Any tips for an Owner Operator to find loads on loadboards?

I actually wanted to switch to DAT however because Canadian monopolies the spot market here the relevant load board in relation to DAT is Loadlinks. I'd say there's exact same for Freight with similar brokers on both sides posting freight. At the end of the day, loadboards are good until you can establish some deals with certain brokers. Always ask to be added to their email listing is the best result, watch their credit score if you're not on with a factoring company because a few these days try to scheme you on those 60 & 90 day payouts. And its just a headache to run after money when trying to run an operation bidding on other loadsm

 

This is a computer - robot - not real.
I have been super helpful and informative.

Goodbye.

We still rule the earth.

 

I never factored. When someone was over 30 days they got an email from me. No response then phone call. Still no response then phone call threatening to file on their bond and call the shipper . No response then phone call to their insurance company and the shipper.
The few times I had to take it that far they paid me. Then they were on my "never again" list.

 

I've heard from Owner-Ops and small carriers on social media and this forum say different ways to deal with the fake origin/dest loads and changes in the rate. For example, you may wait and wait and wait for the Rate Confirmation RC to show up from the broker. It burns your time and reduces the time available for on-time delivery. Then the RC comes through, but it has different city listed for origin/destination, or both. You learn that loads doesn't pick up in Marietta, GA, it picks up 45 miles south of Atlanta, because some carriers would not have bid on the load if the real origin/dest were mentioned, but you've already wasted too much time waiting, and you just want to start moving, so you accept it. Then you see, the rate being paid is less, and you argue back and forth, burning more time. Eventually carrier and broker come to agreement, and you start moving. Then you get a notification there is an extra pickup-up or drop. EVERY experience I ever had as a company driver, and my last year-ish driving was for a small carrier that did lots of broker loads, every trip was a troubled and complicated and nothing is settled even after delivery, etc kind of trip.

I really hope you are not going to start finding your own freight and 'be your own boss' without working for 1-2 years for a carrier that is already doing what you would do once all of these questions are answered. TONS of newbies walk into these sorts of deals and fail for big money. Some brokers are good and reliable. LOTS of brokers are crooks taking advantage of wide-eyed newbies who just stepped off te Greyhound bus to see their truck and expect to make what it said in some online ad. To me it seems like the videos I saw on YouTube years ago where someone read a book on how to count cards and win at blackjack and then went to Las Vegas and lost EVERYTHING. This industry has a lot of dirty carriers and brokers and if your plan is to be the goodest boy and get rich, you are what funds the dishonest parties until you realize they ripped you off.

Get a mentor you can call on the phone at 2 am and who will answer your call. There are lots of forum members with decades of experience dealing with brokers and good income. They can tell you more details but they might not help you become one of their competitors. IMO, I think it takes 1-2 years of just seeing the industry operate to even be able to ask the right question about changing over to lease-op, owner-op, or carrier. The industry is in a recession so there aren't many easy and profitable paths to being your own boss.

I sure hope you aren't being talked into this by someone making money off of you not knowing answers.

 

Factoring Companies are simply like a private bank/lending company. Most have larger carriers and brokers with large million and possibly billion in capital. They work off of smaller margins but ones tou add up multiple larger Brokrages or Carriers with $500k, $1Million plus lines of credit multiple transactions daily it adds up. Larger Carriers have larger cash flows so its easier access for business using lines of credit with immediate next day funds oppose waiting 30, 60 or 90 days. In all honesty, Factoring for my business works because of the credit check for terrible new Freight Brokers from the load board. I've learned the hard way before not using one waiting 60 days and even for $1600 the broker tried to scam me by not paying. Tons of shady people in the trucking industry not always upfront on paying.

 

Your mindset is wrong from the start. You're thinking about it backwards. If you're booking your own loads your money is made in the negotiations, not the driving. If you want to run a business as an owner operator you have to learn to communicate with shippers and brokers. There isn't a legitimate place to teach you this.

You can make a good living (relative term for everyone) hauling load board freight with a dry van but you've got to learn how the boards and brokers work. No one is going to teach you that as well as you can teach yourself.

Any seasoned owner operator will tell you the driving is the easiest part of the job.

 

You are competition. Figure it out.

 

This ... find 2 or 3 good brokers and work with them. The load boards become your back up.

I had a primary broker and a secondary that worked with. In the course of a year I might get one or two loads off the board..

Once you establish yourself as reliable driver with a broker, they'll start to call you.

This business and all business is about relationships.