Multi-Carrier, Freight volume, and selling advertisements on your truck/van

soundfx4

Active Expediter
I do believe this is my first post here, and I've only been driving expedite for 4-5 months now and still consider myself very much a newbie. I'll get strait to the questions though to keep this as short as possible :p

While browsing these forums, I found an interesting thread labeled Multi-carrier thread under the Carrier forums. This raised and eyebrow and definitely peaked my interest. As it stands, what little I know about Expedite trucking is as such:

Expedite company: Handles the logistics, setting up loads/negotiating rates with the customer, dispatching to drivers, puts their company log on the truck/van, installs qualcomm units (if they utilize this technology) and assigns truck numbers to the owners truck/van.

Owner: Owns the truck, pays for all maintenance and repairs/truck payments, as well as any fees/insurance that will be required, and pays the driver. (unless of course the owner is the driver as well, in which case they pay themselves :p)

Driver: Sub-contracted by the owner and pays for fuel (I do understand this, not to mention other details, vary depending on the owner) and deals directly with the expedite company for dispatching, negotiations and getting home.

I'm sure I left some stuff out, but that's how I understand it in a nutshell, and so you might see how being a Multi-Carrier driver confuses me. I very much like the idea of a Multi-carrier driver for many reasons; apparently it's only allowed with cargo vans and that means better fuel mileage and less restrictions/no HoS regulation (from my understanding) not having to go into weigh stations (this might vary?) fitting in more parking lots, etc. And I like the sound of Multi-carrier because what that says to me is more resources for freight and in turn, more freight opportunities which I believe in turn would mean getting home faster/easier, but I'm not 100% sure about that? I see a lot of advantages to this, however, I just learned about it and can hardly even pretend to understand it. In the first place, it confuses me because right now because I'm driving for panther. I'm like a dedicated sub-contractor for them. My strait truck has their logo on it, I deal only with them and my owner, and that's the only way I understand it. So the multi-carrier thing confuses me the most from that aspect. Could someone provide a simple explanation, and maybe some links to more resources where I could learn more about this?


My second question is about Freight volume. If going with only one Expedite carrier, then would any one of them have a clear advantage of more freight opportunities over another? And would this heavily depend on the area, or could it be summed up as "insert carrier here" has more freight overall than the others?



Third question is possibly the least important, but also depends on what kind of answers I get to it :p What expedite carriers, if any, would allow owners to sell advertising space on their truck/van assuming the advertisement did not conflict with their services? This was one of the first questions I asked when I was in orientation with Panther, because every other important question was being answered in the orientation. I was irritated to find out the answer was no, and so I'm not interested in staying with Panther if there are other carriers out there that would allow this (assuming their freight volume and pay is comparable)

Thank you very much for your time!
 

guido4475

Not a Member
I do believe this is my first post here, and I've only been driving expedite for 4-5 months now and still consider myself very much a newbie. I'll get strait to the questions though to keep this as short as possible :p

While browsing these forums, I found an interesting thread labeled Multi-carrier thread under the Carrier forums. This raised and eyebrow and definitely peaked my interest. As it stands, what little I know about Expedite trucking is as such:

Expedite company: Handles the logistics, setting up loads/negotiating rates with the customer, dispatching to drivers, puts their company log on the truck/van, installs qualcomm units (if they utilize this technology) and assigns truck numbers to the owners truck/van.

Owner: Owns the truck, pays for all maintenance and repairs/truck payments, as well as any fees/insurance that will be required, and pays the driver. (unless of course the owner is the driver as well, in which case they pay themselves :p)

Driver: Sub-contracted by the owner and pays for fuel (I do understand this, not to mention other details, vary depending on the owner) and deals directly with the expedite company for dispatching, negotiations and getting home.

