NEED INFO ON LANDSTAR

NEVERHOME247

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
JUST CURIOUS IF ANYONE EVER LEASED ON TO LANDSTAR EXPRESS AMERICA OR IS CURRENTLY LEASED TO. HOW WAS OR IS YOUR SUCCESS W/THEM? ALSO WHAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW IS MORE ABOUT HOW THE LANDSTAR SYSTEM WORKS WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING LOADS. HOW DOES THIS WHOLE AGENT THING WORK? IS IT HARD TO FIND LOADS THRU THESE AGENTS ETC. CAN YOU HAUL MUTIPLE LOADS? IS IT EASY TO FIND LTL LOADS ON THERE INTERNET LOAD BOARD? I WOULD APPRECIATE AS MUCH DETAILED INFO THAT ANY ONE CAN GIVE ME ON HOW THE LANDSTAR SYSTEM WORKS. THANKS!!!!
 

crazy

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I was with them for about 6 months in 2001. For a large company, they are pretty easy to get along with. Make sure you have a cell phone with a lot of minutes because you will be on it a lot.
I don't know about the present time, but when I was there the freight was pretty slow. I was running solo and I think the teams were doing better.
The agent system takes some getting used to. Sometimes they would call you but 90% of the time if you wanted to run, you would have to make the calls. Rumor was that some agents had trucks of their own and the freight went on their trucks first,leaving the rest of us to scrounge for the dregs.
The Highway Master system sucked in my opnion. I think I lost a few loads because of it. It picks up the closet cell tower to you instead of the exact position of your truck like the Qualcom does. They charge you $25.50 per week and a non refundable $310.00 install fee.
The agents I delt with were decent people, but you need to do a GOOD job for them or you won't ever get a load from them again.
They put the truck pay on a com data card and that costs you $1.75. They have a direct deposit system also where you can take it from your card and have it transferred to you bank account.
Escrow is $1,000 and is deducted at $50.00 per week. They also have PrePass for the scales and that cost is $.95 per use. Trip Pack is also available for $4.95 per week.
It really would take up to a year to learn the system over there as far as getting loads goes. For example, I used to get loads out of the Chicago area from the agent in LA,CA and loads from the agent in Columbia,SC to Chicago. Just because the agent is located in a certain city does not mean they have freight out of that city.
I did get freight off of their big truck board on occassion, but some of the rates were really cheap. As an example: Chicago to Orlando,3,000 pounds at $.35. These loads are good if you are or have been sitting in a bad area and want to move, but you can't make a living hauling them. I had a tandem axle truck that would scale a 21,000 pound load so I did find a few that paid well enough to be considered a front haul where I made money. Don't forget that to use their load board you need internet access. They will allow you to load mutiple stops if all of the delivery times are met. Most agents pay extra for a haz mat load.
If you are running team, you may be able to make a living once you learn the system and get in with several agents that have the freight.

Hope this helps
 

NEVERHOME247

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
APPRECIATE YOUR REPLY. WAS VERY INFORMATIVE. THE WIFE AND I RUN TEAM IN A TANDEM AXLE TRUCK. WE HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT TRYING SOMETHING DIFFERENT. I THOUGHT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO WELL HAULING SOME OF THE FREIGHT OFF LEA BIG TRUCK SIDE OF THE HOUSE. BUT SOUNDS LIKE MOST OF THOSE LOADS DON'T PAY WELL. THANKS AGAIN
 

Wild Bill

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
I spent a couple of years at Landstar. If you are running a team with a tandem axle you will really do well. Landstar is different from the typical expediter. If you can legally carry a load no matter the weight they will give it to you.

You are right about the rates from the sister companies (Ligon, Ranger, Inway...etc) But one thing few seem to notice.

Those loads are LTL. Usually 1-4 skids. If you can find 3 or 4 of those loads at .50 cpm you can really make out well. Time usually isn't a factor with these loads so you have time to plan a trip.

If you go to Landstar go through their LCAPP program and get one of their wireless P.D.A's. With that you can do load searches through the Landstar system. You can do the same thing on the laptop but sometimes its hard to find a place to connect a computer.

I cannot add anymore to what has already been posted about LEA. It is exactly what I would have written. The people/agents..etc are for the most part nice people. It is like a family. The only major downfall LEA has is the "Highway Diaster" Two tin cans and a piece of string would make for a better system than the highway master.

If you like making your own decisions and being your own boss Landstar is the place!
 

NEVERHOME247

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
WILD BILL, I thank you for the info. A few questions??? Do you have to find all of your own loads? Or does LEA try to keep you loaded? I am trying to better understand their system. Before I decide if I want to jump ships. What I got now is working for me. Just browsing for something different. Thanks!
 

Wild Bill

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
Never,

Mostly it is on you to find them. Everyday you make your phone calls to the agents and tell them where you are. If an agent knows you are in a particular area and they get a load they will offer it to you. For sister company loads that is all up to you. You call the company itself and their agents.

If an agent has a load in a certain area they can also search for trucks in an 25, 50, 100 and 150 mile radius and (If the Higway diaster is working) they will contact you for a load.

