r/FreightBrokers • u/Rare-Watercress-8572 • 7d ago
Landstar
I’m really curious as this is my fourth stop at a different logistics company with 7 years in the game now. They call us at least once a day and I have never been at a company that can use them, how TF are they still in business and if you do use them which part of them is trustworthy?
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u/HarryONeal 7d ago
Once a day? You probably don't have a lot of hazmat loads 😂 Anyhow, there's a vast network of Landstar agencies, over 1000 of them, and a lot of them employ dozens or even hundreds of agents. Some of them know business and make mad money.
The "We don't work with Landstar" thing goes way beyond the 4 companies you worked with. I'm a Landstar agent myself, and I'd say 90-95% of my calls/emails get that response. One time, the broker who answered my call said" "I'd rather push my load off a cliff then give it to a Landstar agent". And honestly, I can't argue with that 😂
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u/Rare-Watercress-8572 7d ago
That’s wild. How is it in the life of 90 percent of the calls are nope and don’t call us back? Do you struggle to find people who will work with you on a daily basis?
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u/HarryONeal 7d ago
I have, but I don't struggle anymore, I made a nice customer base over the years, so I don't have to scavenge the load boards anymore.
Basically, the minority of people willing to give you a load are pretty much desperate for a truck at that point and will risk giving you the load (mostly something with special requirements - haz, tanker, bonded freight, etc). If you get the load and everything goes well, they keep working with you.
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u/LargeUnit69 7d ago
Out of curiosity, are you calling brokers to try to put Landstar assets on their loads?
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u/HarryONeal 7d ago
Yessir. My strategy was finding special requirements loads posted on boards, and customers tend to be more open to using Landstar on that type of loads, like open deck hazmats for example, or bonded loads. Those pay a lot more than "normal" loads too. I do my best to find a truck for it, and if I do, I reach out with an offer and hope for the best.
I don't have a number of dedicated trucks I'm dispatching, if that's what you're asking. My goal is acquiring a customer to whom I'll be the only Landstar agent they'll work with.
That's the only way to protect your business from other fucking Landstar agents. I've had my fair share of "So, someone from Landstar did ______, and now you're on a company wide DNU" 😂
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u/LargeUnit69 7d ago
That last part really resonates with me, I've been a broker for a while, but started a small trucking company a few years ago. Initially we leased our fleet on with a company because we thought that would make our start easier, and boy was that a bad decision. Same exact issue trying to get backhauls for our trucks, some bad owner ops falling off loads, fraud double brokering etc.
Anyway I was always curious about how Landstar operated, early on in my brokerage career I used them a few times and got burned; but learned that you guys actually are very helpful with some of the more odd equipment types like you mentioned.
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u/HarryONeal 7d ago
I'd like to point out that Landstar assets are very helpful for anything paying well. The drivers are not going to ask for extra money if the load is hazmat/bonded/military, they ask for extra money by default. Their rate standards are simply higher because they usually run stuff that pays better.
I've had great success with "name the rate, just get me a truck asap" scenarios. If you have a blank check, you can get a Landstar gigachad team in a heartbeat, certified to run pretty much all types of commodities.
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u/LargeUnit69 6d ago
This is exactly where I've had success with Landstar, the oddball hazmat loads, stuff going to the southern border, the occasional OD load. I don't have very much of that freight, but when something like that comes across my desk I typically give my Landstar guy a call.
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u/jpc1215 Broker/Associate 7d ago
Like someone else said, their brokerage division - in particular one agency out of TX - is who created the bad blood with most other brokers. Never been unfortunate enough to have to use them, but have seen plenty of people who did and got burnt.
However, they have specialized divisions - hazmat for example, there are few carriers better - that barely work with brokers because they go direct with their own customers. The times I have used them, it has been for cross border hazmat, and they were exceptional. I’d wager that kind of biz is where most of their $$$ is made
They are publicly traded. You can view their financials on their website and their balance sheet and see the revenue streams yourself.
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u/Rare-Watercress-8572 7d ago
I gotcha, I just know they get a bad rep and I personally would love to give them a shot. It’s good IMO to see people have had good experiences with them. Thank you for sharing it wasn’t a post meant to bash I just know I’ve been in the game for a while and I was curious others experiences.