I'm sure I left some stuff out, but that's how I understand it in a nutshell, and so you might see how being a Multi-Carrier driver confuses me. I very much like the idea of a Multi-carrier driver for many reasons; apparently it's only allowed with cargo vans and that means better fuel mileage and less restrictions/no HoS regulation (from my understanding) not having to go into weigh stations (this might vary?) fitting in more parking lots, etc. And I like the sound of Multi-carrier because what that says to me is more resources for freight and in turn, more freight opportunities which I believe in turn would mean getting home faster/easier, but I'm not 100% sure about that? I see a lot of advantages to this, however, I just learned about it and can hardly even pretend to understand it. In the first place, it confuses me because right now because I'm driving for panther. I'm like a dedicated sub-contractor for them. My strait truck has their logo on it, I deal only with them and my owner, and that's the only way I understand it. So the multi-carrier thing confuses me the most from that aspect. Could someone provide a simple explanation, and maybe some links to more resources where I could learn more about this?


My second question is about Freight volume. If going with only one Expedite carrier, then would any one of them have a clear advantage of more freight opportunities over another? And would this heavily depend on the area, or could it be summed up as "insert carrier here" has more freight overall than the others?



Third question is possibly the least important, but also depends on what kind of answers I get to it :p What expedite carriers, if any, would allow owners to sell advertising space on their truck/van assuming the advertisement did not conflict with their services? This was one of the first questions I asked when I was in orientation with Panther, because every other important question was being answered in the orientation. I was irritated to find out the answer was no, and so I'm not interested in staying with Panther if there are other carriers out there that would allow this (assuming their freight volume and pay is comparable)

Thank you very much for your time!

I do not see any advantage to being leased to several small carriers at once.I once heard it wasn't legal, don't know the whole story on that. The problem is, most, not all, small carriers bid off of the same load boards.So you are sitting in Laredo, leased to say 3 small carriers at once.They all see the same load on the load board.It becomes a bidding war.Who loses in this scenario? You do.You just sold yourself out to the lowest bidder.Stick with one good, solid, reputable company.Advertising on the side of a cargo van? Never saw that one yet, and I'm not sure many will like the idea, either, just saying.Not a bad idea, though...
 

BobWolf

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Do yourself, your fellow drivers, the company you work for, and carriers providing work work a favor..
1) Read the contract and the company SOP manual.
2) Honor your contract and follow your companies S.O.P.s as written.
Any questions? Review answers 1 and 2
Even as a subcontractor they have say in what the company rules and regulations are its that simple.

Bob Wolf.
 

soundfx4

Active Expediter
hmm...I dunno, I just know that I found that thread and it seamed to be advantageous. Not much was really mentioned in that thread about brokers and boards, so I don't really know what it means to sign on with multiple carriers. I do, however, remember one thing. Someone did bring this up (and the only reason I didn't reply with this question is that I don't like to junk up threads, it makes them difficult to find answers for people in the future, whether it be a google searcher, or someone searching the forums) they asked if Expedite carriers allowed this, and the response seemed to point that they would only allow this for cargo van. And I don't think the topic of multi carrier was specific to small carriers, or any carriers for that matter. I just know that the title 'small carrier' was not used (at least I'm pretty sure it wasn't).

I've always had the idea of selling advertising space, it seems like a great and easy way to make extra money to help cover truck/van payments (Especially if it's a cargo van) but I'm not sure if any carriers allow this. :\
 

danthewolf00

Veteran Expediter
I run with 3 of the"small" carriers 2 of them have at least 150 van/ sprinters and I can say I run as well as when I was with express-1.
 

guido4475

Not a Member
I do not see any advantage to being leased to several small carriers at once.I once heard it wasn't legal, don't know the whole story on that. The problem is, most, not all, small carriers bid off of the same load boards.So you are sitting in Laredo, leased to say 3 small carriers at once.They all see the same load on the load board.It becomes a bidding war.Who loses in this scenario? You do.You just sold yourself out to the lowest bidder.Stick with one good, solid, reputable company.Advertising on the side of a cargo van? Never saw that one yet, and I'm not sure many will like the idea, either, just saying.Not a bad idea, though...

