Where Do Owners Get Loads?

I am in baby step number one of starting my own trucking company. I am gathering information. I would like to start on my own authority in about three years. I have been driving five years and have a clean record.

My big question is, how do you get loads? I know about Brokers, and load boards, but it seems to me those have to be your fall back options. So how do you get those relationships with shippers where you don’t use brokers or boards.

Every company I have worked for has freight that didn’t come from a broker.

You have to get out and meet folks and talk to them. Convince them why you are the best choice for them to work with.

I have picked up a couple new clients through word of mouth. Best advertising thete is, is a happy customer.

If you're on baby step 1, I'm still just a gleam in my daddy's eye!😂

From what I've gathered on my small amount of research is talking directly to a shipper and contracting with them. I enjoyed this YouTube video on the subject.

https://youtu.be/xjgUhS5cffU?si=u8h7VSS8xsNd3W9_

Sean, I don’t know much about being an O/O and finding loads because I’m a company driver and happy with that.

However, there is another way to do it from what I understand. There are O/O drivers who work exclusively or almost exclusively for an established company and that company gives them their loads. For instance, my company has over 300 company drivers and maybe a dozen independent contractors but the independents only do company loads. I’m not exactly sure what the arrangement is, but these drivers own their trucks and have the company name on them. And they have their own authority. They get loads much like us company drivers get but have much more control over their schedules as to when they work and when they don’t.

I assume this is a common arrangement in the industry, however I don’t know many details of how these arrangements work. Seems like an advantage for an independent owner in that they don’t have to search for loads.

Sean, I don’t know much about being an O/O and finding loads because I’m a company driver and happy with that.

However, there is another way to do it from what I understand. There are O/O drivers who work exclusively or almost exclusively for an established company and that company gives them their loads. For instance, my company has over 300 company drivers and maybe a dozen independent contractors but the independents only do company loads. I’m not exactly sure what the arrangement is, but these drivers own their trucks and have the company name on them. And they have their own authority. They get loads much like us company drivers get but have much more control over their schedules as to when they work and when they don’t.

I assume this is a common arrangement in the industry, however I don’t know many details of how these arrangements work. Seems like an advantage for an independent owner in that they don’t have to search for loads.

Known as leasing on with a company. They get access to the company repair shop, but the money comes out of what is like an escrow account. They get access to fuel discounts. Might work differently depending on the individual company, but those are a couple of the basic benefits of leasing on with a company as an O/O.

Some of the mega carriers have started letting select owner operators run power only loads for them. The O/O is not leased onto the company. The company pays percentage of the linehaul and what ever else the contract states. Generally from what I know of a couple of them it is no better than leasing onto them or using a broker. They have apps for loads and tracking.