentage. If you are paid mileage for all miles, then it should not make any difference where you go. Some carriers have dispatchers and others, such as Landstar, do not. I have not heard a lot of negative about any of the carriers you listed. I did lease to Landstar at one time, but it has been a number of years ago. You will need to be proactive with them. Other than the paperwork, it is like running your own authority. You can do well or lose your shirt. It is entirely up to you. They have the freight. It is up to you to find the best paying loads. You should also allow about 6 months to learn their system. I did pretty well when I was leased to Landstar. I prefer running my own authority. I believe all of the other carriers you mentioned have assigned dispatchers.

Thanks Gman. I am looking at % with most of these carriers but I've found that most of them will also offer loaded and empty cpm. Just from reading the information posted in here I'm learning that % is the way to go. If you choose cpm you'll be running harder while the carrier makes more $ on the good paying loads. Most of these carriers say that they are not forced disp like Pacer Trans. for instance has no forced Disp. but you can also broker your own loads and they don't take 90% of the fsc like Mason Dixon who claim to be non forced disp. I'm just trying to learn all I can about these co's. Eventually I'd like to get my own authority but do not believe I'm ready just yet.[/quote]

By the way how do you get the quote to come up on the reply as I always see it done.

Roadrunner dawes ive done very good with them, roadrunner you have no dispatchers, you find your own loads whether it be if your in a city with one of their terminals for nationwide LTL term to term delivery or finding a broker and getting your own loads, they have very good rates and i like not being told what to do and where to go etc, anything else you wanna know about them just gimme a shout....

Thanks for reply marcel. If you don't mind what kind of rates are you talking about?. I've never run LTL, how do you like that?

i enjoy it, the depends on what terminal your at, and you take a load of LTL and deliver to another terminal or somewhere like a southeastern or yellow, pays good. i do mostly broker loads though