Load boards have enhanced the efficiency of trucking. With load boards, the number of truckers that experience empty miles has decreased and the ease of finding the perfect load has increased. Similarly, many shippers can easily find available trucks and valuable capacity for their freight. Load boards, whether public or private, present the most precise details about available space, preferred types of freight, and truck/load destinations. Therefore, the boards offer invaluable exposure to trucking companies while allowing shipping firms to find and match their requirements with the right truckers in order to get their freight shipped as quickly as possible. Moreover, for bigger shipping companies that rely on a fixed number of trucking companies, the load boards enhance efficiency and balance the distribution of freight among different trucking companies. Here is how to choose the right trucking load board.
A. Considerations when Choosing a Load Board
Wide Selection of Loads
For a trucker thinking about how to choose the right trucking load board, a broad that allows you to filter type of loads is a good feature to go for. While there are several potential load boards to consider, only a few of them have a wide variety of load selection. Unfortunately, choosing a load board with a narrow load range will limit the range of opportunities available for the trucking company. Alternatively, choosing a board with a large load range and with frequently updated load trends and a big list of driver resources will allow the trucking company to have more well-paying shipping opportunities that suit its trailer capacity and availability.
Efficient Load Board Systems
Efficient load boards allow both shipping and trucking companies to sign documents electronically, and without the need for fax. Truckers and shippers get automatic alerts as soon as changes are made on the status of the carriers while on-boarding time is reduced from hours to minutes. Efficient load boards guarantee payments and help in the collection of payments in scenarios of non-payment. Many such systems have free reporting tools that help in estimation of rates according to regions and seasons. Signing up to efficient online boards is quick, easy, and secure. Besides, truckers and shippers only need to provide their basic information (names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers) and their credit card information in order to register. The boards also include social layers on their user interfaces to allow shippers and truckers to form networks with the people they feel comfortable working with. Furthermore, mobile access is another efficiency feature of most of the leading load boards.
High Traffic
When reflecting about how to choose the right trucking load board, it is prudent to consider the amount of trucker and shipper traffic received by a load board. A load board that is seen by thousands of carriers and shippers daily is worth consideration. The board should have thousands of trucks and loads types posted per day or week. The loads should also be able to appear on Smartphones, desktops, truck stops, and tablets.
High Paying But Fair Rates
The rates paid to carriers should be high but fair to shippers. This way, the load board can keep an unbroken inflow of shippers and truckers. Both spot and contract load rates should be fair, regardless of the lanes, regions, or seasons of shipment. The load board should allow for price bargaining between truckers and shippers, especially on backhaul rates.
B. Steps of Choosing a Load Board
When choosing a load board, make sure to conduct thorough research. Your research should allow you to get several potential boards. Once you have a list of boards, you should assess them on the basis of the range of loads, efficiency of system, size of traffic, and prices and fairness of rates. Then, you will need to choose multiple load boards to use in order to maximize the number of loads you can get for your truck. Sign up to the load boards and then post your trucking details, including type of truck, location, how you intend to drive, and capacity available.
Give out only the information you feel comfortable with and avoid giving personal details that you do not want to share with other people. Search for loads according to size, distance and location, and make sure to choose only the loads you can handle. For instance, if you are covering short distances, do not choose loads that are to be shipped long distances. Build your reputation on the board by keeping your promises.