1st post: any companies give you complete choice over when, where, if you take a ld?

[lowrange]

Hi,

I'm Carl. Had my CDL A since 1995. Man, the idea of driving my "vehicle" into someplace like Dallas; not needing a place to drop the trailer; not needing to park at a truckstop; being able to eat where I want; being able to go to a church, a motel or a wifi hotspot like Panera Bread anywhere I want: HEA-VEN-LY!!! I'm psyched! No more creative logging, and it gets silly out there even if you aren't working that hard. Whoo hoo! No logging! Sign me up! Ok, there's the intro. Now the question.

Two extremes, 1) owner operator for Landstar, you drive where, when, if you want; park the truck at the house for six weeks if you like and no one knows and no one cares.

Other extreme 2) company driver, generally forced dispatch no matter what they say. It's their truck, they want it out on the road moving. The more they can push you to drive, the more they make. They think you'll be thrilled when you hear one week off paid after a year! Hello? After a year!? How about a week off unpaid anytime I want one!? That's more like it, for me.

So my question is, how much freedom can you get with cargo vans or sprinters? If freedom is the A-1 highest priority, which companies are best?

First post, thanks for reading. Thanks for your replies, too.

[xiggi]

In reply to #1 it doesn't matter if you own the truck or who you drive for. You start taking six weeks off at a time it will hurt your business when you get back on the road, IMHO. All companies want people they can count on to be there when needed. A week or two at a time you can probably get by with but six weeks and you are easily forgotten.

[lowrange]

In reply to #1 it doesn't matter if you own the truck or who you drive for. You start taking six weeks off at a time it will hurt your business when you get back on the road, IMHO. All companies want people they can count on to be there when needed. A week or two at a time you can probably get by with but six weeks and you are easily forgotten.

Hi xiggi,

Just so you understand, this isn't a moral question- good people/bad people; hardworker/lazy, etc., etc. Landstar is set up with their owner operators so that you enter the system and do whatever it is you want. It's just the way they are set up, they 'broker out' any extra freight. They really don't care. And, that's why people join that company and stay.

But, that's big trucks. I want a tiny little truck that I can drive all over the place anywhere I want, both at home and on the road. Is there nothing like 'total freedom' in the c/v sprinter expedited biz? I can understand if there isn't, I'm just asking. If there isn't total freedom, is there one company that affords more freedom than the others?

[chefdennis]

I have a really strong feeling that no matter who you lease with, you continue to turn down runs because its to some place you "don't want" to go, take 6 weeks at a time off when you feel like it...and you will be a forgotten by the dispatchers....company policy be d*mned....dispatchers know who they can depend on and who turns them down or is out of service over and above the "norm" and they simply just don't call them enough for them to make any money.....but hey, who am i...i am just a "vacation Expediter" , i've only been leased to 1 company and for only 18 months.....

[lowrange]

Hhhhmmmm....not what I wanted to hear. Again, not to be stuck on Landstar, but it's just at one end of the continuum with regard to how much control you have over your life while still being employed. With Landstar, there is no dispatcher, you call agents directly (Or, you don't call. Like I said, nobody cares).

It sounds like expediters live and die by happy dispatchers. If I'm getting this right, you have to strike a balance between what you want and what they want. Push too much for what you want, they let you sit. Do anything they want, it could mean lots of deadhead miles, cheap freight, too much time away from the house, etc., etc.

Let me be specific about my own needs. Generally, I need to work. Carrot and stick, I don't need anyone pushing me, I need to make money, I'm generally eager to work. But, I have other interests, too, mostly church activities, and that can be any number of places around the country.

Sometimes I'll stay out for months, literally. I call it following the buffalo, just like the indians. I can do that, I'm not attached. Being home a lot would be great, but earning money right now takes precedence.

It's just that when you do want to be someplace special, can you get there? Let's say you did want to take a week or two or three off (special occasion), could you do it? I see more than with a semi, you could hop in your van and just drive home from wherever you are.

How about the second part of the question, are there some companies that are known to give you more control than others? Anyone with Landstar Express America? If anyone knows about freedom, they ought to. Now, whether the expedited division operates anything like the truckload carrier, that's another story.

[jaminjim]

If this is a real question, just go to Landstar Express. They will allow you to take off as long as you are asking for. You will only be limited by your income.

[lowrange]

If this is a real question, just go to Landstar Express. They will allow you to take off as long as you are asking for. You will only be limited by your income.

WOW!!! That would be awesome! So, there is such a beast, huh? A lot of those Landstar guys, they just stay south for the winter. That's my thinking. Run your butt off in the summer when the roads are dry and the weather is comfortable, work not so much in the north in the winter in the ice and salt. Maybe I'll start with Express America since I was there already.

Thx

[davekc]

At the end of the day, they are agents. Or............self employed dispatchers. Take your pick. If your not reliable, then they will load who is or their own trucks BEFORE you.
May be ok with that IF that is what your expecting.

[xiggi]

Hhhhmmmm....not what I wanted to hear. Again, not to be stuck on Landstar, but it's just at one end of the continuum with regard to how much control you have over your life while still being employed. With Landstar, there is no dispatcher, you call agents directly (Or, you don't call. Like I said, nobody cares).

It sounds like expediters live and die by happy dispatchers. If I'm getting this right, you have to strike a balance between what you want and what they want. Push too much for what you want, they let you sit. Do anything they want, it could mean lots of deadhead miles, cheap freight, too much time away from the house, etc., etc.

Let me be specific about my own needs. Generally, I need to work. Carrot and stick, I don't need anyone pushing me, I need to make money, I'm generally eager to work. But, I have other interests, too, mostly church activities, and that can be any number of places around the country.

