It is both, Rev. You apparently didn't read my entire post. As I stated, the $10/mile load was specialized and would have required a specialized truck to haul the load. That load is NOT TYPICAL of load board freight, but was use as a comparison. There are fairly decent paying loads on the load boards, but there are also cheap loads. You will need to work harder to find the better paying loads. If you take the first cheap load offered, you may not make a decent living from the load boards. Shippers and brokers are both taking advantage of the slower economy and glut of trucks in some areas. Most of the rates I have seen lately on the load boards are lower than they were 2 or 3 months ago. Some brokers typically have cheap loads. I don't bother talking to them. There is no need to waste my time or their's talking about a load both of us know's that I will never carry. If all he wants to make is $1.30/mile he will be pleasantly surprise at the rates found on the load boards. If he expects to find a number of loads at or more than $3/mile, then those are more difficult to find. They are not impossible. You don't see a lot of $3/mile van freight. I have received calls on loads ranging from $1.30 to about $2/mile during the last week or so.
Most single truck operators may find it more difficult to solicit and service shippers direct. They don't have the resources. Notice I didn't say impossible, just difficult. In that respect, some could benefit from having a sales force, such as a broker do that work for them. The rub is that some brokers will try to rape you on the rate. Just as not all brokers are honest, not all carriers and owner operators are dependable.
It boils down to what you want to do. Unless you are willing to take the time to make sales calls yourself, you will need to either hire someone to sell your services or use brokers. Either way, you will pay a fee.
If people were not making a living using load boards, they would have gone out of busines long ago. Just because a rate is offered doesn't mean that you have to take it. It is ultimately up to the carrier or owner operator as to which load they take or let sit.
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