Anyone Work with Landstar????
 

Wondering what the rates from Landstar are looking like lately? Do any of you get loads from them and can you let me know what the rates are averaging?

Their rates are as cheap as everyone else. There is so much double brokering going on that it is really keeping rates down. There are those with cheap and others with better rates. It is a matter of finding an agent who has rates that you can live with.

Dry van pulling a company trailer is 65%.

Anyone Work with Landstar????

As of today they have 8356 contractors. A lot of someones work there.

I've pulled a couple of loads for them recently. Pay was very good and they paid fast but they take $1.75 I think it was for not having high amounts of insurance. Boy they sure can nickel and dime you to death.

There have been several on this forum who have leased to Landstar. Are you asking about their brokered rates or those offered to their BCO's (owner operators)?

Curious about both actually.

I have leased to Landstar as a BCO and brokered freight from them under my own authority. It has been some years since I leased to them but I don't think they have changed much in the way they do business with owner operators. BCO is their name for owner operator. It stands for Business Capacity Owner. The percentage is supposed to be a little higher if you run your own authority than if you lease to them. They are supposed to give the broker carriers 80% of the line haul and 65% or 73% as a BCO, depending on whether you have your own trailer. Whether you lease to them or act as a broker carrier they have a lot of small fees that they charge. Their favorite charge amount is $1.75. I have had a good relationship with them in both capacities. They are very anal about logs and a few other issues when you lease to them. Some do well and others starve. There isn't much difference in how you operate when you deal with them in either capacity. The main difference is that they handle all the paperwork when you lease to them. And there are some loads that I know pay their BCO's more than they pay broker carriers. I have also known the opposite to be true.

You find agents that have decent paying freight and you try to continue working with them. When you run your authority you will be dealing with more brokers. Landstar agents are basically like brokers who work for the same company. I would like to give you some rates but they can vary significantly according to the type of freight and where you run. You can even find different agents with the same load who offer it at a different rate, even to BCO's.

Landstar will tell new BCO's that it takes about 5-6 months to learn their system. There are no dispatchers. It is up to you to find your own loads and dispatch yourself. My experience has been positive with them in both capacities. You need to expect that no matter where you go and whether you lease on to a carrier or get your own authority, things will be slow and rates will be down. That is just the way it is right now. I have always preferred running my own authority. I know others who have run their authority and prefer leasing to a carrier.

I'm leased with LS.

LS is a perfect fit for those that either had their authority and quit or those that can't stand dispatchers, I fit in both categories. If you are thinking of leasing on wait, freight is terrible both in volume and revenue and given the time needed to learn the system I think it would be very tough to get started in todays climate.

As for LS's policies, they're Nazis. They make jump though hoops signing on and a phone call from Jacksonville is never good, you learn real quick to let any call from 904 area code to go to voice mail. The majority of the compliance and safety people have no clue what we do out here and they don't care to, if the computer says you screwed up then that's that.

Customer service will stand behind you if you are in the right, LS is all about safety. If you have an issue with an agent or customer that can't be resolved and you haven't done anything to create the problem c.s. will stand behind you, at least that has been my experience.

I had a good Jan., I worked one week in Feb. and sat for most of March. April has started out ok but looking at the board and talking to agents that I like to haul for it sounds like things are drying up again, I manage to find good paying freight but it takes more time these days.

Hope this helps some.

Landstar is among the largest carriers in the country. They have a huge diversified freight base. In fact, other carriers have mimicked the way they compensate owner operators. JB Hunt has a program that they have been selling to those with their own authority that is similar to that of a Landstar BCO. The only difference is that these people need to have additional insurance and their own authority, but the compensation is about the same as an owner operator. But Landstar's business is off like every other carrier large or small. As chiefwhatdahey stated, Landstar works for those who don't like to have a dispatcher or previously run their own authority. It is a better choice for those who are self motivated and prefer finding their own freight. You make it or break it based upon your own efforts. When I leased to them I was never pressured to run.

Although they nickel and dime you to death with their little charges for various things I think that I met more who have had longevity than most other carriers. Those who lease to them seem to like the way Landstar does business. You will find very quickly if a new owner operator will make it in their system. They do make it much more difficult to lease on than they should. It seems to take forever for them to reach a decision.

GMAN, et al......Do I understand this correctly? As a BCO with Landstar you only pull their freight, but as an Independent you broker loads through them the same as with any other load board/broker? If Landstar didn't have anything out of let's say CA then you could broker a load through someone else with your own authority?

