A question about load boards

What is required to be able to pull loads for yourself from load boards? I understand the company driver/the company lease drivers, that are locked to their company, but what is required to be able to pick your loads from the various load boards or from a broker for yourself? Are there companies you can run under to do this as a owner operator or would you need to be your own authority?

 

Depends on your company. We run ld board freight. The big boys do too, they just won't publicly admit it.
Read your contract to see if they allow you to run broker freight

 

Swift contracts state that you can, with their permission. Not sure how to get it. You also need to be running under someone else's authority, base plates and DOT numbers and insurance.

 

Swift's contract is for trip leasing, no permission required, just 24 hour notice and cover Swift's numbers and name.

But for all practical purposes trip leasing doesn't have much value anymore. No reason for a carrier to trip lease a truck, when they can just broker the load out.

 

You can run your own numbers and do load board freight

 

So become your own authority, not just a o/o with your own llc ect? I'm just trying to get a grasp on how things work on the truck driving side. I've worked the other end of the dock in distribution centers but also done a lot of shipping & receiving sending out LTL loads and so forth.

I'm set to go to a training company (Prime) in 2 weeks as a company driver, but would like to understand how you get into pulling your own loads so I can work out my longer term goals.

 

Do not do a lease purchase or sign on as an O/O at any company that has both IC's & company drivers, cause the company drivers will pull all the better paying / easier freight. It's just business.

If you become an O/O save up your money, buy a used truck, and go someplace where everyone is on an equal footing, or get your own numbers, and go that route.

 

That is my current thinking. I'm committing to a year at Prime as a company driver to gain my CDL & driving experience, but I'm planning to live in the truck full time staying out as much as possible to max out my earnings & savings. (I've been doing the van life thing for the last 4 years so I'm well versed with living on the road)

My thinking is as long as I'm happy driving after that I'll start looking for a used truck/trailer. What I'm uncertain of is say I buy a older truck, are there companies I can run under their authority/insurance ect.. to pull my own loads and they take a percentage or at that point are you pretty much getting your own numbers?

(I've had a used car dealers license in the past so I'm pretty well versed in dealing with govt regulations, paper work ect, I don't know how it works with trucking with all the different categories of driver situations and what each can do.)

 

great advice, i have learned alot through guys like you with honest advice.

 

These are the steps I've taken so far....

Problem I'm running into is this:

I have 1 yr regional CDL experience (NOT OTR -- but I never wanted OTR anyways), and the lease-onto carrier's insurance needs my CDL to "age" for another 6 months. This means that I cannot get leased-onto (unless I hire a driver, which I will not), and in turn my truck cannot be plated. Registration & plating requires a lease agreement. Annual cost of carriers plate is $3600.

I almost want to get my own authority (which will allow me to register & plate my truck), but insurance is quoting me $13-18K/yr. If I do this, then I need to budget a downpayment of 1800-3600 for insurance.

Keep in mind that either "leasing-onto" or getting "own authority" will cost me $1800 since I want to have my own plates.

EVEN IF.....I got my own authority, I may not get loads as some brokers want your authority to "season/age".

so.....looks like I'll chill on the sidelines for a lil bit...till im leased on. Thank God I don't have truck payments, and have other source of income.