[GMAN]

I am really glad to hear things are working out for you at CRST Malone. You seem to have gotten a feel for the way they do things and are making adjustments, as needed. Making solid contacts with good agents is a plus. It is very important to keep your word. I have never just canceled loads for a better paying load after I commit. It is bad business. You are making mistakes, but learning from them. Some people continue making the same mistakes over and over and never seem to learn anything from them. You seem to be making progress in your learning process. You never stop learning. I still learn new things, even after all these years. I know you are staying busy, but hope that you will drop in and give us an update from time to time.

[cdreid]

Thanks a lot GMan. Honestly my only problem is freight. It seems like we're WAY low on freight lately... except crap loads to the northeast which i will not run any more unlless it pays huge. Should have had a killer settlement this week but NOTHING coming out of virginia. Got a $3 a mile load out of nc next day but thats a day lost and it was 150+ miles deadhead. When i figure out a goood lane im fine. I need one good long run and ii have my loop. CRST's BIG weakness is freight. They want you to run the box but they dont have the freight in the box. They have runs out the butt to NY/PA/CT that pay... passably well. Then youre stuck in the NE with no freight.

I need to use outsiide brokers but thats a huge time sink and its apparently a huge pain for our fleet managers who already have 14 times as much work as they can do. Ive seen it.

HAWK i didnt mean that to sound insulting im sorry. But OUR lumber loads dont pay jack and they are a giant pain. Pretty much our guys only run lumber to get out of somewhere.
And ya steel Does suck. It's heavy as hell , youre always concerned that coil is super secure, eeeeasy to damage. And mostlly iim worn out by the time im done securing. Pays well and lots of it though.

When i see a cali or nd/sd run that pays REALLY welll on a monday or tuesday im goiiing to take it and see how that works. i'm leary(??) of running nd/sd/wy/co/fl but i guess i need to try it. Heck the best week ive had i ran Delaware AND Iowa..


Anyway lets hope freight picks up. You wont see me in VA/wv or northeast of there anymore period unless it pays HUGE or i know i have a run back

[cdreid]

And murphys law kicks my ass again. Was going to have an amazing week/settlement but...
Truck down again. I think i lost another injector. God forbid they actually replace them all last time. Truck is eatiing a gallon of oil a week. I just need one damn month with no problems so i can get a truck from lone mountain or somewhere!!
load was "high value" etc. Told them about it thursday... didnt seem in a hurry. Now theyre freaking about it. Met the repower driver and told him the box is screwed. He found a crack in a brake pad i didnt see and the abs light is oon now. So he got screwed by the same load i did. The atlanta office is great but i swear theiir loads are jinxed. This load paid awesome too. I took 675 for fuel. Pretty sure i burned 250 of it driviing 250 miles because the injectors went rigiht before some Nasty grades on us25 and i26.

If it werent for **** equiipment (partially due to crst's fetish for freigihtliner service) id be rolllilng in cash. Cannot wait to get rid of this truck. They were working on a new lease truck for me but im thinkiing they'll try to qualcomm it and that aint happening *siigh*

[GMAN]

It can be frustrating as well as expensive when things happen to a truck. At least you have the money to have it repaired. Using a gallon of oil per week is not a good sign. Can you take the truck to another service facility other than Freightliner? It is my understanding that Malone now requires all new owner operators to install EOBR's? Is that through qualcomm?

[cdreid]

ya the oil is scary. using cheap oil though may try better. may try additive or 1/2 gal of slightly heavier oil.

