See LandStar Express America in Boston May 2-4

[frozenrope8]

Visit us at the LandStar booth and find out why more people succeed at LandStar Express America. If expedited is your thing, you need to speak with us. The most contractor friendly company in the industry gives you the ability to control and elevate your income. Call 888-428-5468 for more info.:7

 

[dog]

Hello Frozen, have read your entries. But I have a question for you, have you read Topic #928 posted in open forum in March, from a person inquiring about working with Landstar. I would be interested in reading your response. I thought the information provided by the agent, very informative and interesting. And I have to agree about the highway master, I would not have one even if it was free. Yes I have used the highway master for two years in a big rig more fustration than good. But as I said I would be interested in reading your response to the feed back in the topic on Open Forum.

 

[frozenrope8]

Thank you for reading the entries. I have been at this a while and Express America is the best I have been with. I do agree with a lot that that person had to say about the agents in their comments from March. I think some of the things depend on the individual. For example, most tell me it takes just a couple of months to get comfortable with the system. Also, there are only a couple of agents that have their own trucks. These trucks tend to just run locally and have no sleepers. Have not had any issues or reports of them taking freight away from the others. The highway master, in my opinion, is not as good as qualcomm, however, I do not think it cost people loads. This system can be very, very lucrative for the right person. The agents are monitored closely by the company and are all pretty honest and ethical. The proactive individuals who do a good job and are easy to deal with do extremely well. The company overall is known as the most contractor friendly company in the business. Hey, what company allows you to call or visit, in person, its president?? Very, very good and honest place. Personally, my big thing is being ethical, courteous, professional, and just pure good. There are no guarantees about many things in expedited. One, though, that I am certain about, is the kind of people throughout the LandStar system.

 

[teacel]

With a handle or a user name like FROZENROPE8 you must do a lot of explaining to porspective drivers as to how that user name came about! Care to let the rest of us in on it? You are the recruiter and the one that has to prove to the drivers that your not like all the others!!! That is if your not. Now I don't know you BUT I do know some others that are looking for a company to sign on with. Seems like all the recruiters that they had the opportunity to interview really didn't know much about this industry at all. Infact it was a joke! to see grown men squirm like worms and not have the true asswers about questions that were ask.

Recuiters are the ones that blow smoke and tell the new drivers half truths and down right lies. The recuiters are the ones that tell the new people that they will make all this big money, but the same recruiters never tell or paint the true picture, about all the sitting and waiting and BS the dispatchers pull.

Well Mr. Landstar I'm going to end this little old post right here. If I were to go on EO wouldn't have enough disk or memory to hold it all. Good luck (and I really don't mean that)in finding new drivers!!!
If your not a recuiter, and if you are and you can prove that you are above the recruiter reputation, I will make a formal apology.

 

[dog]

Thanks for the response Frozen. I see and speak with the president of my company about every work day, my type of company, small and unique. No not quite the size of your company. I was considering your company until your corporate personnel promised a customer a certain service and then failed to produce as promised. Then uses a deception to appear that they are fulfilling the promised service. If a company will do that to a customer, what will they be willing to do to their employees. I do not know and I do not want to find out.
I agree there are no guarantees in this life. I do not agree with your opinion of the people throughout the entire system, that is an awful inclusive statement to make. If you would have use most, nearly all, I would be able to agree with you. I appreciate the opportunity to have spoken with you on this matter, thank you. Dog

 

[Weave]

The best thing to do is TALK..In person. I have talked to successful Landstar contractors, even LEA's. And believe me, I am a quiet, yet smelly unsociable fellow. I have talked to and dealt with unsuccessful LEA's too. Lots of them.
I have posted this before, but even the successful one's have told me the key to the LEA system was getting to know the agents. They don't use you until they know you. I would find it hard to believe a new trucking fellow would know that sort of system in a couple of months.
Even using a standard dispatch system, it took me (OK, I did not graduate from Yale) a couple of YEARS to really get the hang of being an owner operator. And I struggled, mind you.
I don't even think with the experience I have now I could handle the LEA thing. I tend to be the type who concentrates on working and not socializing with agents.:*
-Weave-

 

[frozenrope8]

I hope you are smart enough to realize all recruiters are not the same and most certainly are not paid the same way across the board. Did you know that LandStar Express recruiter's compensation comes mostly from retention? A good, award winning recruiter is honest with potential contractors because he knows he will be speaking with them in the future. A good, award winning recruiter is spoken of highly by his former recruits and colleagues. Don't do yourself a dis-service by lumping all recruiters together. Even my competitors don't deserve that. I will tell all potential drivers exactly what I know. The info that I get comes from 10 years of experience picking the brains of contractors on the road. This info comes directly from the horse's mouth. They are the ones out there doing this. My pitch to potential new people is always..."hey, don't take my word for it. Go talk to drivers." Be honest with people. If it is not good enough, or your honesty causes them to go away, then move on to the next interested party.

 

[frozenrope8]

I do not disagree with your statements. I do not claim to ever have been on the road. Contractors for LEA do tell me that it is easy because it does not involve schoozing or socializing very much with agents. They say it is a matter of a phone call to let them know you are available and ready. The system is not flooded with too many trucks, so if an agent has a shipment, the are likely to use the truck because they do not want to turn away customers. It does not take a lot of socializing but I do agree, you need to be proactive and call. Having been around for a while, I think this beats having to just sit and wait for your next load until someone calls. That is sort of a helpless feeling. Recruiters with LEA look for people who they feel are go getters and will be proactive. Everyone is different. LEA may be great for one person but maybe not for the next. It requires effort on the part of the recruiter and the prospective owner operator to make sure there is a good match. Good luck to everyone out there.

 

[evilspirit]

Being fairly new to LEA, I agree with frozenrope and weave.It takes about two months to learn the system and start making decent money. But from what I've learned from experience and talking to other drivers it takes at least a year or more to "really" learn the system and make it work for you. After three months with LEA I've became comfortable with their system and am very satisfied with how I'm treated. The only promises I recieved coming to Landstar was an opportunity to be successful, they gave me that, the rest has been up to me. I'm very confident I made the right decicion. :7 :7 :7

 

[RichM]

I have personally known of several LEA Contractors that were very successfull with LEA.The key as Weave said ,is to get to know the agents.The folks I know don!t sit around Walmart or the Flying J,they go in and meet the agents share a cup of coffee and present the very best image of themselves and their vehicle. This stuff gets remembered,that old saying "You attract more flies with honey vs---"holds true. I am probably too old to leave Fedex CC (LOL) but if I ever did LEA would be my first choice.