Sometimes I'll stay out for months, literally. I call it following the buffalo, just like the indians. I can do that, I'm not attached. Being home a lot would be great, but earning money right now takes precedence.

It's just that when you do want to be someplace special, can you get there? Let's say you did want to take a week or two or three off (special occasion), could you do it? I see more than with a semi, you could hop in your van and just drive home from wherever you are.

How about the second part of the question, are there some companies that are known to give you more control than others? Anyone with Landstar Express America? If anyone knows about freedom, they ought to. Now, whether the expedited division operates anything like the truckload carrier, that's another story.

I think you are missing the point a couple of us have tried to make. First I will say I do not work for landstar and never have. I have talked to allot of their drivers because the company has interested me. My understanding is a good part of being successful with them is building a good relationship with several brokers. If you take six weeks off at a time then most brokers will not consider you as reliable as those that are out there more. Guess who is going to get the loads they have if both you and a more consistent drivers are available to run? We are not saying you wouldn't make some money but you can pretty much expect to make less per running week than those drivers who are available on a regular basis.

[lowrange]

At the end of the day, they are agents. Or............self employed dispatchers. Take your pick. If your not reliable, then they will load who is or their own trucks BEFORE you.
May be ok with that IF that is what your expecting.

That doesn't sound good. Even with the semis, agents will sometimes have their own trucks or their own friends and relatives or whatever. Landstar BCOs (O/Os) often talk about all the good paying freight that never makes it to their load board. C/Vs and sprinters are much cheaper than semis, I bet a lot of agents have their own fleets.

There was a downside to Landstar. The O/O has complete freedom, but the company doesn't owe you anthing, either. I once called immediately on a load only to be told the load had been brokered out to a non-Landstar truck. I sometimes found it hard to find good paying freight, and that was before the bank collapses.

[lowrange]

I think you are missing the point a couple of us have tried to make. First I will say I do not work for landstar and never have. I have talked to allot of their drivers because the company has interested me. My understanding is a good part of being successful with them is building a good relationship with several brokers. If you take six weeks off at a time then most brokers will not consider you as reliable as those that are out there more. Guess who is going to get the loads they have if both you and a more consistent drivers are available to run? We are not saying you wouldn't make some money but you can pretty much expect to make less per running week than those drivers who are available on a regular basis.

I'm not sure what point I'm missing, I already wrote about keeping the dispatchers happy. I understand the spectrum somewhat.

On one end, my job with ATS, their truck. You get back to the house Saturday morning and they've already told you about your load for Monday. Their truck, they want it moving.

In the middle, I was an O/O for Quality Carriers. All the loads come through a couple of dispatchers. You've got to make decisions for yourself, what loads you're going to take, it isn't forced dispatch. But, like I said, all loads come through the dispatcher. They have the ability to reward and to punish.

Other end of the spectrum, having your own authority, or leasing on in a system like Landstar. There are pluses and minuses to these operations, but the freedom on the 'where to', 'when' and 'if' is the greatest.

I'm just trying to learn the landscape of expedited freight. I really like the thought of being able to hang out at a community college waiting for a load instead of a truckstop. But, it sounds like there aren't any complete freedom systems. As I said earlier, it sounds like you have to strike a balance between what you want and what the dispatchers want. That would be most comparable the the Quality Carriers lease I had.

There still remains the issue, which companies allow more or less freedom. Even for systems where you have a dispatcher to keep happy, there's still probably a spectrum for how much you can turn down loads without the dispatchers getting an attitude over it.

[fastman_1]

My son has a Sprinter on with Landstar Just started his 2nd year with them, he stays out 6-8 weeks at a time is home a week then back at it, he is just starting to make a name for himself with the agents, you take 6 weeks off at a time, plan on adding another year to the name making process.

[lowrange]

I think I'm starting to like this less, having to make a name for yourself and all. That is, if making a name includes

staying out for a couple months
taking cheap freight
taking loads into dead areas where you'll have to deadhead back
driving all night pumped up on Red Bull
some other hardship I'm not thnking about

Now, you didn't say he does all this, I'm just imagining what it takes to make a name for yourself. I wrote earlier about balancing your own interests with those of the dispatchers (agents). It seems to me, if you're making a name for yourself, the balance is probably heavy toward the dispatcher.

Keeping your vehicle running well, being reliable and on time, looking presentable and being courteous, those are all standards IMHO. When I hear making a name for yourself, I think taking anything, doing favors, that kind of thing. Is that what it takes to be successful?

[jaminjim]

Not sure I understand your new concerns, if I understand correctly you've been driving for fourteen years. This is trucking plain and simple. It is a niche of the trucking industry, but still trucking. As an O/O you can do what you want and not do what you don't want to do. Your level of success will in part depend on what you do. That is no different than any other endeavor.

As Dave says "Don't complicate the simple."

[lowrange]

Not sure I understand your new concerns, if I understand correctly you've been driving for fourteen years. This is trucking plain and simple. It is a niche of the trucking industry, but still trucking. As an O/O you can do what you want and not do what you don't want to do. Your level of success will in part depend on what you do. That is no different than any other endeavor.

As Dave says "Don't complicate the simple."

By asking questions before signing the contract, you can try to find the best fit. Some jobs suit you better than others, some niches, too. Just trying to understand this niche. And I'm sure, there will be some variance even within this niche.

I don't care for the good ol' boy manner of doing things. I simply like to know my job, what's expected of me, and to do it well. Schmoozing, politicking or even bootlicking...what does it take to be a favored unit in this niche? If I've got to stay out months to make it work, I want to know it up front so I can consider the cost. This may or may not be for me, that's why I'm on the newbie forum asking. I appreciate all the replys.