A Striking Contrast Among Motor Carriers
- Thread starter ATeam
- Start date
As I look at the paperwork, the card was first required in 2008. Good for you that you got one, and good for your carrier that they distributed them last fall. As I said above, I don't know why we did not hear of this from our present carrier. For all I know, our carrier may have distributed them last fall too. I just don't know. Somehow, Diane and I ended up without one, but we have one now.
And you're 100 percent correct about the scumbag part. There is no earthly reason whatsoever to issue such a card, except to create a make-work bureaucracy funded by fees extracted from motor carriers that are required by law to have the cards. It is an example of government corruption in the bright light of day.
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The times did not change. The company did.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
Reading your posts about your experience at Landstar almost has a ring of "We are so much better than you" Nothing personnal just an observation.
I post what I post knowing full well that it is all subject to interpretation. Readers who wish to determine my true meaning can do that best by reading the words I write and reading nothing more into them.
In other words, read what's there, not what isn't.
If you want to read my posts and conclude that I think I am better than you, that is your option, but it is not my belief and I have never written any such thing.
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PreacherRich
Seasoned Expediter
Well, yesterday one of our drivers stopped by our corporate headquarters, showered and was made breakfast. The President of the company then took the drivers van to a shipper to get it loaded for a 1300 mile weekend run while the driver napped at corporate headquarters.
ChanceMaster
Expert Expediter
I'll throw in my two cents worth. I'm a short time newb expediter. Three years with same truck/owner/carrier. I came from being a business owner that lost it all starting in 2008.
I can honestly say that I enjoy the work and lifestyle, and I am thankful that I found this situation. I'm making a good wage for a small effort. FEXCC has been a positive experience for me and my situation.
Sometimes I look over the fence at LEAM and wonder if my marketing skills and business skills would be more profitable "over there".. For now, I'm happy waiting for the beep.
I never look down at other carriers or drivers. It looks like A-team has found success, and continues to work smarter, not harder. I'd love to make ONE or TWO trips a week and make our financial goal. Think of the savings on wear and tear. Less miles, more money, now more than ever. Better work/life balance too. What price do you put on that ?
I can honestly say that I enjoy the work and lifestyle, and I am thankful that I found this situation. I'm making a good wage for a small effort. FEXCC has been a positive experience for me and my situation.
Sometimes I look over the fence at LEAM and wonder if my marketing skills and business skills would be more profitable "over there".. For now, I'm happy waiting for the beep.
I never look down at other carriers or drivers. It looks like A-team has found success, and continues to work smarter, not harder. I'd love to make ONE or TWO trips a week and make our financial goal. Think of the savings on wear and tear. Less miles, more money, now more than ever. Better work/life balance too. What price do you put on that ?
moose
Veteran Expediter
Please do allow us to suggest:
keep in mind the build in prepass system LandStar deploy in the form that MOST OF ALL O/O out here opted not to even bother with that insane dispatch system.
once you agree to that please do keep in mind that L/S recruiting not only HIDE it's turn over rate, but also DO NOT make available how many of the few recruit they have actually stay with the carrier for more then a year(or a month).
when we shop for a carrier turn over rate of new recruit SHOULD be {one of} the first question on our mind. not only that YOU did not know that # coming in, you do not know it NOW. and no LS recruiter will EVER tell us.
since you seams to be giving free recruiting efforts here, the least you can do is straight this question up. the LEAST before you openly attack the {by far} most respectful name in Expedite.
6,800/3.5,000,000=the few & the brave...
With respect, I cannot agree to that because I do not understand the words. What does prepass have to do with Landstar dispatch, recruiting and retention?
I do not know the number for the other divisions but do know the number for Landstar Express America. I know that number because, contrary to what is stated above, Landstar does share it, at least internally at BCO meetings. At the last meeting I attended where the turnover rate was announced, it was approximately 10%. I have stated the same in the Open Forum before, with permission, previously obtained, from the people who announced it.
