I am in regular need of flatbeds from Walterboro, SC to the Maryland Eastern shore. I was looking at going to load boards to just see what sort of freight rate and availability I might be able to get on trucks for this haul. My question are as follows:

1.) Which load boards should I go to and do I have to pay just to shop?

2.) What is a fair rate for this haul?

3.) If a small company or OO offers to haul a load for me, how do I know that he is legit and that my load will not disappear? (bare with me on this question but I am new to this and currently only deal with folks we know well but it looks like we need more capacity)

THanks in advance for any information you might provide me with.

Hey TigerJ, I've been visiting this website for a while but just finally decided to start posting today. I looked in this forum and found that no one has answered any of your questions. I guess I'll give it a try. You can first start by getting the MC number of a carrier or broker that you intend to use. You can then check their safety rating with I believe the website is safersys.org. Most loadboards you'll have to pay to get any real access. As far as rates it would depend on a multitude of factors. If you establish a relationship with a carrier your rates and service might be better than just going with a broker. However, if you have to move quite a bit of freight you might have to go the broker route if you want access to more capacity. I guess it all depends on how much work you are willing to do yourself? Anyrate, if you want to PM me with the specifics and I'll look up the average rate going to where ever your going. Hope I have been of some help.

If the load disappears you have insurance. Make sure you're covered first. Even though the guys is legit your load can still disappear. Consider a gps tracking unit in the load too.

There are also websites that offer free browsing and bidding on shipments of all kinds. This could be for carriers or shippers looking to post loads or for back-haul to cover empty space.

I would be intrested in talking to you about hauling some for you.
If you would like you could email me and mabey we can get together and help eachother out. [email protected]

I just realized this is from 07 so these rates would have been no good.