Booking loads with new CDL as an Owner Operator

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by Leonej1210, Aug 19, 2021.

  1. Leonej1210

    Leonej1210 Bobtail Member

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    Hey everyone,

    I am working on getting my new authority however I'm having a few set back because I have not had my CDL for more than a year. Since I am encountering the setbacks will it be the same experience once I'm ready to start booking loads from the load boards?
     
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  3. blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

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    There will be a few bumps in the road initially.

    @staceydude
     
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  4. staceydude

    staceydude Road Train Member

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    There will be a few brokers that won’t work with new authority, however there are plenty that will. Don’t let that bring you down. As a good dude said, you will get a lot of no’s when you start out. I expected a lot of them but really did not get that many.

    Not sure what freight you haul but get a load board like Truckstop to start out with because every single time you click on a load the broker is sent an email saying you looked at the load (more of this in a minute)I was not even ready due to some of my paperwork and my authority was not even active and I had multiple brokers calling. Some of these may be brokers you may never haul for because you may not like some of the rates they offer etc. however it gets you in the mode of getting calls and feeling them out if you haven’t done it before. I had a repair/sales job and sold training a few years ago and I am pretty comfortable speaking on the phone with people who may be in a hurry and kind of feeling them out in a few seconds. I do not beat around the bush, I call, tell them who I am and without pause tell them I am calling about such and such a load. I imagine they spend hours on the phone a day and don’t enjoy talking on the phone much. I don’t really like it either.
    Now of course as you start getting these calls they can start being a pain in the butt, so all I do is silence them and do what I am doing. If I click on a good looking load and then get a call then of course I answer. By doing this I was able to forge a couple relationships with brokers that would work with a new authority and those are the ones I focused on to start.

    Then you will find a few brokers who will not work with you for 3 months, 6 months and even a year. If you communicate well with the ones you like working with life becomes much easier. One of the keys I have found is When I call a broker I’ve already done the research on the miles, Loads coming out of the delivery area etc. they tend to appreciate that as we appreciate them not wasting our time. If you keep your safety score right and deliver loads on time etc the negotiations take 20-30 seconds because the broker knows it you call them you are serious and if they have worked with you they know you don’t show up late or deliver late.

    Just make sure you have some cash saved up and pay someone else to make a few calls for you. It isn’t hard.

    it is very doable.
     
  5. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    All I can tell you is that if you have no experience everything is going to cost you money.

    So you have no experience, you're going to pay a fortune for insurance if you haven't already priced it.

    There is a learning curve with all of this. If you've never driven you don't know how to take care of a truck that will cost you money until you figure it out.

    If you have no mechanical background whatsoever that's going to cost you money.

    If you need to borrow money without having any experience in this industry that's going to cost you money.

    If you don't understand how Freight works or how brokers work or how the business works there's a learning curve that will cost you money until you figure it out.

    Hopefully you're an extremely organized discipline person with paperwork. Because until you figure that out it's going to cost you money.

    So the bottom line is while an experienced person can succeed with x amount of money, pick your exponent that you're going to multiply X by because it will cost you that much more. Hopefully you have a big bankroll that will cover you for all the mistakes you are going to make.

    And by the way in this business, whatever amount of money you think that you need you really should double or triple that.

    Not saying you can't succeed, I'm just saying there's a reason why whatever the statistic is 95% of people fail in this endeavour.

    It is not quite as simple as it appears to be on the surface. But if you have enough money to burn through you can pay for your mistakes and figure it out.
     
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  6. RedForeman

    RedForeman Momentum Conservationist

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    That will pass before you know it. Just keep it moving.

    You want to hear a funny one? I've been in business 10 years. Over the past 4-5 I have been rejected by new brokers because there are no inspections in the past 3 years on the CSA report. You might say that's awesome and a sign of solid avoidance tactics. But it's completely unearned, as I don't do that at all. Not too long ago one of us caught a level 3 and it broke the drought.

    Moral of the story is: Not all brokers are going to be a match for some reason or another. Those will always find a reason, and then there's 1,000 more who will hook you right up.
     
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  7. Brettj3876

    Brettj3876 Road Train Member

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    Really good write up. I get right to the point too. Dat is good for vans/reef and ITS for flats

    Way way more than not brokers will work with new authority
     
    staceydude Thanks this.
  8. WCA64T SFA

    WCA64T SFA Bobtail Member

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    They do this because they take hundreds of calls a day from crooks with carrier authority but no truck who are trying to double broker.
     
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