Lease to Landstar or stick with Schneider? Or maybe somewhere else? Decisions Decisions!

[Mike]

For those of you who have been sleeping under a rock for the past couple months, I am having a new glider built by Fitzgerald. I am currently with Schneider, doing a lease purchase that I will be turning in once my new truck is finished being built. Between now and then, I have a decision to make, and I would love some input from the fine members of The Truckers Forum.

I am not going out with my own authority, just yet. There is a good possibility that I will do that though in the not so distant future. For now though, I need to concentrate on where the best place is to lease.

My first order of concern is revenue potential. It aggravates me to no end to read through every facebook group and forum on the internet only to find nobody wants to be upfront about their numbers. Everybody wants to talk about how "it depends" on this and that. I wish I could just hear the actual numbers (even if given privately), so I knew what I was working with in regards to various carriers.

All that said, my primary focus is Landstar vs. Schneider. Also interested in others carriers where I am not dispatched and can get home to Northwest Arkansas with ease.

So, spill the beans, what do you know about Landstar? Or others?

Where would you go if you were in my shoes, and why?

My truck should be finished around Thanksgiving, and I plan on going to pick it up the first week of December.

 

[Tazz]

LANDSTAR hands down I know to many guys that are "getting by" that work for them. The key is getting in good with an agent and you will still be able to access them after you pull the trigger on your own numbers.



Guy that quit Big G when I did (roughly 7 years ago) went with Landstar and is now running two more trucks besides his that his wife does the dispatching for and he plans to add another after Jan.

@Blood get him Ding's buddies web site. He ain't talking to me right now.

 

[Mike]

It's really a tough decision for me because I have managed to figure out how to make a 3200/month lease purchase payment here at Schneider and still profit .50/mile after every business expense I can deduct.

 

[Tazz]

I would ask what are the odds of having any of those loads if you get your own numbers. I know guys at Landstar that still haul a good bit of the freight they did just for more money with their own numbers.

If Schnieder would give you the same option and your comfortable with their system then maybe I would stick there.

 

[Mike]

I'm in no rush to get my own authority, would have to see it as a clearly better decision before I pulled the trigger on that. Company takes a percentage doing what I am doing, but they also take away a huge headache and get me tons of discounts on things. I would have to figure out everything as close to the penny as possible before I ever decided to jump out there.

I have heard mention of those leased to Landstar getting $1.60+per mile (all miles). That is better than I am averaging currently. At the same time though, I have heard others say that is impossible.

 

[Sinister]

You're sticking with vans correct? Mercer also has a van division but I have no idea what their freight base is like.

 

[Mike]

You're sticking with vans correct? Mercer also has a van division but I have no idea what their freight base is like.

Yeah, sticking with vans, at least for now. Landstar offers a 2 day securement training class, but don't really think I could learn much from two days. I'm open to many things though going forward.

 

[Sinister]

Two days is enough to learn how to haul lumber and sheetrock, both of which pay crap as a rule. If vans works for you, stick with it, I'm just not sure how the rates are going to be. Any time I was working for a van company that accepted a broker load from Landstar it seemed like it was something none of their guys wanted. That view might change with their logo on the door though.

 

[Mike]

Two days is enough to learn how to haul lumber and sheetrock, both of which pay crap as a rule. If vans works for you, stick with it, I'm just not sure how the rates are going to be. Any time I was working for a van company that accepted a broker load from Landstar it seemed like it was something none of their guys wanted. That view might change with their logo on the door though.

I am a strict believer in not working hard unless the pay is worth it. I'm not lazy, but I am smart. I take pride in being smart. I preach it to my kids.

That said, I will migrate to anything within trucking, provided the money is truly worth it. When deciding this, it comes down to overall pay per total mile driven, overall work/time involved in that pay, and risk.

I have seen a couple guys post their numbers on this forum. I calculated the numbers silently. I seen numbers that were higher than what I make, but that only figured in revenue and fuel. Far more goes into that equation, and given that they were only making .20/mile more than what I was making with a stupid lease purchase payment, I felt good in what I was doing.

My plan is to do better going forward.

 

[Keendriver]

Why would you limit your revenue potential by sticking with dry van?