The big thing to remember is to call EVERY agent on the sheet. Nomatter where you might be sitting. You might be in Omaha and the agent from Nashville might having a load picking up there.
 

marmon01

Expert Expediter
No question about the agents having their own trucks. One agent in Jackson even ran an add in the paper specifically stating that you could make an excellent income driving his truck!! It appears that some of the agents will work together to load each others trucks; thus, forming a mini organization within the much larger compnay.
 

Wild Bill

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
Yes, agent owning their own trucks was a problem. There were certain cities you would go into and pretty much know if you got a load it was what was either left over or ones the agents drivers didn't want to do.

One agent I know who doesn't give his driver special treatment is John from Raleigh, NC. He makes his driver follow the first in, first out just like the rest of us. John is one person that you can take his word as gold.
 

Olko

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
Great post Crazy.

We had 2 different stints with them. The first time around we ended up in bankruptcy, mostly from what happened while we were with them. The second time we were with an owner who just signed his truck on. It was a slow start (aprox. 5K per month for the fist 2 or 3 months). This owner had a business manager, and after he learned the system in those first few months, he got us rolling real good. The catch, he was in contact with the agents, and building relationships with them 10 hrs a day. That would be impossible while out on the road driving.

What I'm trying to say in a round about way, is the same thing said by others, it is all in getting a good relationship with each agent, and that takes time. If times are slow, you have to remember, everyone is kissing up to them, trying to get a load, and it is hard to get your foot in the door to prove yourself to them.

The highway master is pretty bad compared to the Qualcom, and will cost you runs, because it doesn't give your true position. A lot of the Agent's only get updates when they need it, and it doesn't show the difference between loaded and empty, just passing thru on a run, or expected delivery times. We were always getting calls from Agent's who were telling us the system had us classified wrong, or hundreds of miles from our actual location.

If I were getting back into expediting and had to choose a company, LEA would be 1st on my list if we could get the business manager to work with us. :7 If he wouldn't go for it, :-( then they would be 2nd on my list, from the 4 companies we worked with.
 

Weave

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I have yet to meet anyone doing expediting for Landstar to stay with them for too long. Seems like their "Road to Success" is more like "The road to oblivion."
The people I know who run tractor-trailers with them do fairly well, but I don't think their system works too well for expedite. Put it this way- I have known about 6 expedite contractors over the last 4 years who had trucks or
vans on with them, all of which are gone today. This sort of says something, I think
;)
-Weave-
 

KandS2

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Just curious, but how do you define "not to long with them"? My husband and I have been with LEA since 1997, and we don't run team. We have one D and one B with them at the moment. Last year was rough, but this year is much better (so far). Just like with any company, it doesn't work for everyone.


Stay safe out there!
 

jdcooper

Expert Expediter
First of all, I'd like to say hello to everyone on the board- I have been on here a few times reading the posts. After seeing the Landstar Express America messages, I decided to go ahead and register. I am a new dispatcher at Landstar Express America (4 weeks) and thought I'd give a little insight on my point of view.

There is plenty of freight out there. The biggest problem I have is finding drivers that are in the right location at the right time. The next problem is finding a driver to take a short load. For most loads I page or call 3-4 drivers, occasionally 1 of the 4 MAY actually return the call. Then they turn it down because it wasn't 500+ miles during daylight hours. Our largest account for my service center (somewhere in the S.E.) comes out of Windsor, Ontario. Try finding a driver in Detroit at 8pm that will go into Windsor to pick up a load going 150 miles- It's probably not going to happen. Eventually we start seeing a pattern with drivers. We know which drivers want to work, and which ones don't. So when I get my Windsor to Alabama loads..... guess who I'm going to page first???

Like everyone says... Get to know the dispatchers at the different service centers... Don't turn down many loads because it isn't a cake run.... GET LEGAL TO GO INTO CANADA (once you get used to customs, it's a piece of cake).... Get a little black book and keep up with your dispatcher's numbers- including the fax machine. We have numerous drivers that either go to a truckstop and fax us their truck # and location (and a willingness to deadhead) or a laptop computer with wireless capabilities to fax us a little note... believe it or not, we put those truck numbers on an availability board and use them because of their extra effort.

As for the highway master.... I agree that it's a disaster, and I hardly use it- it takes forever to get into it on the computer and isn't very user friendly. I usually try and bring up trucks within a 100-150 mile radius since most drivers don't sit still. I have dispatched using Qualcomm before and it was very user friendly. I do wish Landstar would switch to that system.

One more bit of advice-- When you become familiar with certain accounts.. and you're in a dead area-- take the inititive to reposition yourself into an area in high demand. Charlotte, Detroit, Chicago, Indy, Atlanta-- maybe even put yourself between cities.. but don't just sit in a dead area (it may take some time to figure out these dead areas).

I think this is enough for my first posting!!!

Just remember... by the time the customer calls us--It's already late!
 

