Load Boards

Been driving for 8 years and been with a few companies. Thinking of going out on my own and train my wife. I know Mercer and Landstar have their own boards as I have friends that work there. Where do the true O/O get their loads from. Also is there a special board for guys using their pickup trucks and trailer to move cars

Hopefully PJ will come in here and will be able to answer your questions. I believe he's the only OO at the current time.

With the economy the way it is, I would NOT even be looking to be an owner op or lease op. When companies are letting go of their good drivers, because there is no freight, this is not a good time to be striking out on your own. Insurance is way high, especially for a beginner owner op and freight rates have tanked. Hundreds (if not thousands) of OOs and LOs have had to shut down and many lost their trucks.

Many CEOs have been watching this, and they are thinking it may come back at the end of the 4th quarter or the first quarter next year. But no one knows for sure.

My friend uses DAT boards. I used to use it to find truck friendly hotels.

Good luck. I wouldnt go owner either.

As said this economy is still in the tank. Several reasons but bottom line is it sucks.

Mercer and landstar do have their own load boards. They are not public. You have to either be leased onto them or signed up as a independant contractor. I have access and have done some work with them. DSV is another decent one.

The hotshot stuff I don’t have any info about. I have a 48’ flatbed.

I have a few brokers I use on occassion. I have developed relationships with one point of contact and use them to get a better rate. Another thing that has been going on the past couple years. Many brokers will require 12-18 months of an active authority before they will consider working with you. They will check your CSA score also. Poor score they will not do business with you.

I have several of my own direct customers for outbound loads. Depending on the lane I deliver in I will use a broker to get back to my customers area.

I use truckstop.com as a general commodity load board if the handful of brokers I have developed those relationships with don’t have anything.

The bigger load boards all pretty much have the same loads. It’s a shotgun effect. Shoot it out as wide as possible and hopefully get it covered. Many customers also list with several brokers to see who gets it covered first.

If you depend strictly on broker freight you will go broke, no pun intended. They all have different margins of how much they take.

If I was looking at hotshot car hauling I would look at customers like LKQ or copart on the parts market side and carmax, carvanna, drivetime on the used car market, and all the car rental places for moving rentals. They are all national and should be easier for loads. Just my thoughts.

Swift just released a load board for O/O's. It seems to be taking all of the loads away from company drivers. Company drivers are getting lousy loads after sitting for days. The load board is not available to company drivers.