Expediter Success

rvoss70

Seasoned Expediter
By general consensus which carrier provides the greater opportunity to being financially successful as a solo o/o with a tractor?
 

redytrk

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I would worry more about the HOS fr a solo driver than the carrier. HOS makes it very difficult for the solo. Expediting means straight Thur delivery. Something a solo can`t do on the longer runs.

It is a catch 22 the best carriers wont dispatch you if you cant be legal. The carriers that look the other way,you wouldn`t want to be with.
 

terryandrene

Veteran Expediter
Safety & Compliance
US Coast Guard
I think that you'll find that the best carrier for a solo in a tractor is the carrier to which the responding driver is leased. If that was not the case, then the driver would move on to the next carrier believed to be the best opportunity provider. I know that that may sound like a wiseass answer, but one person's best carrier is another person's worst nightmare. If everyone knew the best carrier, everyone would be there and all other carriers would be out of business for lack of trucks and drivers.

FedEx Custom Critical, Landstar Express America, Panther, Tri-State are each among the Expedite carriers that have tractor divisions. I think your best bet is to contact each of them, compare their offers and conditions and come back to the forum with some specific questions. good luck for a successful search
 

kwexpress

Veteran Expediter
KW Express
o/o till i die

All BS aside the best carrier for a solo tractor is yourself.
get you own authority and haul loads for panther,landstar,tri state,express 1,fed-ex all the major players and if there is no expedite in the area you deliver to then find your own truckload and dont give anyone a cut.you can make 20k a month easy if your a hard runner and they the major expediters dont give a crap about your log.plus with your own authority you can get $3.00 per mile for the expedites.and $1.50 on your backhauls is simple.of course your gonna have the ones on hear tell you its just not worth the extra time you have to spend finding your own loads and you have to pay your own insurance and bla bla bla but you asked for the best and bottom line nobody works harder for you than yourself.do it dont be a chicken,
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
I think the benefits are somewhere in between. With your own authority you can haul expedites for other carriers. Keep in mind you are getting their junk that they don't won't. On occassion you will find a diamond, but only because they don't have a available truck. If business slows, these loads dry up.
On the other side of that coin is the mindset of "I don't haul cheap frieght", or "I make so much on a run, I can DH anywhere". More often than not, rates aren't high enough regardless of the carrier to use that mentality. Secondly, if one thinks all the broker loads are cheap, they either don't know what they are doing, or looking in the wrong places. Again, ask someone that runs under their own authority, and that is easy to confirm.
The trade off is that with your own authority, you take on much more responsibility. That means everything from collections, looking and obtaining loads, customer chargebacks, fuel tax calculations, DOT audits, drug tests, much higher insurance, permits, and I could go on. Doesn't mean it is bad, but it is a reality if one goes down this path. All of those items have a cost, whether you do them or not, and a dedication of time. One can hire companies for these services, but they aren't free. We give up 15 percent to have these items addressed. It is cheaper to do it yourself, but your time still as a value.
There's my penny in the pond.









Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
 

x06col

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
US Army
And, to throw a nuther penny in. A Carrier, can't make YOU successful.
 

arkjarhead

Veteran Expediter
I know panther will let you book your own loads if you want while leased to them. they take 15% off the top. Which is a pretty good deal if you consider what you get for that 15%. Insurance, and the simple fact that they do the billing and take care of collecting the money owed on the load. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they even pay you for those loads before they get their money. Most of the factoring companies I think take 10% to assume the liabilty of collecting on the freight bills. So if you ask me it's a pretty good deal.
 

arkjarhead

Veteran Expediter
Oh yeah, Transtewart has a tractor trailer division you may want to check with them and see what they have to offer.
 
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