Weave

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I just talked to a fellow this week who has been leased to LEA for three years. He said he is now doing well with them, but it took him a solid year to do so. He said to me, "The agents won't use you until they get to know you."
For new expediters the first year is VERY critical. It is a time when one has many other things to deal with other than being "Mr. or Mrs. Personality" over the phone with agents.
My personal advice to someone starting out would be to avoid LEA until you have some experience in the field with a company using a standard central dispatch system. After you get the hang of how your business is going, then try Landstar. At that point you'll probably know how to deal with the agents on a more experienced rather than beginner level.
-Weave-
 

teacel

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Hi jdcooper! and welcome to the forum

Most of the posts that deal with drivers looking for info on a company aren't my cup of tea!!! I try not to give input to this type of post, because each driver/company relationship is different.
I've been doing this expediting thing now for a few years and concider myself one of the lucky ones. I work for myself and don't have to worry about all the headaches the other drivers do, working for the other guy. (I have more important things to worry about.)

I read your post and it is a very informitive post. I thnik your point of veiw is right on time. Most of the posts on this board are from drivers and want-a-bees, its good to here from someone from the other side of the fence, besides Lawrence, Jeff, and the few others that aren't drivers. I hope you plan on sticking around awhile?

You are right about the drivers always looking for that 500mile run and turning down the short things. I don't have any info about landstar and I'm on my way out the door and into my little old van to do that thing. Hope to be reading more of your posts, and looking forward to some deep heavy and maybe heated debates with you.
 

jdcooper

Expert Expediter
Thanks Tony for the good response!

If anything I said in my previous post helps just one person-- then it's worth it.

Dispatchers get kinda stressed out when we can't get our OWN drivers to take a short load. I've learned of a few that will do anything I throw at 'em. Today I got a load from Wytheville, VA going to Laredo, TX. 2 pallets @ about 900 lbs. I called one of my star drivers that does anything just to let HER know how much I appreciated her. Easy $1500 for her...for 2 days work. She came to the office yesterday to show me her new van. She's got a 2003 Freightliner Sprinter. Has a 156hp Mercedes diesel Engine. It's kinda between a B & C unit.. can take 3-4 pallets depending on the size. She takes freight from either category. Her expenses still stay pretty low...but with industrial size/power. Even though it's just 156hp... it's more than sufficient for her needs.. especially with turbo.

anyway- gotta run...
Everyone take care!
 

Lawrence

Founder
Staff member
Hello JD,

Welcome to EO! Thank you for your participation - we welcome everyone in the expedite business to participate in the forum...even Dispatchers;-) ;-) ;-) .

I think you can add another perspective to the ideas we discuss here.

Thanks,
Lawrence
Expediters Online.com
 

Weave

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Mr. Cooper is going to be fun! I almost always take a driver or O/O point of view, as that's who I am, and the people who I try to help the most on the forums.
I have already taken some stabs at Mr. Cooper. I do hope he can dish some stuff out to us O/O's and drivers too from his point of view. I assure him that not only I, but we fellow drivers, O/O's and small fleet owners can take and awful lot of fair and constructive criticism. JD is in this now and better Jimmy up a lot better than "You have to make the truck payment!" Doesn't that sound like FedEx (or now Landstar) recruiter talk two weeks after you sign the truck on?:*
-Weave-
 

jdcooper

Expert Expediter
Weave,

I'm sorry if you don't like the "you still have to make the truck payment comment".... but when it comes down to it- that's your first expense. If a driver cannot make the payment, he's going to be walking home. Even if a driver has to take short run after short run- they can still make money. Everyone is just waiting out for the "mother-load". Most of the drivers out here have already learned that if you wait around for that...then it won't come. The cake runs are the ones that pop up when you least expect it. Yesterday I had a driver sitting at the TA truckstop outside of St. Louis that he'd rather deadhead all the way home to Charlotte instead of going 50 miles to pickup a 25lb box (9x9x24) going to southern Ohio. It makes no financial sense at all- he could never give a good explanation. I get the feeling he just wanted to sit at the TA even longer.

See ya,
JD
 

Weave

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I know what you mean when it comes to lasy drivers, and that's all it is. Those are the ones Landstar agents SHOULD avoid using.
I even experience it where I am at sometimes. I rolled into our little terminal one night and there was a load sitting there. 620 miles to RI. The fellow who picked it up was way to tired to run it, but there were other trucks there in town yet nobody wanted it. We had to break the pallets down to fit the freight in my narrow box, but I wasn't going to walk away from $775.00 too easily. Really the only times I have turned down loads was when I was just too tired from the previous run to go. (Or the load went to NYC, forget it.)
What I think was upsetting Gingerbreadman was that he wasn't offered the short load that came up when he would have been willing to take it. He doesn't sound like a lazy one to me. The Landstar agents should offer up the loads regardless of length.
-Weave-
 

DooWop

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
After reading all of these posts my heart started racing,and my blood pressure went up! Maybe I need to check in for a long stay at the local VA hospital! Owning your own van/truck, driving it/ and getting money to do so!! Places mentioned like Wytheville (been there) Laredo (been there) St. Louis, Charlotte (been there) R.I. (never been there). To me it sure as hell beats doing the same old same old day in day out confined to one building and one geographical area and working 2 jobs. Maybe I'm nuts but to turn down money to haul a couple of pallets/ boxes of freight in your own truck/van....
I just don't get it.

Regards

DooWop
 
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