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.