Is it the fingerless gloves or the lackadaisical shower requirements?

Heavy haul will net you much more cash.

There will be a learning curve and an upfront outlay of cash, but in the end, if you're in it for the long haul, it will pay off.

Learning load securement ain't rocket surgery....you can be taught.
It's just a case of stepping back, looking at the load and throwing 4 more chains than you think you need.

I can't give you any hard numbers as to what Keen pays their O/O's as I was just a co puke, but if the load I was pulling was paying me .50 a mile....I was NOT a happy camper.

Just something to consider......

 

[Sinister]

Heavy Haul is a HUGE upfront cost to get into though. It's one of the things that's stopped me from being an owner operator.

That said I did see some Landstar guys pulling blades today, and I've seen that same group fora few years now every where we go to pull blades in the event we do so these days.

If those guys werent making money they wouldn't be doing it. Buying your own blade trailer is not cheap.

I think Mike likes to get home though, so wind energy is probably out as an option.

 

[Keendriver]

Yeah but Radiant boy has been an O/O L/O Pumpkin driver making all that LARGE cash for years now.
Plus he lives in R-Kansas so his mortgage is what........ $38 a month?

He's got plenty O' spending money.

 

[Duck]

Yeah but Radiant boy has been an O/O L/O Pumpkin driver making all that LARGE cash for years now.
Plus he lives in R-Kansas so his mortgage is what........ $38 a month?

He's got plenty O' spending money.

He lives with 4 females.

So no.

 

[Keendriver]

He lives with 4 females.

So no.

 

[Mike]

Why would you limit your revenue potential by sticking with dry van?

Is it the fingerless gloves or the lackadaisical shower requirements?

Heavy haul will net you much more cash.

There will be a learning curve and an upfront outlay of cash, but in the end, if you're in it for the long haul, it will pay off.

Learning load securement ain't rocket surgery....you can be taught.
It's just a case of stepping back, looking at the load and throwing 4 more chains than you think you need.

I can't give you any hard numbers as to what Keen pays their O/O's as I was just a co puke, but if the load I was pulling was paying me .50 a mile....I was NOT a happy camper.

Just something to consider......

Heavy Haul is a HUGE upfront cost to get into though. It's one of the things that's stopped me from being an owner operator.

That said I did see some Landstar guys pulling blades today, and I've seen that same group fora few years now every where we go to pull blades in the event we do so these days.

If those guys werent making money they wouldn't be doing it. Buying your own blade trailer is not cheap.

I think Mike likes to get home though, so wind energy is probably out as an option.

Yeah but Radiant boy has been an O/O L/O Pumpkin driver making all that LARGE cash for years now.
Plus he lives in R-Kansas so his mortgage is what........ $38 a month?

He's got plenty O' spending money.

He lives with 4 females.

So no.

@Keendriver, it's not about total revenue. It is about money and hometime. I don't take loads for .50/mile, that is my profit after every expense I can put on my taxes, not including perdiem.

learning the securement isn't the issue, it is the time required to maker it profitable. I grew up as a farmboy, I can make anything stay on a trailer...

 

[Duck]

I grew up as a farmboy, I can make anything stay on a trailer...

I grew up in the suburbs, but I can make the entire east wall of a barn balance on a front end loader bucket on a tractor without brakes.

 

[Sinister]

 

[Keendriver]

@Keendriver, it's not about total revenue. It is about money and hometime. I don't take loads for .50/mile, that is my profit after every expense I can put on my taxes, not including perdiem.

learning the securement isn't the issue, it is the time required to maker it profitable. I grew up as a farmboy, I can make anything stay on a trailer...

Illinois to Houston....you are right in the middle of that trip that I made on a regular basis.

The .50 reference was me comparing my company rate (on a sheet load) to your L/O net, so factor in you being an O/O pulling equipment.

Just an option to consider.

 

[Sinister]

If @bigyellowpete was still checking in he could also have some input. Haven't heard from him in a while now...

 

[Keendriver]

If @bigyellowpete was still checking in he could also have some input. Haven't heard from him in a while now...

He's fat and he's a drunk and he owes me a breakfast.

Canadian Bacon I believe it was.......