Load board strategies

Throw all those figures away, figure out how much it truly costs you to run your truck, add in what you want to make for profit, and use that number.

Brokers could care less about how many trucks vs how many loads, vs etc, they want to make as much money as possible, period. If your number matches their number, you have a load, if not, keep looking.

Shippers sure as hell don't care about how many trucks vs how many loads and will not price accordingly, unless they are absolutely forced to.

 

Unless you're paying $250+/mo for the rate tools (not just the $10 upgrade to Truckers Edge) those lane rates are worthless for anything more than good/bad comparisons. Certainly nothing to use for quotes.

Both DAT and ITS have truck:load stats. Obviously, more loads less trucks is where you wanna be. But that's not the end all be all either. Consider DE. Might look great since few trucks probably post there vs available loads. However, there's hundreds more trucks sitting around NJ, PA, VA waiting to run across the bridge and not included in the DE count.

When loads are disappearing quickly, those are probably loads you wouldn't want anyway. The best time to look is early afternoon to as late as you care to deal. That's when your peers are breaking down or dropping loads and brokers are scrambling for a rescue. Or maybe getting a late order in. Also works to post up super early some days. Overnight or early loads needing rescue. By 0800 the rest of the masses are waking up so that's when I often drop my post until later in the day.

Also better when they are calling on you. I post my truck and see how it goes an hour or two before I pick up the phone and cold call anyone. Of course, this works better with time in business. As your MC number ages, and more brokers have loaded you, those calls come more often.

More often than not, I neither post or call. I'll scan the list and call on people I know that have stuff posted. After a while, you'll even recognize loads posted by others that you can book via someone else you like better. Probably get a better rate too. Sometimes call in on one and ask what else they have. Once in a while you can hit them at the right time and get a good one before anyone else sees it on any load board.

 

I canceled DAT last month I just can't see the value of paying $300/month for a load board rates are only so negotiable on loads like coils, beams, plate, lumber, ect if it's a easy load it's going to be cheap most the time!

 

I don't find any of those listed rate indexes worth a ####. I agree, figure out what you need to make and don't forget deadhead miles on each end. My authority is fairly new also and I haven't found to many brokers that wouldn't use me . Didn't take long to figure out which ones not to waste your time looking at.

 

One more thing...I call on 20-30 loads somedays to find what I'm looking for don't just jump the gun

 

When calling on a load posted on a load board , I ignore what ever rate is posted or the rate they offer,,I always tell them what I will haul for,,90% of the time I get 10 to 20% more usually they don't even have to check with their supervisor and the agree with out hesitation,,their deal is to throw out a cheap rate and unfortunately many truckers take their first offer,,the cheaper that you agree to haul the load the more money they make,,Know your cost,,know the availability of freight in the area you are going to and don't forget to figure any non revenue dead head miles and the cost to go for the load or the next load after you haul a load, If you don't know your cost,, you will go out of business,,if not next week it will come down the road. Remember you are not running a charity you are running a business and deserve a PROFIT

 

If you want real data you have to mine your own. Here's a few things you can do

1. Keep track of load volume in key markets. Do the same search every day (ex. 200 mile radius of Sacremento) just keep track of # of loads. If you see that # going up it's an indicator of an increase in demand.

2. When looking for a load, search a radius of where you're looking. Preferably a few times before you get there, then several times throughout the day. You see the # of loads going up all day it may be a good time to hold out for big $$$. You see that number going down, all loads getting covered, it may be a good time to grab the first thing smokin' and GTFO of there.

3. Do a search for number of inbound shipments to radius and number of outbound shipments. But take it with a grain of salt !! There are areas that defy this, such as where I live in IL. Does not look like a hot area, yet shippers cannot find trucks. Why isn't there a higher ratio ?? My hypothesis is getting trucks is so difficult that many shippers have gone to direct carriers and these loads never show up on load boards, so you don't see that high volume of outbound loads.

4. take it all with a grain of salt ! I had a shipper today with hot loads out CO and UT of all places, just popped up in the afternoon. It happens everyday, everywhere. You have to ask the broker questions. "Can it pick tomorrow ?" If they say, "No, it was actually supposed to ship yesterday" that's a green light. If they say, "yah, anytime next week" probably not gonna negotiate with you much. I respectfully disagree with sjmay, the last thing you want to do is settle for your going rate. I mean, unless you are King Midas you're gonna wind up losing some times and have to haul for less. If you take a loss on those and never get extra it isn't gonna work out to well for you. Brokers are gonna bend you over every chance they get, you have to return the favor once in awhile.

 

one of my favorite tricks is not picking up or getting TQL loads. Cheap freight in general. Low rates in the region can destroy rates eventually. Like mention above, follow does tips and never be scare to walk away.

 

If the brokers are agreeing to your rates without any hesitation then you are leaving a lot of money in their pockets. There is nothing worse to me than when they give me some low offer and I counter and they instantly accept my price. It has happened two times and both times I was ticked at myself but I try not to make that mistake anymore now that I know the area I run a lot better.