Load Board Mileages

You new guys need to watch out for this.

When you do a radius search for a load the miles showing how far you are away from it, are typically way off. They can be off 100 miles are more. They show up as a shorter distance away than you actually are.

Here's a for instance, I was on the hunt for a load in NV, out in the boonies. A load popped up showing 184 miles away. That didn't sound right so I double checked on www.truckmiles.com. Shortest route showed 273 miles, and truck practical showed 306 miles. The route given, 184 miles on the load board, it had about 100 miles of dirt road to shorten the distance and make it look more attractive to the Carriers looking at it.

You should also double check the loaded miles. I can't say if it's the load board malfunctioning, or if it's some Brokers just manipulating the system by using incorrect zip codes. Either way, double check the mileage and route before booking any load.

Most of the time when I'm booking a load I already have the miles figured correctly. I still ask the Broker how many miles, just to see how far off they are. If they're off I say I came up with this and use that to negotiate the rate up.

And a side note, if you use a GPS unit to route a trip, you should also be double checking the gps route against truckmiles.com or yahoo/google maps. I've seen guys go as much as 180 miles out of route using GPS routing. At least double check the route with a motor carrier atlas. It can keep you from wasting a lot of fuel and time.

Why would a GPS unit send you out of route? Personally I think it's to send you by motel and restaurant chains that advertise with them.