Without giving away any secrets, how to find loads

I too come from IT, I don't really buy it either.

 

Who do you think is looking at the load board screen and willing to work for $500 per month while living in their truck? That is your competition...

 

AND that's why if you don't take this seriously, you won't make it.

 

When the bubble burst so too did I. Not to mention I have attitude issues, dont play well with others, older and lack patience, and found it easier to work for myself at my own pace, do what I want, when I want, how I want. And make more money.

Plus I am better at this. I find all things mechanical and machinery to be sort of a church for me. My salvation so to speak. That and my programming skills are mediocre at best so could not rely on that. Out of touch with current technology.

One thing is for certain though. Had I had the skill set and job set you describe,.. I would not be in trucking.

Hurst

 

The way you make broker contacts is by out here doing the actual work of booking and hauling their loads. Me and every other guy on here could give you our list of broker contacts right now and it would be useless to you now because you don't have a truck.

And later also useless to you, because who knows what lanes you even run? So creating a list of brokers now is a waste of time. What you do is dive right in and do it. Take the loads others don't want and do the things others won't do. Do it on the same lanes over and over. And good brokers with good paying freight will load you up with repeat business.

As far as leasing versus going independent. There are so many variables there you can't just say clear cut any one is superior to the other. We all have the exact same expenses whether we are leased or indpendent.

Either those are all upfront as an independent or some are on the backside leased. There are a lot of bad lease contracts out here though. And what works well for one guy even with a good contract might not be ideal for another.

 

I'm in the same situation like you are right now. I have the money to start, but don't know where to start, so I'm following this thread

 

Sometimes it is easy as walking into a beer distribution with a load of Busch in bottles and cases being unloaded off your trailer. Eye ball all the neat stacks of Kegs empty and stamped st louis where you came from.

A phone call or a satellite message to your now overjoyed fleet boss will begin a process by which your company will see if they can load those Kegs going right back to Busch. It will be a while before they tell you yea or nay.

That is how I found a load once. It was also how I earned a spot with the company for however long I wanted to stay with them.

 

Wow...
Don't be so quick to scoff at the guys with the older trucks. Appearances can fool you. Older trucks don't necessarily mean that the driver is struggling. 1 As stated before, these trucks are inspected thoroughly every 120 days. 2. Many of the older trucks are Pre-DEF and DPF ( less headache and lower maintenance costs). 3. These guys aren't running around with $2-$3000 a month truck payments so they are able to make a better profit. New trucks don't necessarily mean trouble-free, they can end up in the shop too.

A "clean, customized truck" doesn't mean squat if the owner doesn't know how to get out there and work the Freight to his/her advantage. I agree with the previous posters who suggested Landstar or Mercer as a place to learn the rates and lanes. As well as take advantage of the discounts. Once you get a feel of it, then you'll be more knowledgeable about running independent. Remember 100% of a low rate is still a low rate.

Good luck

 

I know a guy who has 6-7 trucks. They are anywhere from 1998 - 2006 Freightliners. Those tractors are running up and down the interstates like crazy. Even his trucks with the old MBE 4000 engines are clocking miles like nobody's business. Don't be an elitist.