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Ok now here I have been debating with myself (good thing I'm on a trucker website where people are by themselves in a truck 24hrs a day so this comment is normal) on whether I should pre-book or not. I got to thinking that as GMAN points out when they HAVE to move the load that's when they will pay. So I figured that I was going to be in Michigan and there is a lot of loads here I would wait til I got here (though monitoring the boards enroute.). But I guess this stragedy amounts to trying to hit a homerun every time. Originally Posted by no_worries
Actually, after looking a little closer, rates look like they've come up a bit in WA. I've been up there 3 times in the last couple of weeks and they're better than I've seen. Make sure you take a look at the boards each day during business hours. You might be able to book something ahead of time. The good brokers don't wait until the last minute trying to squeeze every dime out of a load. Good luck.
I only have a few days on the phone but it seemed like if they have time they can wait for a better rate or maybe that was just my impression. How else would they offer $1.19 to go to California from Michigan? I like what Big Diesel said about able to come down but never able to go up after. I'm not going to lie as it is right now I'm afraid to wait but I will get myself out of that.
I also came to the conclusion that when I get a general idea of what's a good area and when I won't have to sit by the computer when I talk to these people then I can post it and start driving. As it is now they tell me the destination and I put it on the load board to see how much is in the area and how far I have to deadhead to get a load. Like I said it wasn't two minutes posted this morning and they started calling.
I need to buy a Verizon aircard cause Cingular doesn't work in Montana and Idaho etc. I'm sure it works in WA.
One final question, when I call I usually ask what they have on a load. What is the general consensus on that? For instance on the couple of real cheap ones I asked about I told them I couldn't do it for that and then they asked what I needed and when I said what I needed they said no and I politely said thank you and hung up. I guess it makes no sense to say what do they have on something cause they are always going to say a low ball figure. I think I need to take a couple of psychology classes