Yes all new malone run elogs. i assume qualcomm. We were one of the last groups allowed to use paper. As long as our csa stays below 25 we can suppoosedly stay paper. i expect a year before universal elog. yes they push for freightliner hard though there are other vendors. "preferred" which means "we are only telling you about them". because if something screws up freightliner will jump through hooops.. as when i complained.
CRST has a csa problem. part because the newb company is grouped with us. part because their trailer fleet is garbage!!
i no longer run all over and never look at the board. Sheila gets me wash court house loads out of asheville. i deadhead to middletown and jamie gets me a run to sc. rinse and repeat. 8 hrs each way plus around 60 deadhead on each end. could run elogs.. but would have to leave home earlier. i like to stay at home til 1 and then go pick up. i should net 1k a week or so. when truck is paid off 1600 - 1800 a week. if the truck survives the lease i plan on getting an inframe or >better engine<. it has the cheapass one. and turn it up. wish i could get away w that now.

Made the mistake of taking a 60 mile deadhead.. 8 mile run.. for $400!! got screwed as i had to sit on it a day and lost my reg run.. and screwed my reg broker. never again i only run for these two. period. im home because she didnt have a court house run today so i chose to take the day off and get one tomorrowo.

Getting the hang of this finally! im VERY book smart.. seriously .. 141 iq.. but at life not so much. Catching on slowly. Not starving is awsesome!!

if i keep the truck the interior is getting ripped out and redone. custom cabinets etc etc. Freightliners cheapness and bad design shows. Have to say one thing though. Columbias arent THAT bad on comfort. quieter.. smoother. Seem to have way less zip but worth it. With some work and money they could almost match a prostar/pete. Almost. man i miss prostars.

Right now i like where im at and how everything is going. Yes id reccomend CRST with qualifications:
1. inspect the truck fully and drive it before your first load. (my situation was odd).
2. Trailer and gear as well.
3 the first 2 weeks try to stay out/plan on it. And run that 2 weeks legal as hell. long runs!
4 keep tools/oil etc. extra equipment (bungees, felt etc). Dont keep extra lumber.
5. CRST is big on metal. lots of other stuff too but coils/Alum etc are reliable
6. Set your truck up asap. inverter /fridge/microwave etc asap. Take as much to orientation as possible
7. go to a copy shop. Run off 100 logs. maybe 50 load sheets.
8 >> have a laptop and verizon/straight talk net!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!
9 You are an o/o now. Noone will push you or get you loads.. ever! This is not bs. you arent a company driver buying a truck as w other companies. CRST wants o/o's!
10. maintenance is gonna kick your ass. You'll pay as much maintenance as you do truck payment. sometimes more!

Get home. Dont run to run!

HERE is how you pick loads.
load pay x .75... now add in fuel surcharge. never run for < 1.70 unless desparate to get somewhere.
Do NOT run anything that pays you less than $250 a day AFTER fuel and maintenance. Profit per day is the key!
search 200 miles on the board."Keep deadhead low" is stupid. Total miles is how you calculate per mile.
Remember: Profit per day!!!
Prefer shippers/recievers that you can sleep at. Elogs are why. think about it. it's worth losing .10 or even .30 a mile easy...
Dont trust brokers you dont know. And NEVER screw one
There are a few brokers who are .. rude. never run for them.
Run your comfort zone.. by your house.
Avoid short haul. even if it pays $6 or $10 or $50 a mile
NET profit = (load pay *.75) + FSC - miles * .80. (fuel + maintenance). After youve paid fixed costs (about 785 to start) you make your payday.





Finally found my nich Ty for all your help.

[GMAN]

Thanks or the update, cdreid. It should be helpful for those starting out who are thinking about doing a lease. It is good to hear that things are going better for you. I prefer International to Freightliner, as well. But, when you do a lease with a carrier, you pretty much have to go with whatever they offer. When are you scheduled to complete your lease?