At our former carrier I found it impossible to learn the turnover rate number except from one high-ranking executive at the company who shared it with me in confidence. When I was writing for Expedite NOW, I asked several carriers about their turnover rate and found it difficult to obtain. In general, carriers do not like to share those numbers because they are embarassing.
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moose
Veteran Expediter
O.K, MY bad. you did not get the Pre-Pass metaphor. lame'Xplain.
remember those "25% of truck inspected have been place OOS" BS ? , while completely ignoring the pre-cleared trucks that are less expected to be placed OOS to begin with ?.
which actually makes it 25% of the trucks EXPECTED to be placed OOS...
same with LS. most O/O out there will not even consider calling a LS recruiter, because they know LS system will not work for them. unlike most of all other carriers out there, that have some sort of centralized dispatch, LS well known agent system makes ONLY the few & the {business} brave call a LS recruiter.
there for the question one MUST ask: 10% what?
* i did got it wrong, you did mention LEA turn over rate before, it skipped my mind...SORRY!
remember those "25% of truck inspected have been place OOS" BS ? , while completely ignoring the pre-cleared trucks that are less expected to be placed OOS to begin with ?.
which actually makes it 25% of the trucks EXPECTED to be placed OOS...
same with LS. most O/O out there will not even consider calling a LS recruiter, because they know LS system will not work for them. unlike most of all other carriers out there, that have some sort of centralized dispatch, LS well known agent system makes ONLY the few & the {business} brave call a LS recruiter.
there for the question one MUST ask: 10% what?
* i did got it wrong, you did mention LEA turn over rate before, it skipped my mind...SORRY!
As I understand the number ... 10 percent turnover means that of all trucks in the fleet, 10 percent of the total terminated their contracts with Landstar Express America (or were terminated) in the most-recent calendar year and were replaced by other trucks recruited for that purpose.
In more practical terms, it means that if the fleet is 250 trucks in size (I do not know the current fleet size number), 25 of them left and were replaced by 25 newly recruited trucks. Of the 25 that left, some left by retiring after many years or even a decade or two of faithful service. Some left a few weeks or months after signing on. Others left after being with the fleet for time periods that are between those two extremes.
In the greater trucking industry, it is not uncommon to find turnover numbers much higher, even ten times higher, than this 10 percent. In the expediting industry, I have only obtained turnover numbers from reliable sources four times in ten years.
In some cases, these numbers were shared in confidence so I am only at liberty to say that in the expediting industry, this 10 percent number is several times lower than any other turnover number I know; except, possibly, for a number that a recruiter once shared here on the Open Forum. I recall that he shared it but do not recall the number. In that company's case, Landstar's number was lower but not by "several times."
Finally, kindly note that the 10 percent number I am citing is at least a year old. I missed this year's BCO meeting. I do not know the current number but believe it will not have changed much from the older number.
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I don't think you can compare the two as they are two different business models. Landstar express has what a couple hundred trucks and requires six months experience. It would be a acknowledge fact that the turnover rate would be lower than the Fed that has roughly 1000 in custom critical and requires no experience except for tractors.
The turnover rate in a welcomed inexperienced endeavor will always be higher.
That doesn't say much one way or the other as to who would be a better carrier just based on those numbers.
The turnover rate in a welcomed inexperienced endeavor will always be higher.
That doesn't say much one way or the other as to who would be a better carrier just based on those numbers.
EASYTRADER
Expert Expediter
I never felt particularly welcome at FECC headquarters either, in fact quite the opposite. Having said that, I don't really care.
My general impression is they feel us drivers are a nuisance. I agree with them. I think us drivers are a nuisance too. But they do pay on time and generally keep me busy.
Flat rate trucks no longer have dispatch priority and only did for a few months, now it seems we are at the bottom of the list.