Like most other large carriers Landstar brokers some of their own freight. Some agents broker freight they get from another broker. In any case, when you have your own authority you can broker freight through Landstar or anyone else you want. It is your decision. I don't use Landstar exclusively. I haul for whomever has the best rate. If you are a BCO, or owner operator, who leases to to Landstar you only haul loads you get through one of their agents, sort of. For instance, if you get to an area where there are no agents with loads then you can find one off one of the load boards or your personal contacts. The catch is that you will need to have a Landstar agent to book the load and do all the paperwork. Landstar doesn't want their BCO's to have their authority while leased to them. At least that is the way it was when I leased to them.

GMAN, thanks for the response. I'm actually surprised Landstar let's a BCO look for freight in a place without them having any until you said it was the company that would actually broker it.

I have talked to several Landstar drivers at the pumps...or the fuel desk in my travels

They say its slow....but they would not go back to the big companies after having

the freedom that they have at Land Star.



Also the trucks most of them had looked more practical and affordable as opposed

to a new Pete or something. :)

I am interested in them to...but am gonna hang on to my current gig for a while.

They prefer you not broker any loads, but you can as long as you go through one of their agents. Of course, they will need to approve any load you haul before committing to it and the agent will need to review any paperwork and sign any documents. There are a log of their agents who are brokering freight of their own anyway.

I am in total agreement with what GMAN is saying. Be very careful with signing up with LS. I was with LS up until this last week. Freight rates on the board are the really cheap freight. I started in mid August. I worked the system the way we are taught (Lane match, load match,etc) to the best of my ability. I have been in private business before. I feel that I have good business skills and discipline to run brokered freight. Started developing some decent agent contacts in certain areas of the county. It takes several months to really get things working smoothly. It did seemed that some of the better (larger) agents to have enough mouths to feed and really don't want to deal with a new BCO. I really loved the freedom of running the way LS has it set up. However, if you don't have the time or financial backing to hold on till you catch up with the system it will be difficult.

Spoke with several BCOs and most said that unless you have your truck paid for and have a significant other at home helping with the bills, it is very hard to make ends meet right now with rates where they are. It is true that they nickle and dime you with all sorts of charges. At first flush it seems that 64-65% (64% for your first 120 days for dry van) would be good revenue. Take your % of the rate then subtract for fuel. Not much left over for all other financial obligations of business and personal.

I started reevaluating my present financial situation and what I was generating per mile. I started looking to go back to a dispatch :pissedoff: with set rate per mile system. I put my feelers out to see what was available. Had a few companies of interest contact me.

I decided to talk with BCO advisor a week ago about what else I could do to increase revenue with LS. Since signing on with LS, my financial obligations had changed with more revenue needing to be made (lost renters in house having to pay mortgage again and a few days down with truck repair). I also asked that if (notice the word is if) I decided to terminate my contract what steps I had to do to fulfill contract obligations. Also spoke with a orientation leader about my situation. Both of these men said they understood my situation. Never in either converstation did I say the words or any words that were close to "I want to terminate" or "I want to cut my contract". Just checking out options. To make a long story short they decided that I wanted to quit and they terminated my contract without my knowledge. Found out that I had been terminated after trying to sign on to the load board this last Wed. :hellno:

Lucky, I had a safety net developed after having a few cpm carriers interested in me. I will be signing on with a new company this week. When this economy improves, freight and rates improve, I would consider returning to the LS system. I really hate giving up the freedom but one must do what one must do in business in order to survive. Sound business decisions must, at times, take priority to what the heart really wants to do. :(

If you are making your business and personal expeneses presently with your currrent carrier, my suggestion is stay there. Wait till things improve in the trucking industry before making the move to a LS style of running.

This sounds like a honest response, Thank you for posting this experience for others to look at and learn from.


I cannot believe that they terminated your lease for the reasons you posted above. What was their official response as to why they terminated you?

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. I had to make some fast decisions since I was suddenly out of a job. Will be looking to Risinger Bros for my next gig. All I want to do is get back to work and try to have some steady miles (the best that we can right now).

There has been no "official" reason for the termination. When I spoke with a supervisor she gave me no reasons as she had not talked with the two individuals I had spoken with. Plan on following up on this in the morning.

I plan on from time to time check in on this board just to see how things are doing for all of you.

Rissinger Bros. is a good company. My mechanic has 4 trucks leased to them, I dont know the rates but he must be doing well. He's been there about 5 years now.

dont worry about the Landstar, its probably their loss. things happen for a reason. just keep your head up and i wish you good luck.

Later.

They may have thought that you wanted to terminate your lease so they just moved the paperwork through for you. I would expect that you could stay on with them if you chose to do so. But, it sounds like you may need something else that is a better fit.