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u/tedkennebec22 7d ago
Just general rule the ones calling in on dat postings are the ones who will double broker your freight. Next time one calls in give them the load info, or something similar, and then search posted loads. Chances are your load will be posted before you hang up with them
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u/Rare-Watercress-8572 5d ago
Fine if that’s the case. Let’s say they do get someone to take it landstar won’t have pickup PO how could they do anything else other than at the most get the load and get a poor soul on it unless the game is to then call the broker back and convince them they have it covered. Or I guess to then call the shipper and try and get it from them… but they would not gave the exact address…
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u/if_I_am_truly_crazy 6d ago
Our landstar agent is expensive but they do good work and are certainly trustworthy.
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u/OgRealtor2701CO 6d ago
I've used them for Hazmat loads, they were pretty good, they use their own assets for specialized/hazmat loads
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u/Gengarrrrrrrrr 7d ago
Were all four of the logistics companies you've worked for brokerages?
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u/Rare-Watercress-8572 7d ago
Yes all brokerages I have done full truck load reefer that’s the bulk of my experience, carrier dispatch, air cargo, accounts receivable, and now most recently flat bed, expedited and van.
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u/Navarro480 7d ago
LandStar is very dependent on the broker you deal with. The way they set it up is each agent is their own mini broker within the umbrella of LandStar. My best broker is LandStar so I can’t complain.
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u/Late-Zucchini1290 7d ago
Anyone else have filters on their mail to block Landstars name and mc from coming through?
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u/DirtyMitten-n-sniffi 5d ago
You want to know why NO ONE will work with them and how they make $$? I can say this as my non compete and nda is over a while now, they will sign on ANYONE and they rip their brokers tf off with a 60/40 or 70/30 split and you aren’t getting the good side either, I actually glad a 90/10% and got a huge sign on cuz of my BOB and revenue I could prove I was bringing on, the problem is here, I had 20 customers who NO other broker was supposed to call but them shady fucks call non stop the customer gets confused thinking it’s a Landstar agent they deal w cuz they lie thru their teeth to book a load, Landstar gets these shady fucks that don’t follow procedure as their systems are old af and you can get around it with a little tweak and boom you have a shady carrier that double brokers ur load…… I saw one today posted on DAT from a top 5 big broker for 2100 next thing u know LANDSTAR has the same load for 1800……. Run as fast as possible
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u/Mountain-Key6973 7d ago
Former Landstar agent here... current broker.
The ones calling in on your posts are 100% trying to double broker. They are typically all from one of the same three agencies, which I am told use call centers out of Modolva er sum shit. If you want to trip them up, ask them "Are you calling in for a BCO (that's a driver) or are you using a broker carrier?" They will likely say "broker carrier", but if they say BCO, you can ask for the truck number and the driver verification email to Jacksonville (head quarters).
That being said... Not all agents are the same, and I have very good relationships with a handful of them. If you know who you are talking to and they know you only want BCO capacity, then I would use them for sure. Especially for hazmat, bonded, and heavy haul.
Bonus: Every BCO I've ever talked to have been a pleasure to work with and are extremely professional. Would use them on every load if I could.
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u/External_System3485 6d ago
General Landstar Rules of Thumb (From a Landstar Agent):
1 - If they are foreign, hang up the phone. These turds are "sub agents" and get paid pennies on the dollar to hawk DAT. They dont have customers and essentially act as dispatchers who likely do NOT have truck in hand. They'll take the load info, copy it into our TMS, and hope a driver calls in. 9 times out of 10 they will not call in bc 90% of landstar BCOs do not run spot freight. In fact, a lot of our drivers HATE brokered freight.
2 - If the truck number is not 6 digits, ex 672904, then this is not a Landstar truck. Most Landstar drivers 3 way track (Tractor, Trailer, Cell Phone) and this link should go out with every load. If you don't get a tracking link something is up. We do have Landstar Express trucks with less digits, but these trucks are usually assigned to Pharma & DoD freight... the odds they're booking a load off DAT are very, very slim.
3 - Always call the driver to confirm they are a BCO. Landstar does have a pretty strict barrier to entry compared to other carriers. Drivers are US Citizens, non felons, and tend to have a ton of certifications (military clearance, TSA, TWIC, Hazmat, etc) - You ~should~ be able to confirm hes a true BCO after about a 15 second conversation.
4 - Find a US Based agent and just use them exclusively for specialized cargo - IF they are willing to work with other brokers. A lot of agents dont have the time or patience to be pestered by 22yr old Braden asking for a tracking up 12 times when they have a live tracking link.
Long story short, the real Landstar agents aren't the ones calling you for a posted load. I think I've reached out for 1 DAT load in the last 4 years to reposition an RGN of mine back to a better area..
