Load Board Truths and Myths

Im not yet a trucker. Just bid on a truck and planning on getting into it, with all the warnings and sad stories and the sky is falling, and so on. I put down my $$99.00 / month to get the DAT truckers edge pro and have been following some of the lanes for a few days only. I've seen that Florida pays low rates, generally. Just enough to get out of the state and make a few bucks til you can reach one of the better lanes.

Here are some legitimate questions I have as an experienced business owner and negotiator, but not so in trucking. I assume the spot market is derived much the same way a stock price is.... supply and demand of trucks willing to haul loads in a lane. So, the offer would then seem to be a starting point in some cases and strategy is critical. Here we go:



1. Do the load boards represent actually available loads, or are they not available when you call to book em?
2. What percentage of the time will an offer, not be negotiable, given that the offer is lower than the prevailing spot rate and substantially less than the 15 day moving average. Just a general answer about the reality of how that works out is fine.
3. What is the worst part about surviving off of the load boards?
4. Is there anything in particular that makes the load boards a really valuable tool?
5. Can you plan a week ahead with load boards, based on the postings available at the time you start the week (first pick up). In other words, does chasing the money work using load boards.
6. Are there boards as good or better than DAT truckers edge pro? If so, what makes them better.

Thanks for your answers. I'm sure this will help a lot of guys and gals who self dispatch or, like me, that are going to be new to the arena.

 

Stop!

Don't get a truck until you are a driver with some time on the road.

 

Loadboards are leftovers from shipment brokers could get some of their favorite carriers to move.

The lane rates are totally false as they are based on 36 cents per mile company driver's not owner operator's.

Most major city's and highways have dirt cheap rates and very few available loads. Brokers move into major city's removing all good paying freight.
A lot of the loads posted on loadboards are freight that is out of the way, heavy, difficult, and not popular with driver's

 

Load board does represent posted loads not actual loads. Many brokers do post one load multiple times. Let say load from College Park, GA to Joliet, IL can be posted as many times as many cities around shipper and receiver.
The load board analyze it and create hot spot for loads. this way brokers can attract more drivers into dead zone and drive rates down.

 

I thought you had to have a verifiable MC & DOT (#'s) to sign up on DAT?

 

Sounds like on his other thread he has a DOT#...

Here is a link incase you wanna do some reading...flatbed vs. dry van

 

As @6wheeler said load boards are left overs. Everyone starts there. You make contacts and work your way into more private loads that never hit the boards.

 

Some numbers for new O/O

 

I suggested that he come here and get a wider opinion of load boards from not just skateboarders.