finding freight

I started this by working for a carrier ... didn't bother with the broker thing until I got enough trucks to leverage my capacity.

 

DAT is a good load board. Load boards is where brokers post their loads. In it, you will find basic information about the load (approx. pick up and delivery locations) and also information about the brokerage company (year founded, credit score, reviews).

Give them a call, and they will email you a carrier setup packet or link to fill it up online. Have your MC# ready when you call the broker. Also, ask them about their qualification requirements (age with MC#). It’s also a good idea to create an official email address for your company. At the moment I am using the full name of my company with Yahoo mail.

 

The way I did it, right or wrong, was to line up a direct shipper before I got my authority and use brokers for the return. This worked sort of.
The reason I say sort of, my shipper (actually 2 shippers) were van freight, so I also bought 2 vans. It took me less than 6 months to have my total fill of van freight, so the vans were parked, and those shippers were given to someone that liked van freight.
I never had any trouble getting loads from brokers because of my new authority.

 

Thinking like that is not the smartest way to go about it.

 

I’d would say getting good loads has more to do with the experience you get from continuously booking loads and seeking information on how to improve yourself as a dispatcher. It’s common for brokers to ask for your MC# before negotiating. If your MC# is recent, they know they are more likely to have you haul the load for cheaper than average.

Make sure the first load you haul from the broker pays decent. You don’t want to give the broker the impression you haul cheap. It will hurt you in future negotiations with the same broker. I’d also caution you about getting lots of new brokers, at least for the first 3-6 months. You want to have more experience under your belt before adding dozens and dozens of new brokers.

 

Flatbed has higher load rates, but I’m going to guess insurance is also higher. I’d say stick with what you have the most experience in.

Home time varies from person to person. Some stay in one state, others are regional, and the rest are OTR, like myself. OTR doesn’t bother me. I have no dependents. I’ve also never been the social type.