Signing on with more than one carrier
- Thread starter AMonger
- Start date
Dakota
Veteran Expediter
I can't see how what you're doing could be legal unless you are acting in your own carrier capacity, with your own insurance coverage, or the Towne loads are booked by the agent directly through Ceva. Does your lease through Penske include insurance? If so, which kind? Do you think Ceva's insurance would cover a major liability loss if you happened to be involved in a crash while doing a Towne load? If you know your Ceva cargo insurance doesn't cover anyone else's freight, who is covering the cargo when you're doing the Towne loads?
There is a reason why Panther drivers are allowed to run brokered loads ONLY if they are arranged through Panther and not through the drivers themselves, and there is a reason why they're probably picky about who they allow their drivers to run freight for. And there is a reason why your insurance would have jumped substantially if you were to get your own authority. The insurance risk of a one-truck operation is going to be WAYY more than when it is spread over many trucks.
Everything a driver does affects his carrier's authority, stats, insurance rates, etc. I don't see how it would be possible for a carrier to accept responsibility for what their driver does while under another company's load, especially when they're not getting one cent out of it? Doesn't make sense.
It could be that if you are involved in an unfortunate event one day, you could find yourself liable in a personal way. Take your paperwork to a professional for thorough interpretation to make sure you're covered for what you're doing.
Dakota
Veteran Expediter
That is why I love this site. I learn something new every day. I will be doing my research and find out what I need to do. Ideally, I would like to be leased to Towne directly and not through an agent, that is currently in the works right now. In the meantime I have to check my insurance coverage....
Thanks to everyone for there advice
Thanks to everyone for there advice
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
And God forbid you would get into an accident
I think the best thing to do if you want to run for many different carriers is to get your own dot numbers and run as a back up carrier for many different ones. The only thing is you may be getting all the loads that their drivers don't want.
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That's why it is a good idea to work with two or three different small carriers. Sometimes you are not a priority for whatever reason and you simply cannot trust one carrier to watch the boards for you. There are going to be times when one carrier is on the ball "watching the boards" and will call you with a load offer while another carrier is simply non-responsive.
I, however, work strictly for one carrier that has regular customers, keeps me reasonably busy "about 5000-6000 miles a month on average" and pays me every week without hassle. If a smaller carrier can meet my financial needs; then I will have no need to partner up with other carriers. This is strictly for cargo vans mind you. If I had a straight truck, I don't think i'd have the need to partner up with multiple carriers to stay busy.
I think some of the smaller carriers get the fact that operating a cargo van can be a tuff gig and they give their van drivers more leadway because it is hard to make money in a van. I think that driving a cargo van can only be profitable if you are in the right situation; ie, a company favorite, a hard runner at a company that has no mileage restrictions and bids competitively in order to obtaiin loads for you. Perhaps a team with some larger carriers, or by running your own loads directly for a repeat customer...or being leased on with multiple carriers who have regular customers and or see different load boards.
I know several people who do well with larger carriers because they are teams or befriend people in dispatch. No company offers a level playing field despite what they say about their protocol for dispatching trucks. Working for smaller companies can help aleviate some of the games that the larger companies play. But in the end it all boils down to what you expect from your company. Right now i'm pretty impressed with what Bolt Express has been able to do for me and I find no need to jump carriers anytime soon.
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I would say to make sure you have adequate insurance coverage and know what is and isn't actually covered. I think PJJ was spot on. With regards to Panther broker loads, they are pretty open unless it is a difficult customer to collect from.
Since they do the collecting, it is only fair that they throw some barriers on those customers that are constantly delinquent or don't pay.
Since they do the collecting, it is only fair that they throw some barriers on those customers that are constantly delinquent or don't pay.
BoltExpress
Expert Expediter
(My opinion)
As an owner operator, the goal is to build your business. If a specific company is not providing you with a means to do that, then by all means...it makes sense to step outside the box to keep yourselves busy. Does this mean leasing onto 2, 3, 4, carriers? Leasing onto more than 1 company is similar to a carrier going out and getting a bunch of customers. Instead of waiting for 1 customer to call, they have 10 customers that could call. In essence, when you, the owner operator are leasing onto more than 1 company, you do with the intentions that you will have more than 1 person potentially looking for loads for you.
The other point of view is that of the company and the people who work at or with the company and no other company. Speaking from experience as a dispatch agent who currently works with a smaller carrier who allows owner operators to lease onto more than one company, I would say that it can be very frustrating focusing time and energy into someone who is not 100% committed to you and the company you both are working with. Thus, those people who do lease onto 2, 3, 4, companies may end up taking a backseat to the committed owner operators that the dispatcher knows are committed to their company. If I have 3 owner operators sitting in a specific area ready to go and 1 of the 3 is leased onto me solely....who do you think will get the first call and the first right of refusal?
As an owner operator, the goal is to build your business. If a specific company is not providing you with a means to do that, then by all means...it makes sense to step outside the box to keep yourselves busy. Does this mean leasing onto 2, 3, 4, carriers? Leasing onto more than 1 company is similar to a carrier going out and getting a bunch of customers. Instead of waiting for 1 customer to call, they have 10 customers that could call. In essence, when you, the owner operator are leasing onto more than 1 company, you do with the intentions that you will have more than 1 person potentially looking for loads for you.
The other point of view is that of the company and the people who work at or with the company and no other company. Speaking from experience as a dispatch agent who currently works with a smaller carrier who allows owner operators to lease onto more than one company, I would say that it can be very frustrating focusing time and energy into someone who is not 100% committed to you and the company you both are working with. Thus, those people who do lease onto 2, 3, 4, companies may end up taking a backseat to the committed owner operators that the dispatcher knows are committed to their company. If I have 3 owner operators sitting in a specific area ready to go and 1 of the 3 is leased onto me solely....who do you think will get the first call and the first right of refusal?
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Jefferson3000
Expert Expediter
Seriously true. You have to question the motive of carriers who allow this. You can't keep the ones you have leased busy? Why? Laziness? Many companies who allow the non-cmv trucks to do this are looking to grow their numbers on the books ONLY. To them size equals prestige and success.
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
Leasing onto more than 1 company.Are there really companies that will let you do this?How do you know who's liability insurance your running on in case of an accident.Company A offers you a load,but Company B might have a better one, so you turn down the first load,then Company C tell his customer he has a truck,But turns out your on Company B's.Unless yoour running under your own authority,and partnering with a few companies,this will never work,or be permitted.If you have to run a DOT number on your truck,this will also be a problem,you can't have but 1 DOT number on at a time.Anyone planning on trying this better check on legality.
This applies to CV's Steve...
you straights and Tractors can't do it...just because of what you said and others have pointed out..
Just get five QC domes installed along the length of your roof "all the way from the back doors to the front windshields!" Then you have to have 5 switches in the van to manually control each QC unit. Then you get some lcd television screens bolted to the sides of your van with a switch where you can change the logo to the carrier that you feel like working for on that particular day.
You can try and make each carrier give you the same unit number; that way you won't have to fool with changing your truck number every other day!! I think this would work!
You can try and make each carrier give you the same unit number; that way you won't have to fool with changing your truck number every other day!! I think this would work!
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
Jefferson3000
Expert Expediter
Dakota
Veteran Expediter
We don't care...
seriously...good thing....so were you not insured before?
Empty I was insured, non trucking Liability
Ceva covers liability while under a load
So in essence, when hauling for Towne I was uninsured
as far as liability goes, all other insurance I was covered.Most of the time I had at least one Ceva delivery on my truck in addition to the Towne deliveries, but not always.