Another thing to consider with doing the multi-carrier thing: Insurance.Most companies that allow you to be leased on with them, along with other small carriers, require that you carry "Primary" insurance, which is basically all the different types of insurance wrapped up in one.(cargo, unloaded/loaded liability, and physical).This insurance can be really expensive, I once had a quote of over $4,000 a year. The way it is now, I pay $720.00 a year, to be leased on with 1 really good company, hauling freight for excellent rates, in my book.These mom and pop carriers, not all of them, generally will pay less.So, why would someone want to pay so much more for insurance to haul cheap freight? The absence of a qualcomm and it's fees? That only comes out $1,560 a year.So, where do you make up the rest of it hauling cheap freight? It just doesn't add up, and isn't worth it.You, as a driver, for what you go through out here,are worth more than that.Work for a company that appreciates you.
 

Rocketman

Veteran Expediter
hmm...I dunno, I just know that I found that thread and it seamed to be advantageous. Not much was really mentioned in that thread about brokers and boards, so I don't really know what it means to sign on with multiple carriers. I do, however, remember one thing. Someone did bring this up (and the only reason I didn't reply with this question is that I don't like to junk up threads, it makes them difficult to find answers for people in the future, whether it be a google searcher, or someone searching the forums) they asked if Expedite carriers allowed this, and the response seemed to point that they would only allow this for cargo van. And I don't think the topic of multi carrier was specific to small carriers, or any carriers for that matter. I just know that the title 'small carrier' was not used (at least I'm pretty sure it wasn't).

I've always had the idea of selling advertising space, it seems like a great and easy way to make extra money to help cover truck/van payments (Especially if it's a cargo van) but I'm not sure if any carriers allow this. :\
Advertising: Many of the carriers pay an extra amount of money to the contractor (truck owner) for displaying to expedite companies' signage. These companies will not be interested. Some of the multiple carrier companies might allow it, but you would just be trading one form of payment for advertising for another in some cases. I guess it depends on how much you can sell the ad for. I'm pretty sure I've seen links posted on this website about an advertising company who specializes in exactly what your talking about...selling ad space on the side of trucks. They act as an agent as I recall. Might be a place to start.

The biggest drawback to doing multiple carrier contracts in anything larger than a van is the compliance issues. There has to be a single carrier in that mix somewhere who administer logbook compliance checks, drug testing procedures, etc, etc. If you want to run a Straight truck or larger with multiple carriers, best thing to do is just get your own authority and be your own carrier.

Ive said it before and I still believe it. I dont see the multiple carrier guys making more money than I do. Its that simple. In fact, I think they make less while having to buy more of their own insurances and do more billing/collecting. I am not interested in getting paid less to do more. BUT, there are plenty here who claim to like it. I would advise you to seek them out and ask a lot of questions.
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I have never seen someone running for multiple carriers provide any proof they do any better than someone running for one good single carrier. I see no real advantage to it but do service disadvantages and it does in some ways harm the industry as a whole.

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xmudman

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
As far as advertising on the side of your vehicle goes:

Suppose you are a Coke drinker like me, so much so that you decide to turn your truck into a rolling shrine to all things Coca-Cola.

Then suppose you get a hot & profitable run to a Pepsi facility....
 

soundfx4

Active Expediter
As far as advertising on the side of your vehicle goes:

Suppose you are a Coke drinker like me, so much so that you decide to turn your truck into a rolling shrine to all things Coca-Cola.

Then suppose you get a hot & profitable run to a Pepsi facility....

I've thought about this actually. I'd look to be advertising services, rather than products. And services that do not conflict with my carrier(s). Trucks haul product, so there are plenty of advertising opportunities that would not put me in such a position...at least I think there are :p More research would be needed, of course, but no matter how much I look into it, how much I know about it, it will be no good if the carrier doesn't allow it. :p
 

soundfx4

Active Expediter
Advertising: Many of the carriers pay an extra amount of money to the contractor (truck owner) for displaying to expedite companies' signage. These companies will not be interested. Some of the multiple carrier companies might allow it, but you would just be trading one form of payment for advertising for another in some cases. I guess it depends on how much you can sell the ad for. I'm pretty sure I've seen links posted on this website about an advertising company who specializes in exactly what your talking about...selling ad space on the side of trucks. They act as an agent as I recall. Might be a place to start.

The biggest drawback to doing multiple carrier contracts in anything larger than a van is the compliance issues. There has to be a single carrier in that mix somewhere who administer logbook compliance checks, drug testing procedures, etc, etc. If you want to run a Straight truck or larger with multiple carriers, best thing to do is just get your own authority and be your own carrier.

