Need Shippers.

Malhibros- i personally do not work with shippers in thy area; however i believe those who do will not share any information with you because they could potentially loose that contract, a big nono in this business

 

I heard about that, but I was wondering if it was true. Darn shame.

 

Why is it a shame? It's hard to find direct accounts and retain them, let alone without telling others about what you have. Go and blab about it and you might as well stand in front of the toilet with a wad of 5's flushing them one by one like a porcelain slot machine that never hits.

It's nothing personal mind you... but get a few direct accounts, then consider telling everyone. You'll understand the reasons for confidentiality, especially once you've built your back hauls and have a steady thing going. It's a delicate balance for most carriers, and the loss of a front or back haul can mess up the entire model- especially if you're not getting round trip rates from at least one of them.

I don't fault Malhi for asking, it could never hurt. But if you don't get any leads from the inquiry don't take it personally.

You might be better off asking for advice on how to cold call shippers.

One of the things that helped me, was to have drop trailers available to the better paying accounts. Even just one additional trailer can help, when as a small carrier you don't have the competitive capacity of the medium / large fleets.

Another thing I did, was networked myself in SMALL towns where everyone goes to church. LDS churches and communities are incredibly tight knit, and I was able to find several direct accounts that way. I didn't even become a church member, or go every Sunday.

Just a couple of examples from my experience.

Good luck, I know spot market / load boards is a difficult way to sustain your business. It's where all the cheap and heavy freight that no one else wants, goes to the lowest bidder usually.

 

Have you tried a smaller (local) broker?

Give a smaller broker a try that works in the area that you want to run out of. The better ones will have the connections with the local shippers already. Lower broker fees than the larger companies. Some times we end up with cheaper return loads off a load board. A good amount of time return loads from another small broker that our broker deals with and end up paying 2 broker fees, but still better than load boards.

There are some months that we pull the same loads every week over and over.

 

That specific an area. Join some local groups, rotary, chamber of commerce, women in biz. Meet potential customers on an exec level. Women in the women in biz networking groups are very keen usually on giving each othe biz, Of course you need to be a woman to join .

 

The previos posters are spot on with the advice and information they have given. Obviously you have been brainstorming and this is great. You are taking steps to plant a seed. Find a route that you would enjoy running. Keep in mind that direct hauling brings greater accountability and responsibilty. Meaning you are the transport company for that run. For example, if there is a mechanical failure w/your truck, there will be no broker to call and let know to give the load away. You have to find a truck or rent a truck. If the run lands on your birthday, looks like it's cake to go. Certainly all and everone's deals are different.

 

When I said darn shame, I didn't mean or expect drivers to ride around with signs broadcasting their pay and who they haul for. But on the same token there are alot of post complaining about drivers taking cheap freight that's driving rates down. The man ask for some good leads or where to start and someone basically saids I ain't telling you nothing.If it weren't for a local driver giving me a shipper to start with I would be still hauling low pay heavy freight. I thank God for you guys that give good honest advice. I'm just sayin.