Where to get load info for research to become o/o

www.getloaded.com with a monthly fee arranged by whatever "option" is available or required by you the buyer. General fee of $35.00
www.truckersedge.net with a monthly fee as low as $19.95 and up to $79.95 Free trial period of 30 days with a Credit Card.
Website name may require the word THE after www.

There are MANY Load boards about and one can usually look for specific trailer type loads without ALL loads being in the way.

 

Most of the loadboards do not post a price for the load or they post a very low price. Even if you get loadboard access, you will still have to CALL the broker to get a realistic price.

AND you need to understand the difference between Mover's Miles and Actual Miles-some brokers ALWAYS short you on the miles by not using Actual Miles or try to get you to tarp or make multiple drops for funsies.

Once you get a handle on the ACTUAL miles (by using Microsoft Streets & Trips or Google or Mapquest), break out the calculator and figure out CPM. If you determine your truck gets 5 MPG, then it will take 200 gallons to go 1000 miles. If fuel is priced at $3 a gallon, then that is $600 to go 1000 miles. That means your fuel costs you 60 cents a mile and the load has to pay at least 2.3 times that for you to make it, which would include a CPM calculation (Rate = Load Pay/Actual Miles) for tires, brakes, depreciation, and wear & tear. Fuel is the 600lb Gorilla in the room. But it's all about CPM. There are many loads on the boards right now that pay less than $1 a mile and if you have a blowout or maintenance issue, you will be in the red, which means you are paying to haul somebody's freight. It isn't pretty right now. You may have to take a cheap load to get to a place that pays better.

Currently, the only freight paying worth a #### is specialized (RGN, double drops-Heavy, Wide, Tall, Long-Permit Loads). After that, reefer. Then vans. Then stepdeck, then flatbed. This ranking is GENERALLY speaking, and varies as a function of time of year and region of the country because some markets are more saturated with a particular trailer or commodity than others. All about that supply and demand thing.

What I do is to get the puter cranked up and I open up a spreadsheet before I call the Broker. As soon as they tell me what they are paying for a load and the miles, I stick the numbers in the spreadsheet and it immediately cranks out the CPM rate. Then I plug in the numbers for permits (comes from experience, but you can use PermitWizard) and then I make a counter offer and give the broker my number. The best time to get loaded is 8 am until 11 am local time because that is when the majority of the loads are posted. But working the boards late has benefits, too, as that means you know what loads have been on the board all day and need moving.

Hope this helps...

 

I know what it costs to run per mile...no spread sheet needed.....
Just a calculator.

You can always ask for more money....and check the board carefully....
A load posted for Wed that is still on Friday....will get you a better rate....Just ask for more money...real simple.....
Shippers want the load off the ground before the weekend begins...

At least that's been my experience...

 

There are two types of O/Os out there today.The first and easiest is to buy a truck and lease it to one of the major carriers,that way you pretty much fall in line with the co. drivers,however you will be making more money.The second type are the ones who buy their truck and trailer an get brokered loads,strictly on their own.If they plan things correctly they make a good buck,if not they will fail. When I had my own truck it was leased to the old MS Carriers. They licensed my truck,paid my tolls,cost for scales,and I could buy discounted fuel at their terminals.And yeah I had a fuel card that I could use anywhere and the fuel costs were deducted from my settlemant check.Oh yeah and also furnished all of my permits.Over a years time this amounts to a pretty good chunk of change.The O/Os were dispatced by special dispatcers,and it was my choice whether or not I wanted to accept a load.So it all depends on which way ya wanna go.