I love the convenience of digital load boards. My schedule is very full when I’m on the road and not having to make additional phone calls means one less thing I have to deal with. Plus, being an introvert it’s just something I don’t really want to deal with. I am going to provide you with my hacks and insights on using the digital load boards to find and select my loads.
First a disclaimer: This is from the perspective of someone who has never accessed the DAT or Truckstop load boards or used any load board that requires a paid subscription. I operate under a couple of assumptions. Because I don’t use the DAT or Truckstop load boards, I perform market analysis by comparing the boards I do use, which are Uber Freight, Convoy, C.H. Robinson, J.B. Hunt, Coyote, RXO (formerly XPO), and Landstar. I assume that the rates paid by DAT, Truck Stop, and others are probably not too far off from these load boards. Therefore, make sure to do your own research if you want to see how DAT and Truck Stop compare to these load boards. So admitting this blind spot, here are my hacks…
Load Board Impressions:
Again, the load boards I have used are Uber Freight, Convoy, C.H. Robinson, J.B. Hunt, Coyote, RXO (formerly XPO), and Landstar. When I check these load boards to find freight, they are relatively similar but there are some differences. I find that Uber and C.H. Robinson typically have the most consistently highest paying loads and I use those the most by far. Here’s a short impression of each:
Uber Freight – Good pay relative to the others I’ve tried. Quick payment. Good for last-minute loads. Best app functionality for searching for loads. Outsourced Philippines customer service representatives.
C.H. Robinson – Probably the highest paying of the load boards I have tried but you will have to wait 21 days for payment. Best for finding loads many days out. U.S.-based customer service representatives.
Convoy – Hit or miss. Some really good-paying loads and some really low-paying loads. Quick payment. Nice trailer rental program if you maintain their performance standard. Get the impression they are pressing you to handle concerns through the app rather than call a live representative.
RXO – I rarely find decent-paying loads. Some of the cheapest freight I have seen. The few loads I have done have all had delayed payment issues.
J.B. Hunt – I have found a couple of great loads here but the vast majority of the time I am underbid by other drivers. U.S.-based customer service representatives.
Coyote – Doesn’t always seem to have loads available when I look. But the few loads I have done for them have paid great. I also get a good vibe from their customer service representatives. Owned by C.H. Robinson.
Landstar – Seems the most old-school. I have only done a few loads and they have required extensive contact with the broker (check calls, actual mailed invoice, actual mailed check).
Load Board Hacks:
1) If the load board permits it, I like to start my search by seeing what the closest loads are to me and what they are paying. Next, I search by either the highest paying loads or the highest paying loads per mile and then I compare them to what is close and determine whether or not it’s worth traveling farther to get a load.
2) I have found that in a normal market, booking earlier allows me to secure better-paying loads. In a tight capacity market (a good market for getting higher-paying loads) waiting until the last minute allows me to book higher-paying loads.
3) Waiting until the last minute is easier in cities where I can travel quickly across the city. This strategy might not be the best idea for places like Atlanta, LA, or New York where it would be hard to get to the load if you booked it last minute and it’s clear across town. For example, I recently booked a last-second load in New York City. At first glance, it looked like it was easy money paying $500 for 50 miles. However, I booked the load at noon and, due to traffic, I did not finish delivering the load until 7:00 p.m. Ultimately, the load ended up being almost a full day’s work.
4) If you aren’t familiar with the rates of the market you’re currently in, look for the rates of loads that pick up within a couple of hours. The rates on these loads will give you an idea of the all-in rates of last-minute loads in that area. Then use that knowledge to negotiate when booking loads a few days out.
5) Loads out of Denver and Florida pay less so if you take a load to one of those locations try to get extra money going in.
6) If you’re a person that goes to bed late, check the load boards before you go to bed when most truckers are asleep. If you are an early riser, check the boards as soon as you wake up.
7) Personally, I might take a little less paying load to not have to deadhead1. There’s just something about picking up a load across the street from where I delivered that makes me so happy. I know it’s not always rational but sometimes you just do what makes you happy. Also, every now and then a load gets canceled and it’s doubly inconvenient to have driven a long way to pick up only to have the load canceled.
8) Don’t sweat it if your load gets canceled. More times than not I’ve gotten a better paying load when that happens. This is probably because I typically book my loads well in advance which doesn’t often give me the chance to find those last-minute lucrative loads.
9) As a long-haul driver, I try to get three loads for the week. The ideal for me would be:
- One on Monday morning
- One on Wednesday
- One on Friday for over the weekend.
10) Weekend loads pay a little bit more. Weekend loads are very important as they can make your month. Therefore, I watch out for loads that deliver on Friday too late in the day to get a weekend load. I try to deliver as early as possible on Friday to give myself time to pick up my weekend load.
11) Holidays also pay more. For holidays, I try to book a long load across the country that picks up before the holiday and delivers after. Doing this prevents having to worry about shippers and receivers being closed during the holidays.
12) CSA shakedown weeks2 also pay more because trucking capacity decreases due to many truckers taking the week off to avoid getting inspected. I like to wait until the last minute during these times because I have been able to find some really good paying loads.
13) Unless I need or want a day off, it rarely pays to wait an additional day for a higher-paying load.
14) A broker representative once told me that bids and settlement amounts that ended in round numbers (i.e. $500, $1000, $1200, etc.) were frowned upon internally because his boss would know that he didn’t try to negotiate with the driver to shave some off the requested rate.
1. Deadhead refers to any time a trucker is hauling an empty trailer.
2. CSA is FMCSA’s data-driven safety compliance and enforcement program designed to improve safety and prevent commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes, injuries, and fatalities. CSA consists of three core components; the Safety Measurement System (SMS); interventions; and a Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) rating system to determine the safety fitness of motor carriers. https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About