long haul 0/0 load boards

[rank]

Well I spoke with truckers edge today. It seems I am paying 30/month more because I signed up "before the rate adjustment". Stay tuned, folks. More in this later.

[rank]

Original Poster >>>>>... is it worth it?
Rank >>>> no. owning a trucking company is not worth the time, capital and risk if you ask me. not for the $30,000 pre income tax dollars you might net every year
Bigmon >>>I've met Dr.s, lawyers, airline pilots, etc. that say their profession isn't worth it either.
Rank >>Have you met any that said they wanted be a truck driver?
Bigmon > Steve Booth has. I met several that did other things like work at car dealerships, hotels and some became activist.

How did you go from Doctors and laywers to used car salesmen? Quite a leap isn't it? As for Steve, nice guy sure ( he even paid me $80 to find him a load out of Gillette, WY one time), but still not a doctor or a lawyer.....and he lasted less than 2 yrs in this business IIRC.

[Bigmon]

Original Poster >>>>>... is it worth it?
Rank >>>> no. owning a trucking company is not worth the time, capital and risk if you ask me. not for the $30,000 pre income tax dollars you might net every year
Bigmon >>>I've met Dr.s, lawyers, airline pilots, etc. that say their profession isn't worth it either.
Rank >>Have you met any that said they wanted be a truck driver?
Bigmon > Steve Booth has. I met several that did other things like work at car dealerships, hotels and some became activist.

How did you go from Doctors and laywers to used car salesmen? Quite a leap isn't it? As for Steve, nice guy sure ( he even paid me $80 to find him a load out of Gillette, WY one time), but still not a doctor or a lawyer.....and he lasted less than 2 yrs in this business IIRC.

Steve met the Dr.s, lawyers etc. that became truckers. I met Dr.s and lawyers that quit their jobs and went to selling cars.

[rank]

Steve met the Dr.s, lawyers etc. that became truckers.

I call BS.

[Paul McGraw]

Did Steve Booth quit trucking? I had not heard that. What drove him out: equipment problems, living in a truck, high costs, living in a truck, downtime waiting for overpriced repairs, broker greed, low rates, living in a truck, loneliness, fourteen hour work days, living in a truck, no family life or did he just find something even better?

[tracer]

Did Steve Booth quit trucking? I had not heard that. What drove him out: equipment problems, living in a truck, high costs, living in a truck, downtime waiting for overpriced repairs, broker greed, low rates, living in a truck, loneliness, fourteen hour work days, living in a truck, no family life or did he just find something even better?

he probably lucked out with the sale of the truck: due to all space age technology mods he did, the truck would be a hit on ebay!

[rank]

Did Steve Booth quit trucking? I had not heard that. What drove him out: equipment problems, living in a truck, high costs, living in a truck, downtime waiting for overpriced repairs, broker greed, low rates, living in a truck, loneliness, fourteen hour work days, living in a truck, no family life or did he just find something even better?

LOL the last I heard he went back to his old job.

[RostyC]

With Truckers Edge do you find the rate index to be relatively accurate? Also the hot states feature, does anyone use it?

This seems like a decent board, I might sign on today or tomorrow.

[rank]

I don't pay any attention to the rate index and hot load thingies, Rosty. I find they are skewed toward vans to the point they are almost not applicable to step deck and double drop frieght.

BTW, I spoke to the billing department the other day. It seems the reason I am being charged $80/month instead of $50 is because I get to see both US and Canadian load postings. Apparently for the $50 you only get to see loads from the country you live in. I don't buy that story. Anyone want to see if they can get international postings for $50?

[RostyC]

I don't pay any attention to the rate index and hot load thingies, Rosty. I find they are skewed toward vans to the point they are almost not applicable to step deck and double drop frieght.

BTW, I spoke to the billing department the other day. It seems the reason I am being charged $80/month instead of $50 is because I get to see both US and Canadian load postings. Apparently for the $50 you only get to see loads from the country you live in. I don't buy that story. Anyone want to see if they can get international postings for $50?

When/If I sign up I'll ask about the international postings. Have you met any decent contacts from the board that you do repete business with? A broker that might call you before he post something on the board perhaps?

[rank]

When/If I sign up I'll ask about the international postings. Have you met any decent contacts from the board that you do repete business with? A broker that might call you before he post something on the board perhaps?

Yep. Lots. Just doing a quick check from Q4 2009:

26 back hauls
10 different brokers
2 of those 10 were new to me
15 times they made the call

Those are just the loads we've moved. They've probably called 100 times but many times we are already covered or the rate isn't good enough to cover the DH.

[tracer]

Yep....They've probably called 100 times but many times we are already covered or the rate isn't good enough to cover the DH.

Rank, do you figure this board is better for a Canadian based dropdeck o/o as compared to Internet Truck Stop?

[rank]

Rank, do you figure this board is better for a Canadian based dropdeck o/o as compared to Internet Truck Stop?

Hey Tracer,

For Canadian loads or international loads, there is no comparison.

I using ITS ~3 years ago for ~$30/month, then GetLoaded for ~$35 IIRC, then Load Link, then DatConnect for ~$120/month or some big number like that. Then I switched to Truckers Edge for $80/month. Load Link, Truckers Edge and DatConnect are all Dat but they have different service levels. Load link is Canadian only. TruckersEdge that I have is international but I am not allowed to post loads. DatConnect is the same as TE but you can post loads.

At the time I felt the $125 was good value compared to what the the other guys were giving me for $30-$35. I feel the extra $50 I am currently paying pays me back over 5x that amount in one load.


*Caveat: The information posted above may be out dated. Do your homework.

[floored]

Last year everything I booked off of load boards was only for my o/o who refused to run empty.. In most cases if my truck ran at the same place/time I'd run it empty because the rates were not worth my time to mess with them. I sold a ton of loads on getloaded.com and made a ton of cash doing it. You'd be amazed at how many big companies use load boards, its really interesting when you are on the selling end of it.

[GMAN]

Most of the major carriers use load boards and brokers. They may tell their owner operators and drivers that they only haul their own freight, but most of them will use outside sources to keep their trucks moving, especially in this economy. That is one reason so many of the rates are lower than we need. Brokers and 3rd party logistics companies have been moving in on carriers direct freight. It is taking much of the profit out of a load. It is a race to the bottom and the carriers are the ones who suffer. When carriers suffer, so do their owner operators. I don't like to deadhead, but will before I take a load that I have to take money out of my pocket to run it. Many carriers, large and small, will take most anything to keep their trucks moving. They are afraid to move without something on the truck whether it is profitable to do so or not.

[GMAN]

Last year everything I booked off of load boards was only for my o/o who refused to run empty.. In most cases if my truck ran at the same place/time I'd run it empty because the rates were not worth my time to mess with them. I sold a ton of loads on getloaded.com and made a ton of cash doing it. You'd be amazed at how many big companies use load boards, its really interesting when you are on the selling end of it.

I can't say that I blame him for not wanting to haul without something on the truck, but sometimes it is more profitable to deadhead to a better area rather than haul for free. Did you get your broker authority?

[tracer]

For Canadian loads or international loads, there is no comparison .... I feel the extra $50 I am currently paying pays me back over 5x that amount in one load.

That's good to know! I think our Dispatch is using LoadLink, I saw the logo on their computer ... If I do decide to go on my own, I'll go with Trucker's Edge first. Thanks, Rank!