Without giving away any secrets, how to find loads

Big deal.

The fact is that you may buy one truck, work it for a month and then have the bottom end drop out of it.

What puzzles me is why are you asking this question if you've been on the road for 6 years?

By now you should have figured how this all works, where loads come from and who is what in the supply chain.

 

My 1st 6 years of driving, when I was young, were all about holding the wheel and getting my paycheck so I could go meet chicks! I'll be ###### if I was thinking about the business side of trucking!! LMAO!!!

 

Driven 5 new trucks in 6 years... so you don't know how they function both in the field and by the numbers when they reach relatively high mileage by today's standards, rebuilds at 500 or 600k anyone? The old truck will cost you in repairs while the new one will have depreciation. The old truck is more likely to live longer than you care to drive it. The new truck does not guarantee you wont have downtime and repairs and a fight in warranty claim. Add payments. If you pay cash for a new truck and think you don't have payments then all you really did was start a business that found someone very generous to LEND your business the money for a new truck at 0% which may even be considered a forgiveable loan by said lender (you). I think you need to focus more on how to think with 2 brains...business and driver. As a driver you found a place that will pay you more than what you were being paid by another businessman. You also happen to be the businessman in this case and even if you pay your driver (you) same as what it would cost him to pay anyone else to perform the labor does he still show a healthy profit at year end? Which in turn is bonus to shareholder/business owner (you). It's more about money management than anything. It would be stupid to buy a new truck, claim you're getting ahead by not having any payments, and not earning a good amount more than a company guy. What you would have done is basicly bought a job and associated risk with ownership.

 

As for finding loads. 2 things.

If you are hell bent on going on your own. You can start by running the boards, call and ask and learn as much as you can. Does the broker have loads in all directions from a shipper? Do they have other freight that may fit into your desired lanes? Develop relationships and learn as much as you can.

2.
It is not always a stupid idea to sign on for % first. The key here is to learn what lanes pay what rates. You may also benefit from discounted fuel and tires and insurance, but the real gold is in the information. You need the knowledge to know what is a good load for a given lane for a given time (of year). If you do the 1.85 or whatever for all miles you will get eaten alive. Example. They will happily pay you 1.85 from California to new York. You call for a load from new York to points west. You say "I do all miles for 1.85!" He says the market for this lane pays 1.15. Take it or leave it. Your error was the cali to ny lane you should have been paid more. This is the benefit of learning lanes. Most of the country is in a trade imbalance and therefore always pays better one direction than another. You then get I to multi leg trips rather than out and back. It's all about knowing how and where the freight flows. That's why leasing on to begin with is not always a dumb idea.

Edited to add.
I wanted to add if you are going to go after your own customers you had better know market rate for steady work they will feed you, if the relationship works out. If you don't know what market rate is you will either come in too high and they will never use you, or come in too low at which point they will use you a lot and you will think you have it made however a broker would of been willing to pay you a higher rate for the load. Are you going to go back and ask for a raise now? Have fun with that. You want to be completely prepared and on point. Anything less you are just another "for now" guy. What you want to try to score is the long term, good paying freight. You want to be the first guy they call, and not because you are the lowest priced. Those aren't customers you want anyway.

 

OP, there are no secrets, if someone shared them with you, they wouldn't be secrets anymore

Do you have a friend that is an O/O who would be willing to give you his access to a bigger load board like DAT? If so, you could get on there and search the lanes you're interested in specific to your equipment.

Most of the time the brokers don't post the rate, however, if your friend would allow you to use his DOT # when inquiring, it will at least open your eyes to what is going. Three or four inquiries out of a particular area will give you a basic idea of what the going rate is for that particular time frame.

The broker rep might start with, "well, what do you need out of that load?" If you have no idea what the going rate is, you're a sitting duck. If you have an idea, you can go from there.

If the going rate on a particular lane is $2,000, they might offer it to you for $1,700 and see if you will bite. You might counter back at $2,300 and they could say they will meet you in the middle. Once you've done it for awhile you can tell right away whether they're in the position to negotiate, if not, hang up and move on.

I started with my own authority in January of last year. I use my own shipper contacts going one way and utilize two or three particular brokers coming back. I stay on the same lane by choice and don't chase loads all over the place. I know exactly what my bottom line is on the round-trip and in the winter months when things are slower, I just stay home if I can't reach the minimum.

In addition, I tried signing on as an approved carrier with a bunch of different carriers and brokerage houses thinking it would increase my options for better rates, it just hasn't worked out that way at all.

Some of the big carriers like J.B. Hunt, Schneider, Werner have horrible rates on average. Thus the reason why I have ultimately settled in with 2 or 3 different brokers. I've established a relationship with them, I know what to expect, they take of me and most of all I get PAID!

The reality is, the market will only bear so much given the equipment, lanes and availability. The rates are tightly controlled and manipulated by the buyers & sellers of commodities. Oh I know there are always exceptions to the rule, but in the end, it's supply, demand & capacity that controls the marketplace.

Good luck...

 

Yes,.. you can survive solely off loadboards. I do it.

HOWEVER,....

And this is what the others are trying to explain. You have 'Company Driver' experience. 2yrs, 5yrs, 15yrs,.. doesnt make an oodle of difference. You do not know where the freight lanes are,.. where and when the freight or seasonal freight (Produce as an example) moves. Each segment has its high and low points. Different areas/cities move different freight at different volumes. Knowing where to be or go is how you survive running the spot market/loadboards.

You have to know how much you need before going into an area,.. will you need to deadhead a long distance,.. will you have to take a cheap rate to get back to a better lane,.. where is the closest better lane? Which broker has the loads I wants? Where does the broker have the loads I want?

These are things that come with experience. Unfortunately it is difficult to gain this experience working as a company driver. The easiest way is to buy a cheap truck,.. lease it and drive under another carriers authority and pull their trailer.

The same way a new CDL driver will have to pay some dues in order to gain the experience and learn everything from scratch,.. becoming an O/O works much the same way. There is a learning curve you will need to master. Once you understand how it works,.. you then perfect your craft and then you will start to become more profitable and understand what you need to do.

You can ask 1000 questions here on TTR. But until you actually get out there and do it,.. you will not truly understand what everyone is trying to explain to you.

Learn and research much as you can. Once you pull the trigger and jump in the O/O seat,.. you will only then understand how different that seat is compared to your current.

Hurst

 

Having been in the IT field,. I find your pill a little hard to swallow.

Your saying you were a freelance programmer getting top shelf jobs and you got bored and decided to become a company truck driver?

Not calling you a liar,.. just does not make financial, social or mental sense to me.

Hurst

 

Is a steadily growing retirement account part of your goal? It is for me. When I have enough to live off the interest I am done. I do not need 25 million in the bank. I make about 7.5% on my investments year over year. $1m will buy me by 75k per year lifestyle I am accustomed to. Comfortable for me. Time is happiness for me. I enjoy being bored doing whatever I please on my days off. If I could do that full time, I would. Looking forward to that day.