I'm guessing that you are partly correct. There almost has to be salesperson/agent/broker involved at some point though, unless the shipper wants to book all of there own trucks. Then I'm guessing that what happens is the load is put out for bid. The first person to get the load might be a trucker or it might be a broker. If the broker gets to it first and you can't get it direct from the first source, then the broker gets his cut if you get the load from him. Then... another broker grabs it up...lol...and on and on... and next thing ya know that $2.50/mile load is on the load boards for $1.37.

The only way to stop the cheap stuff from being put on the boards is for people to stop taking those rates. As long as a broker can grab that good paying load up and repost it with their cut taken out of it, their gonna do it. It's business, they take their proift where they find it just like all the rest of us.

Just a guess. I'm no expert and don't have my authority either...so ignore me if you wish..lol.

 

It's also time, I have seen Gman state that it takes time to find the well paying load, so it's a matter of choice, is your time more valuable finding the load, or driving the load,

 

Are you referring to a broker or dispatch service? If you work in this business you will do at least some business with brokers. Even if you have some of your own direct shippers, you will likely do some business with brokers to get back to your shipper. A good broker will usually have more than one account and can possibly offer more than the load that you called about.

A dispatch service is NOT a broker. When I dispatch someone I don't rely totally on load boards. I think that I now have over 300 contacts in my file. I can sometimes find a better paying load from my contacts rather than a load board. In fact, I usually start with the contacts. If you run your own authority you can find your own loads. Some people would rather pay a service to find their loads than spend time making calls themselves. It does take time to find the better loads. If all you want to do is keep your truck moving you can easily do that yourself using load boards. Finding a decent rate, or better rate involves good negotiating skills and time. You can't look at a load board while driving down the highway. Many times I have seen a really good paying load be posted and within a few minutes it is gone. If you are not sitting at the computer watching loads being posted you could miss it. Some brokers won't work with you to plan out loads for several days or even a week out. Some will. Those who do that will sometimes offer a cheaper rate. You can always lose the load if someone comes along who will haul the load for less money. As long as people continue to take cheap loads rates will be cheap and more volatile. You can do everything yourself that a dispatch service can do as long as you are willing to spend the time and effort. There are some people who would rather pay someone to do those things for them so that they can be free to drive. It comes down to the value of your time or doing what you want to do. I charged 10% of the rate. As an example, if I booked $3,000 in freight for an owner, then I make $300 and the owner gets $2,700. He cannot pay a full time dispatcher $300. He can find and book his own loads and keep the $300 or he can pay me $300 and keep moving. I may or may not be able to get a better rate than he would have gotten for himself. In the past I usually did better than most of them were able to do for themselves. I figured that even if I only booked loads at what the owner could do, he was saving time and the time saved could mean that he could get another load on the truck this week. That puts more money in his pocket. He cannot look for loads while he drives. I can. You don't have to use a dispatch service to be successful in this business. You can use load boards, computer and cell phone to find and book loads. It is a matter of doing what you want or what you do best. For some, it is driving. For instance, I know people who would rather pay a service to do their quarterly IFTA filings for them. I know others who don't want to spend $35 or more each month for someone to do it for them. They prefer doing it themselves. I find the same thing with a dispatch service. Some would rather pay someone to look for loads and others would rather spend their time and save the money.

A good dispatch service can be similar to leasing to another carrier. They find and book loads for you while you drive. The difference is that the dispatch service is less expensive than leasing to a carrier and when it is your authority you will be responsible for doing your own IFTA and compliance. There are some who would be much more successful if they did use a service. There are too many people who are so scared of sitting for a day or two that they will put anything that they can get on the truck rather than wait for a decent paying load. They will take anything just to keep moving. They take a load without checking credit or reading the contract. These are not business people, but they are in business. Unless you make a profit you will not survive in this or any other business.

A good dispatch service can not only find loads, but do all the reading of contracts and other paperwork related to the load. If they are experienced they can also advise the owner operator or carrier where he should or should not be running to be most profitable. I have witnessed many changes the last couple of years. There have been times where former good freight areas are no longer very good. It is difficult to keep a handle on this when you are driving. I am not trying to sell anyone on using a dispatch service. That is something everyone must decide for themselves. It works for some people.

 

a lot of people just use the wife / family member to do that. Most guys have their dispatcher sitting in the jump seat or back at the house.

 

I guess I don't see the difference between a dispatch service and a brokerage. Can someone explain this?

 

Based off of my limited knowledge, simple basics is a dispatcher in theory works for the bests interest of the driver, and a brokerage works for the best interest of the shipper,

That is very very basic, a little bit more complex, a brokerage has to be licensed as he moves other people's freight with other people's trucks, a dispatcher basically finds the freight for trucks, it's a subtle difference in my mind, but a big one I believe.

I do believe that if a dispatcher has a direct shipper, they need a broker's license, but I don't know, it is one of the things I was going to ask,

So I will let someone more knowledgeable than I take it from here.

 

it's just a fancy word for scheduler, travel asst.

 

Not all dispatchers work in the best interest of the driver. There are some that are in cohoots with brokers.

 

Yes, but these are generally not true credit reports, only what that particular load board knows about a particular broker from carrier reviews or complaints on that load board’s site. If you want a true credit reporting service, you need something like Ansonia (ACD - Ansonia Credit Data - Member Login). It is a fee-per-use service, but it is one of the most used by the big factoring companies (it is in fact owned by Orange Commercial Credit who bought over $700 million in bills last year and only lost $44k according to them) and it is more in-depth than what a mortgage lender gets when he or she pulls your personal credit report. It includes everything except the results of a body cavity search of the head of the company. It’s a bit pricy when compared to what you would pay getloaded.com for example, but it is a true look at a company’s propensity toward paying its bills on-time.

 

Music,

That seems like a very good company to use, I was trying to find out how much per report, couldn't find it on the website, can you tell me how much per use?

Thanks,
Sam