Which "System" do you like and/or works best for you??

I'm an independent O/O. I tried a couple people to help with dispatch (booking loads). I would say they were both well above average, and it did kind of make sense to move the truck more and I could pay them well off of the extra productivity. But in the end I realized that it was impossible to train someone to think like I think, for them to figure out when it's time to pull the trigger and when it's time to hold off for a better load, etc... For me it's best to manipulate the load boards on my end to determine best profitablility and deliver the "one call, one guy, 24/7 promise" to my brokers and shippers

 

I'm leased to Farm2Fleet but self dispatch. I run 100% spot market freight and prefer to be able to negotiate what I will get. We do have dispatch that watches for freight and forwards calls to us while we're driving and that is a plus. 98% of what I haul I find on my own but that 2% I still aggresively set the rate, after all they called me right?, and as long as I do that all is well. That is the most important part. No-one works harder than #1 negotiating rates and if it's no good then there is no-one else to blame either... The funnest trucking I've ever done is playing this spot market game, feeling in full control, and winning. It's been a brutal year but somehow things fall into place and I can always make a good week.

Agree with Danny, it is near impossible to train someone to think "as you do" and look at freight the way you do. I give our dispatch general guidelines specific loads to look for - areas the loads must deliver to before I am interested.. I limits what gets offered to me but really cuts out on a lot of wasted time and non-sense. I always posistion my truck in areas where I know what they are looking at, that they will likely see something that works for me. Don't get many calls but when I do.... ....well I'm too expensive many times, but when I'm not I'm smiling....

Regulars here know my operation. Percentage comes off the top of what I negotiate. I pay for everything. Own the truck and trailer. Front my own fuel money, no advances. The pluses and value in that percentage are I get a check every friday and that extra set of eyes finding that 2% of my loads, those are always very lucrative loads. I could run under my own authority based on the contacts I have now, and could develop a partnership with my current carrier in that manner. Financially I'm able to do that - but I'm not ready for the regulatory and compliance part. Small stuff really but I've never had to deal with. Until or unless I am forced to I never will. This will be the last carrier I ever lease to that much is for sure. The only other step will be under my own. No-one else has anything to offer. I know what I can do in spot and I enjoy it.

 

For my self i have my own authority and i would not change a thing . I also do my own dispatching and ifta ,and etc.etc... Leasing is ok but not for me did it once never again ... The challenge i find is neg. Rates either i am to expensive or i am kicking myself in the tail feathers for being to cheap ..or wrong place wrong time .... Bottom line is this current thing i do works for me ... ... And it is fun ... Not like the old days ..but never the less... It's what ever works for the person at the wheel ...

 

Do you guys running off the load boards post your truck ? and if so how do you keep the bottom feeders from wasting your time calling with their cheap **** freight?

 

I have a couple directs ... which is the only way to do it... sometimes I may go where their is not much around and I will use IT2 to get back to a plant.....direct...to start all over again ....

 

You want all the calls coming in when you post your truck, even the cheap offers. You never know when all of a sudden they can magically find the money turning a cheap load into a lucrative one. But obviously you will have a lot of wasted calls coming in, takes about 20 seconds to know whether you're hanging up or not... Had a load offered a couple of weeks ago $500 on 230 miles, politely declined. Two hours later they called back and I had it for $1,000.

 

wasted time calling and taking calls on loads is unavoidable. I try to find ways to accomplish other things while I'm in that mode, like doing my accounting and billing paperwork, cleaning the truck, etc... I also return the favor by occasionally calling on loads and offering them rates I know are gonna be too high. I think you have too, it's kind of a tug of war. They're always trying to move rates from okay to cheap, so why not pull back a little ?

 

Apparently I need to have more patience, I really get annoyed with lowball calls, so I hate posting my truck cause I know these clowns will be calling, I have some go to brokers I try to use to stay moving, but this year it hasn't been working as well as in the past, just thought I would see how everyone else handles it.