If GM or Ford could get on the proper insurance bandwagon somehow.......
They are already on the proper insurance bandwagon. They only allow a certain amount of approved carriers to bid on and move their freight. The approved carriers will bid on loads even when they do not have trucks in the area and then repost those loads to the smaller carriers who do not have access to those loads.
Now in the carriers defense; they don't always do this for the profit. They do this so it looks like they have more capacity than they actually have. It makes them look better, and they end up getting more loads and better carrier ratings by brokering these loads out to other carriers. It artificially raises their load counts. Panther is one of the only companies that does not have to do this. They win awards for covering the most freight on NLM and other load boards.
That is because they have 20 vans in every major city. Other middle sized carriers who do not have a cargo van on every street corner can't compete against this unless they artificially beef up their capacity. NLM and other 3PL's complain about this all of the time, but they really don't care about what monkey business goes on behind the scenes, as long as their loads get covered.
Sometimes carriers do this to scalp money off the top, and other times it is because one of their trucks accepted the load and then broke down, or backed out after the bid has been awarded. The carrier brokers the load out as opposed to turning the load back over to the 3PL and looking bad, or taking a hit to their carrier rarting. Panther doesn't even have to call the driver and ask if they want the load. They just bid on every load that pops up and then go through 20 or more trucks to get it covered once it has been awarded to them.
I would love to be able to do that. Just bid loads without having to call the drivers and haggle with them. Then force one of your drivers to take it; and if they all refuse, you simply throw it out there to your hundreds of partner carriers and let them fight over it like throwing bread crumbs to a bunch of hungry birds. Don't you just love how capitalism works?