I just bought my own truck (2003) columbia for 24k and it has 534kmiles on it.
After reading several treads, I have decided to lease it to CRST Malone. I don't have any flat bed experience, however I use to work for CRST as company driver.
I have heard alots of good things about malone. I have outlined my questions at the bottom.
1. Malone works with dispatcher and agents. Can i access the available loads from online?
2. This question might seem simplistic but keep in mind that I m asking for AVERAGE (GOOD WEEKS AND BAD WEEKS AVERAGED) HOW MUCH CAN I TAKE HOME? MY TRUCK PAYMENT IS 270.00/WK.
3. My recruiter mentioned; whenever freights are slow, I can always get loads from other carriers by using Malones authority. How does that work out? For instance, I find a landstar load, what is the process?

Thats about it for now.
Thanks
Best regards.
marK

Please hold, and your call will be answered by BigDiesel shortly. 8)

GMAN used to be leased to CRST Malone so he knows how they operate.

I've never owned a truck, although the desire to do so is crossing my mind more and more lately... but it seems to me you should be asking those questions to CRST Malone. If anyone can answer them, its sure to be them.

BTW... congrats on the truck. I hope its a good one for you.

You don't have any flatbed experience and you want to know how much on average you can expect to take home? Do you even know what your operating expenses are going to be? Your truck payment alone is $1080 a month. Not to mention fuel, license, insurance, taxes, maintainence and the rest of the "little" things that add up. I found it strange that you broke your truck payment down by the week. Is it a lease purchase?

As far as I know you still cannot access loads on the internet with CRST Malone. You primarily work with a dispatcher but can call agents to get loads. A friend of mine left the a year or two ago and he told me that they are pushing their owner operators to primarily work with their dispatcher rather than call the agents. When I was there I had a lot of contact with different agents. If you get a good dispatcher they should keep you pretty busy.

It depends on how much you spend. If you are in a lease purchase with CRST Malone I would prepare to spend about $800/week with maintenance account, etc., If you lease to them you will need to buy tarps, chains, etc., It will cost you about $2,200-2,500 for everything. They should finance them for you if you don't have all the cash and take a fixed amount out of your weekly settlement. You will need to pay 10% down. You may be able to buy used equipment from them if it is available. If you could get one of their side kits you may not have to buy tarps if you want to keep the kit up all the time. If you don't have your own trailer you will need to either rent one from an outside source or from CRST Malone. I believe the cost is about $165/week. When I leased to them my flat bed made about $1.66/mile average for all miles. That was several years ago. My friend had a deal working with an agent and he was averaging about $2/mile after they got their cut. He left to get his own authority about a year or two ago. I am sure there are some doing better and worse. Where you live can also impact the rate you get and how frequently you get home.


You will need to call your dispatcher and get a number to put on the bills so that you can get paid. They will need to approve the broker's credit before allowing you to pull a load for an outside broker. If it is a broker that they have been doing business it should not take but a few minutes.

It is almost impossible to tell anyone how much they can clear as an owner operator. Since you are new, it will take time to learn how to manage your business. CRST Malone will train you to tarp during orientation. I enjoyed working with them when I was there. They had a pretty good freight base when I was there. Keep in mind that freight is off somewhat right now. I would ask them what there owner operators are averaging. They were always straight with me. Do you know which office you will be based? Where do you live?

Beeeeeeep.

Big D. Hope you are feeling much better. Please advise where you are being treated for the head injury so me and the mrs can send flowers and drop by to say hello to the new and improved politically correct Mr Diesel.

This should help. BOL

http://www.crstcargoconnection.com/Carrier/Loads.html

We all have to start from somewhere. I have made my decision and I am not gonna duel on it.
After driving for 1 year for CRST and Werner, buying a truck seems to be the next obvious step. Fuel price was up and I found a dealer that was willing to unload some of his inventories at a deep discount..I negotiated and bought a 36k, 2003 COlumbia with 534k miles for 24k and it also has a 1 year warranty.
Things that are in my favor: I have a tremendous work etiquette, budget oriented and fast learner.
My ultimate goal is to get my own Authority and my wife is planning to get her broker license and we want to capture as much of the profit possible.

-I have a fixed cost and variable cost..i need to reduce the variable to the minimum possible. Guys I am a newbie, I welcome any suggestion.
Especially:
1. On how to negotiate with agents and carriers for freight fees.
2. How to reduce my variable cost.
3. where to get the best trailer rentals ( I will eventually buy my own).
4. Is it better to buy the tarp and other equipment from from Malone?
5. Since I am buying my truck from a third party, will i be subjected to maintain an escrow account?
6. I don't trust recruiters for the obvious reasons. He mentioned my Tags, bobtail insurance and other cost will be held from my weekly settlements.

I am open to any type of suggestion.
Thanks
mark