I think the city ordinance line is bullcrap, because they allow security loads to park there over night. I seriously doubt the ordinace sais no parking of commercila vehicals except those needing a safe haven ;-)
My general impression is they feel us drivers are a nuisance. I agree with them. I think us drivers are a nuisance too. But they do pay on time and generally keep me busy.
Flat rate trucks no longer have dispatch priority and only did for a few months, now it seems we are at the bottom of the list.
I think the city ordinance line is bullcrap, because they allow security loads to park there over night. I seriously doubt the ordinace sais no parking of commercila vehicals except those needing a safe haven ;-)
Every carrier has rules on place to protect its employees from harms way. Having our own home office for the last three years I kinda understand why they do things the way they do. We have had drivers come into the office and sit for hours wanting for a load. When the people in the office have work to do and drivers want to talk i. It takes away from the work that the office personal have to do.
That's why I characterized the Landstar difference as striking contrast and a profound difference. At Landstar, drivers (BCO's) are not viewed as a nuisance or a distraction or a threat. They are viewed and treated as assets that are vital to the company's success.
Heck, if you are a Landstar BCO, Landstar policy allows you to carry a gun or guns in your truck if you wish, as long as you abide by all the federal, state and local laws that apply. If you want to give a friend a ride in your truck, Landstar does not have policies that prohibit that, they have policies that allow it (after completing the right forms). If you want to use your truck to move your personal goods or, as a favor, those of a friend, it's the same way. It is not prohibited. It is allowed (after taking the right steps).
From my experience, when a driver is in the building, it seems to become everyone's job to attend to that driver and fulfill his or her needs. That is not to say that a driver who is a pain in the behind and becomes a distraction or a nuisance will not be dealt with. I can tell you from personal experience that when you push back against a policy and that policy is not going to change, they will tell you to your face -- and in a way that makes it easy to understand -- that the policy is not going to change and it would be unproductive in conversation to travel further down that road.
Example: At a question and answer session at a BCO event, I once recommended a change for the company to make. The man who is now the president of Landstar replied. By saying back to me what I was suggesting, he let me know that he understood what I was saying. He then said that it has been discussed before and the decision has been made to not do that thing. Then, looking me dead in the eye, he said, "That may not be the answer you want, but it's the answer you are getting."
Regarding drivers who want to talk, Diane and I once dropped in to meet the operations staff. We work with them by phone a lot and it would be good to see their faces and for them to see ours, we thought. And Landstar encourages that very thing.
It went pretty-much as expected with hand-shakes and smiles and brief chats. Then the LEAM boss invited us into his office, also to visit a bit. After an hour had gone by, I became concerned about taking too much of his time and said so. "I've got all day" he said to us, and he encouraged us to stay until all our questions were answered.
We did not stay much longer because all of our questions were answered and we remained concerned for his time. Respect is a two-way street. While I have been to that office only a few times, I have never seen a BCO do anything other than act professionally there and be as respectful as people's time there as they are of the BCO.
There is no driver's lounge in the building. And out on the road, there are several orientation centers you can go to do what you have to do. At HQ, you go in, take care of business and leave. If you want to chat with people to pass the time, share your philosophy of life or complain about the state of trucking today, there are truck stop lunch counters for that.
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Monty
Expert Expediter
While ATeam's comments seem to be a bit long winded, I find no fault with what he says. When Robert's built the "new" place on Arlington, they also began the escort required.
White Glove, (at that time), was downstairs, if I could get escorted down there, I was free to wander around. If I needed anything else in the building, I had my hand held.
Having never visited Jacksonville, I can't speak for LEA headquarters, but I have always found myself welcome in the offices of the agents. I always felt it was a good thing to introduce myself for some face time to the people I hauled freight for.
White Glove, (at that time), was downstairs, if I could get escorted down there, I was free to wander around. If I needed anything else in the building, I had my hand held.
Having never visited Jacksonville, I can't speak for LEA headquarters, but I have always found myself welcome in the offices of the agents. I always felt it was a good thing to introduce myself for some face time to the people I hauled freight for.