[cdreid]

About a year gman. But pretty sure im taking your old advice about buying a 20k truck or maybe lone mountain. trucks engine light came on on the way home. off now after sitting a day but regen light is on and wont regen so shop tomorrow. id love to own a truck in 12 months but w the breakdowns and their overpriced maintenance program logic says otherwise. down time is killing me.

if i can get a month solid no problems i can afford to get one from lone mountain. im thinking thats a better plan than going to a dealership and crossing my fingers. Unless i can find a Cheap truck i can make last a year. Met a driver who found a 93 internat for 6500.. w 400k on it. the mans getting rich!
My credit rating is 700 and i think i can bump it 30 points by paying of the cc's i got Just to get a credit history friday. Dunno if thats enough for a straight up truck loan from a bank. Take me 6 mos to a year to get too 750-800 i think. Thoughts?

ps i also started using delo based on yalls reccomendations

[cdreid]

aaaand... crst managed to f*ck up my money yet again.. this time by showing all is good on my settlement.. and just not bothering to put the money on my card. @#$@#$%^#$@%^$%^

[slacker]

I had a brief stint with CRST Malone back in 2009, I think it was. I leased my truck on, and rented one of their trailers.

The problem I ran into was the Malone reps in my region were running their own trucking companies, or in another branch, they were putting all the freight on trucks that were leased to the husbands.

The loads I was able to get from that area was just the overflow, or going places you couldn't get out of.

My major beef, is that in their advertising, they claim they are all owner op, or at least that was my impression. I thought they were just brokers loading a bunch of independent trucks, but I soon found out differently. I saw a clear conflict of interest in the region I worked in. I packed it in, because if I've got to find my own load, and wait days to get it, I can do all that myself.

I don't think you should be able to own a trucking company with a bunch of trucks and still be one of their reps. Or at least if you could, their advertising is misleading, and probably should be changed.

I would definitely go visit the regional reps before I leased to see whether they were totally independent, or were running their own trucks while serving as Malone reps. I should have figured this out when I went to orientation that just happened to be in the yard of trucking company that was hauling Malone freight.......still kicking myself.

I forgot to say that the loads they were giving me were to areas where they didn't have return loads, and I had to book my returns and pay them. Huh?

I hope my experience was an anomaly, because the freight did pay well. I think also if you had your own customers and just wanted to pay the lease percentage and maybe use them to load one way, if they have the freight that is, it could work, but in that case, I'd rather just run my own authority.

[cdreid]

i walked away from the lease. Story below

Slacker i agree totally. But it's how they get agents... their business model is brillliant.

What it boils down to is that i cannot run for Crst w elogs if i ever want to get home. The new rules brought that to a head and highlighted one of malones big weaknesses.
When the changes came i began logging a 30 minute break. i always basically took one anyway getting food etc. But i had a perma brain fart and loggeit as on duty. Clearly marked as a break though. How did i realise it? When suddenly i was told i was getting a qualcomm. They are looking for leglit reasons to force grandfathered leassees to elogs. But.. guess how i found my mistake. When they told me about the elogs i informed them i was done. Got my last load to wash ct house and.. 15 miles from delivery got pulled in for a random inspection. There the (very nice and professional) dot officer informed me. ... i have csa points now... yay.

Anyway the reason im done is twofold.
1. No freight. i live in western nc and crst simply doesnt have enough freight in and out of here. i tried everything and the only way to make money with them is to stay out at least 2 weeks. that is probably not true if you live in central ohio, pa, or east texas. They basically have 5 or 6 metal mills they run out of and every thing else are addons.
2. Their trucks/maintenance. Where to start.. the equipment is junk. The maintenance program covers the major stuff but.. you start out w a junk truck and have to spend your time in shops they approve getting it fixed. My truck spent 10% of its time in the shop with me taking a loss for the week. if you want them to fix replace other things like seats etc you have to get to a company shop..... and that means a day sitting and a net loss for the week.
The bottom line is if you start off getting lucky and getting a good truck AND live in the right area or never want to get home you can make money. otherwise no. And do Not sign on for the truck..

i dont know what im going to do now. i know i love flatbed. i know im done running illegal. i know im done with seeing my family a couple hours a week. Maybe its time to say goodbye to trucking for good this time. Because it seems to just keep getting worse out there