New option to negotiate rates in ITS

That is the part I need to work on but time, is the hard part... I would LOVE to find a few Customers but, trying to run a Step Deck operation and make call's to Manufacturer's is tough to do. Besides, what I really need to work on to make my business thrive is the art of negotiation....

 

Had one of those come up when I was posted up in St. Cloud, MN. recently. Turns out the load was posted but either I didn't consider it or just didn't notice it. Anyway, I get a call with an offer. Turns out it was an agent I'd worked a few loads with over a year ago at his last job at a different place. He saw my post, which did sort of stand out since we normally wouldn't be found in that area, and called. We picked up as if we just spoke the day before and agreed on a good rate. Sometimes it pays to not be a dick on the phone with these guys.

 

Re the original topic, I'm indifferent about the instant message negotiating. I prefer phone because I don't just sit at my computer glued to the screen waiting for something to pop up. On the rare occasion I do call on posts, I'll do that a while then do something else. Walk the dog. Sweep my trailer. Anything besides being desperate and sitting in the bunk chained to the computer waiting on an instant message.

Seems like DAT/Truckers Edge had something like this too. I tried it once or twice back when I wasn't driving. Seems like 90% of the time they either weren't there or not checking messages. It was a great idea on paper, but really didn't work in reality.

 

I have emailed brokers and left VM's to no avail... Not one has ever returned my email of VM but, I still leave them or send them.

 

Haven't had a single response yet, but I am bidding at least double the DAT 90-day rate in a soft market.

The idea seems like a convenient way for brokers to drive prices down, but I'll give it a while...

 

I haven't needed any broker loads since this option became available, but looking forward to giving it a go. My idea is to blast out a bunch of offers first. If they generate a response, great. If not, I didn't invest that much time in it. Seems like an easy way to get a bunch of baited hooks in the water quickly.

Also, it may be effective in large markets on days with limited capacity. 100 loads left to move @ 4 pm and 5 trucks available. I like the idea of reaching out to all of them quickly, instead of one at a time.

 

I used the DAT board for a couple months but its mobile site sucks and I couldn't find loads I wanted as often as I do now with ITS. While using DAT I still used getloaded.com but not as much as I did when I only had getloaded.com. Now that I have ITS, I haven't used getloaded.com one time...lol Most flatbedder's that I have talked to use ITS.

 

Yeah no doubt. Sometimes people will see your truck and remember you. The load may or may not be posted.

 

Agreed. With DAT (members edge), I always "request desktop site" so I can see 200 loads at once vs 5

 

That's what I was thinking. Just a tool use it. If it scores anything, great. If not then like you say nothing really lost. Way better than wasting time on phone calls. In a tight market I'd think it'd net some good paying freight. I've seen times where you could just go down ITS clicking on a dozen different loads in a row and every one of those people would call you just based off you clicking on their load. That is when it's like taking candy from a baby $$$$$$$$. Haven't seen that in a while around home.