Booking loads from load boards - how much work is it?

QUESTIONS ... QUESTIONS ... QUESTIONS!!!!!

Geez....can't we just all get along?

Now I got a head ache....too much thinking to come up with the right answer! I HATE TESTS!!!!!

 

1) As many calls as it takes to get my rate. On a good day maybe a half dozen calls and as little as an hour or two. On a bad day as many as 30+ phone calls and no load booked at all.

2) Bad rates. Sometimes I don't even wait to hear the rest of their spiel when the first few words out of their mouth is something along the lines of "this is a load that pickups bewteen 8am and 5pm today, 44,000lbs of colas...." click... I already know that's one that moves cheaply. Sometimes a load is posted and a decent sounding rate gets tossed out very quickly, then in quiet hushed tones it also gets mentioned there are 3 or 4 more extra stops.. ...ok, not a deal breaker this could potentially be good money... ....not until I run the zips on every stop across googlemaps but then normally it turns out to be a dissappointment. I always know what my bottom dollar is on any given load before I call. I listen to what they offer and pay close attention to exactly what the freight is. Some freight is just always cheap and some has money behind it. If we're more than $200 apart I figure it's a lost cause and hang up. Every once in a while you get a broker that shows their hand too soon "man I really need to get this one covered, yada, yada" then you realise the ball is in your park, wait for their offer then counter with something they won't like but is above my bottom dollar, and see what they say.. this doesn;t happen near as often as I would like though..

3) On ITS and sometimes CHR there are times I call on loads that are no longer available. It is annoying but not a HUGE problem. It's understandable people are busy and sometimes overlook taking one down


Wanted to add this is when I'm completely out of options from my usual go-to brokers who pay fair and profitable rates. For the most part I don't book anything off load boards but back when I was almost exclusively using loadboard land that pretty much sums up how it went.

 

1. If I spot a load from a broker I have a good relationship with going somewhere that is a good location for me it can be a bada-bing bada-boom deal. However, this week for example I started digging a bit after I picked up a load heading to Arlington, VA on Weds afternoon. wound up spending 4 hrs and 15 calls with nothing but no's or "I'll get back to you's". After delivery Thurs. probably another 20 calls and 6 hours with nothing booked. Finally, grabbed a little shorty this morning and also booked my next load on a call back. I would say it probably averages out to 10 calls or so per load at this point and 5 hours. I also have a guy who does this for me about 1/2 the time so I can keep the truck moving instead of doing it myself.

2. Bad rates for sure I won't book if there are a ton of other loads, but also I will not deal with high pressure, fast talking swindlers who talk down to me. There's a lot of loads out there in most of the places I run, no need for me to support brokers I don't like.

3. I would guess about 1 in 10 are already gone when I call, maybe as much as 1 in 5.

I would be interested in your project, let me know what you come up with. As a fairly new carrier my goal is really to use the load boards less and less. I already have established a good relationship with some brokers I can count on for loads out of certain areas for decent pay, I try to get loads between these points and just use the boards to connect the dots.

 

i usually call on 15-20 loads before i find one that pays enough and picks up soon enough to mess with... typically about 3-6 hours.

alot of laughing and hanging up because of the crazy low rate

i agree with the 1-10 gone when i call

i post my truck for my empty date and about 20% of the time i get a call before i am empty with a load that has to have my trailer to fit and the rates are typically good

what keeps me from booking a load is normally the low rates, but sometimes the pickup date posted is not fact and i don't like to sit for days to load... and on ocassion the location is not correct

 

Rate mostly, 2nd is where does it Get me from there. Just like shooting pool, it's not about that first shot as much as making sure you can take the second shot and so on.

It would save me hours and hours every week if the brokers would simply be required to post the rate.

Loads that are no longer available are a major time killer. Seems like sometimes the same two loads are listed by twenty different brokers.

I would LOVE to see a load board that would spank the brokers that cancel the load on you because they found somebody to haul it cheaper! This is huge for me. Way too many brokers playing games it's unreal.

And as Rollin said. Soda pop or beer "click" you're wasting my time with heavy freight that wont even cover fuel half the time.

 

i agree if you get the confirmation then they cancel cause some one else will do it for less i want my TONU but thats not always the case

 

Check out my thread.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...tor/184474-how-to-make-it-owner-operator.html

How to make it as an owner operator

I am doing what I can to help.

 

Does anyone ever ask a broker, when negotiating on a load, if they have something else coming from that way, and try to book 2 loads at once with the same broker?

Example is, broker has a load going from Indy to OKC - do you ever ask if they have something else coming out of OKC?

Another example is, if you're calling on a load from Indy to say Miami area, or anywhere in Florida, and they give you a lowball rate, thinking less than $2 a mile, do you ask if they have anything coming OUT of Florida? Because if not, then you'd have to ask for a higher rate to go down there because there is hardly anything coming back out - but if they do happen to have something coming out, then you could negotiate a rate for both loads together, which I imagine makes both of their jobs easier.
So does this happen at all?

 

Happened to me today, broker said that he usually gets a reload out of Tampa, so I booked the load, called me back within 2 hours said he had a load using the same customer going from Tampa back up to ATL, wanted to put it on the load the driver was under, asked him what he wanted to pay to do that, wasn't enough in my mind, didn't want to blow the entire load as it paid well going there, so I told him to hold off, call him tomorrow and talk a bit more about it,