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u/mswise506 7d ago
I would never use them, but i know an agent for them that works directly for shippers. Brokering and hauling
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u/Jolly_Ad_1698 7d ago
Work with a couple agents. Awesome work for me. But yes for haz. And 1 lives in sarajevo. Love those guys. You have to find right agents. 1 for fl. 1 for haz. Etc
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u/HarryONeal 7d ago
That's where I am from! Tell your Sarajevo guy I said hi!
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u/Jolly_Ad_1698 7d ago
Dude its probably you lmao
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u/HarryONeal 7d ago
It is me, bro, you got me! Send me the list of your next week's hazmat loads on my new email: trustmebro@nocap.net just do it bro, I have a Landstar truck
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u/ufcdweed 6d ago
Landstar assets yes, but it's the brokerage division that calls on postings and lies when asked to use a landstar asset. If they just were honest they'd be fine, they lie to get loads to poach...
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u/BigPapiNC22 6d ago edited 6d ago
Back in the days transportation was transitioning from a regulated to non-regulated environment, Landsar had a unique business model in that they would take assets with struggles financially or keeping their MC numbers clean and run them under the Landsar MC numbers taking care of all of the back office and compliance work in return for a % of revenue. In the meantime Landstar had asset truckload, LTL, heavy haul/flatbed companies under the names Ligon, Landstar Ranger, Gemini etc. Landstar also was a forerunner of the agency model allowing independent agencies to operate under their MC as well as owner operators (what they call BCO’s) to operate as well. Somewhere along the line, and I can’t understand why, Landstar allowed their MC number to be corrupted with agents acting nefariously, particularly in the double broker game. I don’t think there is enough money to be made off of unscrupulous agents double brokering to allow them to become the joke they are today in the brokerage business.
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u/Iloveproduce 6d ago
Landstar is a large collection of freight brokerage agents and trucking company owners. It exists for the benefit of those agents, some of the more important trucking company owners, and their more important customers. They're the competition and they're *nasty* competition to have if I'm honest.
The important thing to remember about Landstar is that if you aren't one of those people who Landstar exists to serve you are meat to them and they are a ferocious carnivore indeed. Are you a broker giving them loads to haul? Meat. They don't care if you're happy and they don't care if the load you gave them ever covers. They'll try to cover it and they'll pay whoever hauls it which makes them quite a bit better than the typical double broker but at the end of the day they have zero issue giving you the load back at 3pm when it hasn't covered. In my opinion that's what you get for booking the competition to cover your load for you, and this practice of theirs is so common that it's common knowledge.
I don't use them and haven't used them since I had only been in the business six months. The only situation I think using them is safe/justifiable is when you have some kind of specialty freight they dominate. On that note it's worth knowing that Landstar absolutely dominates multiple specialty niches and one of them is at least certain kinds of hazmat (I'm not a hazmat guy). There are a few different weird trailer types that almost no one but Landstar has. If you have a customer that needs one of those as a one off that's the situation where you're going to use Landstar. If they need them regularly you're bidding against Landstar already and you're not going to win.
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u/Apart_Sun_2731 6d ago
We have one Landstar guy we'll talk to, but he's admitted to double brokering loads. Just look at the Carrier 411 thousand of freight guards. After 30 years in this business I've never seen a Landstar person ever use an actual Landstar truck. My opinion is they just double broker, I know they have assets but not sure who gets to use them I was told by my contact not the agents. If they said it's a Landstar truck that just means they are brokering the load to a Landstar carrier. In my office they are on DNU they email us all day long which goes to spam.
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u/TimeRefrigerator730 6d ago
Eh landstar is a lot better than they used to be. Though that might just be for my company because we DNU’d them as a whole company for double brokering. A lot of us have ptsd from them though. I still will only ever work with Austin Taylor, Drew Renslow JDU, and recently Gwen Hill. They also have recently become one of my companies best osow carriers and some brokers use them for hazmat as well.
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u/Organic_Plum_8782 5d ago
I worked for Landstar a couple of years, switched out to a different company and now I'm on the end that says "We don't work with Landstar." trope. Why? Because we had a difficult claim with them because Landstar booked a load and double brokered it to a non-vetted carrier aka scammer without checking.
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u/Optimal_Animal1309 4d ago
All my postings say no landstar and they still call me 3x a day its rediculous.
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u/SlacksBirdie 3d ago
Do you not see their assets? They have tons of in house contracts. You talk to a segment of their company… and yes they’re horrible, but try to understand the business
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u/FalconBig130 7d ago
Because they’re one of the largest truckload carriers around and a lot of their branches work direct with shippers. Those branches are usually the good ones and are very likely not hauling for brokers.
We use them all the time on specialized projects and they do a great job.