Load boards offer a variety of advantages that can make them an essential part of your business plan. However, load boards can’t be your only solution. Continue reading to learn more about load boards, who uses them, their benefits, and the best strategy for their use.

What are Load Boards?

Load boards, sometimes referred to as freight boards, are online platforms that help shippers and freight brokers connect with carriers. Shippers searching for trucks to haul their freight can reach out to carriers that post details of their empty equipment. Freight brokers post their loads on these platforms so carriers can acquire freight to optimize their efficiency and income.

Raye Ackerman, VP of Subscription Services at eCapital, compares load boards to dating websites, connecting brokers and carriers instead of people looking for the right partner. “Freight brokers post details about their loads, and carriers post their capabilities, such as refrigerated trucks or a temperature-controlled dry van. Carriers can search the listings to find the best loads available in a specific location. Conversely, a broker could search out a specific type of carrier to transport their products.”

Who Uses Load Boards?

Almost all carriers use load boards as part of their business operations. So, let’s look at how trucking businesses at various stages can use a load board to grow.

Startup companies 

A startup carrier can use load boards to find freight while building its customer base. As with all industries, building a solid customer base that provides regular and reliable work can take time. A load board can provide freight plus help your business connect with shippers and freight brokers to develop relationships and your reputation as a reliable carrier. As your customer base grows, your trucking business may rely less on load boards.

Growing companies 

A growing carrier can use load boards to fill gaps as its customer base grows. It can reduce empty miles while connecting you with potential new customers. For example, you may have regular work from your customers, but an expanding fleet may require additional customers that can be found on load boards to fill that new capacity.

Established trucking companies 

Even established trucking companies use load boards. Load boards can help established businesses fill capacity and avoid running empty miles. In addition, many companies use load boards to find higher-paying loads to maximize their profitability.

What are the Best Strategies for Using Load Boards?

Reducing empty miles is paramount to protecting your bottom line. Finding and hauling fronthaul freight is the easier half of the equation for running a profitable trucking business – finding freight to fill the backhaul is exceedingly more difficult. According to a 2019 survey, the number of empty miles available for backhaul increased to 28%, up from the 26% reported in the previous year’s survey. Perhaps the most common reason for growing and established trucking companies to use load boards is to secure loads to fill backhauls.

Often trucks are running with available capacity, or worse, are deadheading. A load board can help you maximize equipment utilization to grow your business more profitably.

A longer-term benefit of using load boards is that it can help you connect with brokers who could become regular customers. If you use a load board that includes broker data, you can connect with vetted freight brokers who can become trustworthy partners.

Finally, load boards can provide data that helps you make better business decisions. For example, you can track rates and target better loads with higher rates. Many load boards also offer market data and trend analysis essential to planning, forecasting, and making informed business decisions. Using this data, established companies can position additional equipment in areas of high demand where brokers will pay much higher average rates.

Take care not to lean too heavily on load boards as the sole source of freight acquisition – it is a highly competitive venue. Instead, concentrate on building lasting relationships – each load you acquire and haul from a load board is another opportunity to prove your service value to a new potential customer.  Using load boards in this fashion will build your brand reputation and provide better connections to acquire the loads you need tomorrow and in the future. As your business grows, establish lanes to acquire steady loads and continue using load boards to their best advantage – to fill remaining capacity and to reach new customers.

What are the Benefits of Using Load Boards?

There are several benefits to using load boards. Load boards are typically easy to use and are readily available if you have reliable internet access. Many load boards are free to use. You can also find affordable subscription models, which may include extra information and offer higher security and reliability.

Load boards also take negotiation and contracts off your plate. For example, if you’re a startup carrier, you might not have the staff to build relationships with shippers, submit bids for contracts, or negotiate terms. For new trucking companies, load boards supply a readily available pool of paying freight to launch your business and build relationships.

But the most significant benefit to all trucking companies, no matter what stage of development their business is in, is that load boards provide a cost-effective tool to top up capacity, fill backhauls, and source new leads. They are a valuable tool to increase efficiency and profits.

Summary

There are plenty of advantages to using load boards, but you shouldn’t rely on them for all your business.

A load board can help you break into the industry as a startup business, reduce empty miles on backhauls, and fill capacity gaps as your business grows. Still, it is not recommended as a primary strategy for acquiring loads. Your primary load acquisition strategy should focus on developing relationships with shippers and brokers and establishing lanes your trucking company can dominate. Use load boards as a secondary strategy to limit empty runs, help fill capacity gaps, identify the best-paying loads, and connect with potential new customers. Building a solid customer base will lead to steady and reliable work.

Building a solid customer base is the best approach for ensuring the long-term success of your trucking business. A load board should be just one of the tools your trucking company uses, but it is a necessary and effective tool nonetheless!

The post How to Use Load Boards to Grow Your Trucking Company appeared first on Carriers&Movers.

