I was very curious as to how an expediting company finds their loads for there drivers. I know they have load boards but I was wondering how do they get access to these boards and why can't anyone look at these boards? How do these load boards work and how do they know how much to bid?
Any insight into how the whole load board thing works would sure be appreciated.
Jumbuck
Most load boards offer access to companies based on a certain criteria. Some of them are less strict than others (see Sylectus vs NLM) but all have some minimum requirement. The reason not just anyone can look at the boards is because companies placing freight on the boards expect good (or somewhat decent) service. If just any old Bill, Bob, or Buford could bid freight off a board without the proper certification, insurance, etc. then there would be a big mess.
How much to bid is based on a number of things just like any price would be. How much do you need to gain a profit? How much does the driver need? How much are companies willing to pay? Blah, Blah, Blah. The real money in expedite isn't from load board freight. The companies that make good money find their own customers directly.
You currently have a number of companies out there trying to live off load board freight only. Most of these companies are also in the business of making drivers run really cheap and playing bidding games with each other. This drives prices down and makes its difficult to secure load board freight at a decent rate.
