This is for that phony "best carrier to drive for" list in the industry magazines. Was looking at the carriers listed they all seem pretty much the same cookie cutter mega-carrier nothing really special at all about any of them. Nominated the carrier I'm leased to just for fun. Doubt we will make the cut when the list gets published looks like the only ones that make the cut are the ones with massive turnover that spend big bucks in recruitment advertising.
Just to share here what I think makes Farm2Fleet special and why I think it's the best. I've been trucking for almost 13 years now. I did about 11.5 years at the first carrier and really never would have left them if I had stayed as a company driver. When I bought my tractor about 3 years ago and leased it on with them the rates were just too low. Nothing against them for that, they were in line with everyone else out there. And they always kept me busy and treated me well. It's just that 95 cents a mile plus surcharge is the highway to bankruptcy - and I know how to manage money - and I couldn't make any there with a paid for truck.
So I meet the owner of Farm2Fleet a little over a year ago in a trucking forum where we were both long time members. He was an independant "one truck show" pulling a 53' dry van and doing very well for himself - in general freight dry van truckload - actually 53' dry van general freight is well known as the pits of trucking a few rungs above garbage haulers and maybe a rung or two above containers. Very competitive.
But a savy business man can make a good living at it if he plays it smart and knows when/where/what to pick and makes his luck by choosing where he goes wisely. So Bill had been in business for almost a year. I was grumbling about low pay at a mileage company in a post and ready to make a move to Landstar so I could try my hand at getting real rates. Doing my own dispatching. Figuring out what paid and where it was at. Developing relationships with good agents. That was the game plan. I actually had an orientation date set for Landstar and it was less than a week away when Bill talked me into leasing on at his company.
So I had spent the previous 2 months, Landstar is such a pain to get leased on with but it's good they are picky like that, and finally had a spot at orientation only to call the nice recruiter lady in Hopkinsville and tell her I had changed my mind and would not be leasing on with Landstar anymore. I decied to take my chances with Bill's company. I was the first truck to lease on. This was a huge gamble. Giving up on a proven and going with an entrepenuer who'd only been in business for a year. But Bill is a smart guy. He and his wife were excited about the possibilities. they had capital behind them. I was excited about the opportunites as well. The chance to do more than just truck, sales, office, whatever if I want to. It's all there and I can make money off any of it. For now the focus is on the truck because that's really my true calling and what I like best.
Anyways, the percentage they take was really small. I run maybe 1 or 2 contract loads in a year's time. They pay well but I normally turn them down when offered to me as I do much better hauling brokered freight through connections I found and fostered on my own. I tapped into the expedited market by chance at the 3 month mark, then by the 5th month really got into it in a good way. Things have grown from there. We're now 15 trucks and growing over 2 years in business. Drivers can book their own freight and do their own thing as I do, or if they want there is help in dispatch to book loads. It's about as close to being independant as one can get, if one chooses to take on the responsibility and find their own way, like I do. There is value in the percentage F2F takes and I never look at things in a way of "man, I could do so much better independant". I could go independant but then I would lose access to and some doors might close to me. Would never have the opportunity I have if I wasn;t leased on here.
The fact that I am in a good niche and stay busy with it is icing on the cake. And we really haven;t even scratched the surface on that yet. As I saw another expeditersonline member here comment, "this takes time to build trust and develope relationships". So true. Takes a lot of patience.. Anyhow, it's a lot of fun although at times spot is difficult but I do enjoy the challenge. F2F is how trucking ought to be for all contarctors - although not all contractors are truly up to the task. Everything on the up and up here - success or failure all depends on ME. No-one holds my hand or tells me what to haul or what to do. Just wanted to share my thoughts on what a great company is - the only way I'd leave it is if they sold it, then I'd go independant. I'll certainly never lease on with another company again.