In 2020 alone, over $9 billion were invested in last mile delivery startups in North America. In that same year, the last mile delivery market in the region was forecast at $39.9 billion. But last mile delivery, which involves the journey of goods from a transportation hub to a final delivery point, represents the most costly piece of the shipping process.

A recent report by Deloitte found that “more than half of shoppers said “fast shipping” was two days or less.” With customers demanding faster and faster shipping times, what are some ways businesses can solve transportation procurement problems and increase efficiency in the last mile or also known as final mile?

Let Customers Set and Adjust Delivery Specifications

By providing customers with an easy-to-use logistics platform, such as a mobile app, businesses can ensure that customers are in full control of their deliveries. Granting customers the freedom to schedule on-demand deliveries can improve transportation procurement and cut down on failed deliveries, the costs of which often fall onto the shipper’s shoulders. 

Continuously Update Shipping Services and Options

Partnering with an API-enabled last-mile logistics provider can allow for real-time reactions to real-world logistics crises. By continuously expanding shipping services, from white glove services to hot shot delivery, businesses can offer the exact service a customer is looking for, promoting five-star reviews and delivery efficiency. 

Utilized Advanced Tools and Technology to Track Orders

With the truckload market in the U.S. soon expected to reach $212 billion, it’s time for businesses to apply advanced tools to transportation procurement in order to keep up with a booming trucking procurement industry. PRNewswire, reporting on a 2021 study by Global Industry Analytics (GIA), reported that the global freight trucking market “…is projected to reach a revised size of $2.7 Trillion by 2026.”

With the industry growing at this rate, it’s vital that businesses implement new technologies to track their orders and maintain visibility over their growing operations, especially as capacity increases due to e-commerce. Using new technology in last mile delivery, such as innovative crowdsourcing, businesses can survive and thrive within the trucking procurement industry’s rapid growth. 

Enable Real-Time Communication With All Parties

PRNewswire, reporting on a study by Loquate, an address verification company, writes that “Eight percent of domestic first-time deliveries fail, costing retailers an average of $17.20 per order or $197,730 per year.” By putting all parties–shippers, drivers, and customers–in close communication through a logistics platform, costly mix-ups resulting in failed deliveries can be easily avoided. 

Provide Customized Shipping and Delivery Options

Whether a customer needs a quick courier service or an entire moving van, businesses need to be ready to provide for their transportation procurement needs. By providing a wide range of vehicles on-demand, businesses can provide customers with whatever shipping resources they need, whenever they need them. 

Automatic Notifications and ETA Alerts to Customers

With 42% of customers wanting same-day delivery, according to a 2020 Forbes report, and 15% saying they chose to buy from Amazon simply because the shipment would arrive faster, speed is quickly showing itself to be a driving factor of sales in the e-commerce era. By delivering automatic shipping notifications and estimated time of arrival (ETA) notices straight to the palm of the customer’s hand, businesses can keep their customers happy and their orders on time.

Provide Proof of Delivery for Customers Once Delivered

By partnering with an insured last and middle mile service provider that provides proof of delivery for customers upon a shipment’s arrival, businesses can not only avoid burdensome failed delivery costs but can also ensure their customers that their order is watched carefully every step of the way.   

The post Transportation Procurement Tips and Tricks to Success in Last Mile appeared first on Carriers&Movers.

GET A DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NUMBER

The first thing to do, is to apply for a United States Department of Transportation number. It isn’t directly needed to start a freight shipping business, but it is necessary for the next step in the process.

GET A BROKER AUTHORITY LICENSE

This license is issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). It licenses a person or a company to conduct business as a freight broker, just as you would need a license to practice law or to be a commercial pilot. The specific form to be completed is MFCSA form OP-1. You must have a U.S. Department of Transportation number, which you should have already received. There is a $300 fee for this license.

GET INSURANCE

In the case of becoming a freight broker, this insurance comes in the form of a surety bond or a trust fund. This insurance is for the shipping company’s benefit and guarantees they will be paid for any cargo space. If the person or company shipping the freight does not pay, the freight broker is held responsible, and in cases where the freight broker cannot pay, this trust fund or surety bond is there to absorb the cost. This surety bond or trust fund must contain a minimum amount of $10,000.

GET A PROCESS AGENT

There is always legal documentation. For starting a freight shipping business, a person must register with a process agent for each state in which they will operate. This is also done with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. What is a process agent? He or she is an agent who acts as legal representative in a particular state. This also requires a form, called BOC-3. There is only a filing fee of $50 for this form.

These are all direct steps in order to become a freight broker. First and foremost, research is needed to get the ins and outs of what it means to begin any new career.

The post FOUR REQUIREMENTS TO STARTING A FREIGHT SHIPPING BUSINESS appeared first on Carriers&Movers.