Find Loads for Your Trucks
Tips to Find Loads for Your Trucks
June 17, 2016
One challenge and crucial part of your trucking company is to find loads for your trucks. It’s not only important to find loads for your trucks, but making sure they’re good ones that improve the profits of your business.
Find Loads for Trucks on Load Board Websites
There are a ton of load board sites on the internet. Some are free and some require payment to access. Below are seven options that might be helpful to you. Many of our freight factoring customers say they use these sites to find loads for their trucking companies.
Click here to see 10 Websites for Truckers.
Picking the Right Loads
Although it might seem that any load is a good load, make sure you take the time to ask yourself a few questions before accepting the job.
1. Will I get paid?
Knowing that you’ll get paid for the work you do is one of the most important aspects when selecting a job. Let us answer that question for you by checking the credit of your new customers to make sure they will pay you for the work you do.
2. When will I get paid?
2. When will I get paid?Without a third party credit analysis service, it might be difficult to answer this question, but knowing how long you’ll have to wait to get paid is important for when it comes to budgeting and planning your cash flow. If you use freight factoring, your factoring company can help determine how long this potential customer typically takes to pay. Even if they average 45 or more days, your factoring company pays you on your invoices right away.
3. Where are you shipping to?
Think about where you are hauling the load to. You’ll want to make sure you can line up another load to pick up close to where you are dropping this one off at. As we all know, an empty truck does not make any money. In fact, it costs money as you’ll still be paying your driver and fuel whether the truck is empty or full.
4. Does it pay well?
Once you find loads, you want to make sure the job pays well. Does the amount they are willing to pay cover your expenses including your driver, fuel and time? If not, try to negotiate a new rate or find loads that give you a better return.
5. Can you secure a contract?
If you found a good customer that meets your standards for the above questions, check to see if they have more upcoming loads. If the answer is yes, try to arrange a contract with them so you can get loads from them regularly.
Can You Afford to Take on More Loads?
Taking on new loads can cause some issues with your cash flow. Once you find loads and agree to take on the work, you may need to hire more drivers, pay more in fuels costs and possibly purchase more trucks. This can be difficult to do if you are waiting for customer payment.
Many trucking companies turn to freight factoring to bridge that gap in their cash flow. Contact the financial experts at Scale Funding today to learn more. (800) 707-4845.