Ive said it before and I still believe it. I dont see the multiple carrier guys making more money than I do. Its that simple. In fact, I think they make less while having to buy more of their own insurances and do more billing/collecting. I am not interested in getting paid less to do more. BUT, there are plenty here who claim to like it. I would advise you to seek them out and ask a lot of questions.

Now that's something I didn't think about. My owner would be the one getting that extra amount of money, so that would explain why I knew nothing about it, assuming that panther does this. Would you, by chance, know where some of those links are? If I'm just trading one form of payment for another, it might not be worth it, but if I can have this as additional income, it would most certainly be worth it.

I figured as such, I would probably only be interested in doing it (if at all, everyone seems to be advising against it) in a van anyway since they are not regulated. I have thought about getting my own authority (although to be honest I don't understand what 'being my own authority' really means and what all it entails) and being my own carrier, but being an unknown small carrier, I would probably be harassed by DoT officers all the time, I would not be eligible for a prepass, and would just overall get more roadside inspections and pull ins at weigh stations. At least, that's how I understand it to work. They already make me a nervous wreck as it is, I don't need that extra stress, and in fact, the vans are more attractive to me, at least from that perspective, because I wouldn't have to worry about HoS, road side inspections, weigh stations. Just the thought puts my mind at ease.

Multi-carrier running is becoming less attractive to me, but I still would definitely like to learn more about it. I'll try to seek some of them out if none of them happen upon this thread.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I don't know of any carrier that allows outside advertising on the trucks or vans leased to them. Doing so would directly associate the carrier with the advertiser. The carrier would also want a sizable chunk of the ad revenue in return for allowing it. Such associations can become very problematic when legal liability enters the picture, too. FedEx Custom Critical truck driving down the road with a sign on the side that says "Eat at Joe's Crab Shack". You read it, are swayed by the ad to go and eat at Joe's Crack Shack, and while eating there you get a crab claw stuck in your throat. You sue Joe's Crab Shack... and FedEx.
 

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
I can think of 1 carrier that will not even allow you to put a "OOIDA" sticker on a truck leased to them...The chances of any of the mid to large carriers allowing you to sell "AD" space will be slim to none...and the fact is, the any money generated would go to the owner of the truck, not you as a contract driver...then you have the type pf company..for the most part you would need a "national" company not a "regional" company..now you will be working with "ad agencies" and you can bet that if it was a viable idea, they'd already have it in place...And you can bet ,"Panther is NOT going to let you do it....

As was pointed out, "liability" comes into mind. LOL, I can tell you that carriers for the most part don't even like "stickers" on the trucks leased to them....politics, services, products, someone somewhere that you interact with will get a bug up their butt and call the carrier...it happens!!!
 

soundfx4

Active Expediter
I don't know of any carrier that allows outside advertising on the trucks or vans leased to them. Doing so would directly associate the carrier with the advertiser. The carrier would also want a sizable chunk of the ad revenue in return for allowing it. Such associations can become very problematic when legal liability enters the picture, too. FedEx Custom Critical truck driving down the road with a sign on the side that says "Eat at Joe's Crab Shack". You read it, are swayed by the ad to go and eat at Joe's Crack Shack, and while eating there you get a crab claw stuck in your throat. You sue Joe's Crab Shack... and FedEx.


I'm not so sure about your liability concern, but I'd have to consult a lawyer to make sure. The only reason I question it is because if your same scenario were to happen, except for instead of a FedEx truck, it's a Lamar bill board, I'm pretty sure you can't sue Lamar.

Just like Lamar, I would be providing a physical medium on which to advertise a service or product, so it makes sense that we would both have the same liability; 0. But then again, that's just an observation, I'll have to actually check with a legal consultant in regards to that. I do appreciate you bringing up the issue though. I hadn't thought of that.
 

jimby82

Veteran Expediter
I know sometime back, there was a thread on here concerning the "billboard" trucks you sometimes see on the highway. Smaller straights (or cutaways) with what amounts to a billboard. They are paid to drive the billboard around. I seem to remember someone had looked into it, or maybe even were doing it. Maybe this wound be of interest.
 

soundfx4

Active Expediter
I know sometime back, there was a thread on here concerning the "billboard" trucks you sometimes see on the highway. Smaller straights (or cutaways) with what amounts to a billboard. They are paid to drive the billboard around. I seem to remember someone had looked into it, or maybe even were doing it. Maybe this wound be of interest.

I'll see if I can find that. I can't say I would mind doing that, as long as the compensation was reasonable. But it'd just be all the better if I could make money on loads and cash in on advertisements as well! :p
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I'm not so sure about your liability concern, but I'd have to consult a lawyer to make sure. The only reason I question it is because if your same scenario were to happen, except for instead of a FedEx truck, it's a Lamar bill board, I'm pretty sure you can't sue Lamar.

Just like Lamar, I would be providing a physical medium on which to advertise a service or product, so it makes sense that we would both have the same liability; 0. But then again, that's just an observation, I'll have to actually check with a legal consultant in regards to that. I do appreciate you bringing up the issue though. I hadn't thought of that.

You don't have to be technical liable they can still name the company in a suit. When that happens it costs money to prove your not liable so they still lose.

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Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I'm not so sure about your liability concern, but I'd have to consult a lawyer to make sure. The only reason I question it is because if your same scenario were to happen, except for instead of a FedEx truck, it's a Lamar bill board, I'm pretty sure you can't sue Lamar.
First, it's a shame you deleted that post. It has a couple of points that merit discussion.

Second, equating a FedEx truck with a Lamar billboard is an incorrect analogy, because Lamar has certain protections with them being a publisher that FedEx would not have as a motor carrier with freight authority. Lamar is a medium, FedEx is an endorser.

Just like Lamar, I would be providing a physical medium on which to advertise a service or product, so it makes sense that we would both have the same liability; 0. But then again, that's just an observation, I'll have to actually check with a legal consultant in regards to that.
Well, you personally and Lamar would have more or less the same liability, which is zero, but if that truck is running under authority as a motor carrier, then a different set of liabilities enter the picture.

I do know that several years ago there was a truck leased on with Con-Way NOW who had advertising for Idlebusters on the box side and rear of his truck. By doing so, he was directly associating the two companies as each endorsing the other. I do not know one way or the other if Con-Way NOW authorized the advertisement, but I do know that a problem developed with Idlebusters and Con-Way NOW (actually the parent company) had to deal with it in court. They were not found liable, but it's something they had to deal with nonetheless.

I do appreciate you bringing up the issue though. I hadn't thought of that.
That's what EO is best at, bringing up stuff people never consider.

Another one to consider is, you'll almost certainly have to have your own authority to do what you want to do. When you lease on with a carrier and run under their authority, you are literally transferring to the carrier of authority the right to possession and/or use of goods or equipment (your truck) for a term in return for consideration. Also, the lease contract with a carrier contains an implied Duty of Trust and Confidence, which is implied in all contracts, and basically means that neither party will, without reasonable and proper cause, conduct itself in a manner likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of confidence and trust between the contractor and carrier, or damage the reputations of either. If you are leased on with a carrier and/or running under their authority, any company advertising on your truck, other than that of the carrier, must not breach these two implied parts of the contract. That's a lot of responsibility and risk for both the carrier and the advertiser. That's why you don't see very much of it. But the real big biggie when leased to a carrier that that transfer of the right to possession and/or use of goods or equipment. That provision makes it 100% their call.
 

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I run with 3 of the"small" carriers 2 of them have at least 150 van/ sprinters and I can say I run as well as when I was with express-1.

While this is just one person's experience, it confirms what many of us thought to be the case, that there is no advantage to the multi-carrier business model. If your only going to do as well, not better, why deal with the added BS involved with being with several companies?
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
While this is just one person's experience, it confirms what many of us thought to be the case, that there is no advantage to the multi-carrier business model. If your only going to do as well, not better, why deal with the added BS involved with being with several companies?

Agreed...why not just relax and deal with 1 carrier...more aggravation for the same money..
 
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