What Carrier Services do Own-Authority Expediters Use?

[ATeam]

In this post, kwexpress mentioned Foley Carrier Services as a company used to help him run his own-authority expedite business.

So as not to take that thread off topic, I'll start a new one and ask here. Are there other similar companies that expediters have found helpful in that regard?

(I'm asking for the general interest of all readers. Diane and I are not researching a business model change.)

 

[kwexpress]

well another thing I use to keep in compliance is fleet director the one I have installed even on my van is fleet director 9 its still in the beta testing but should become available to everyone soon.

I like to know where my trucks are at any time.I like to know what kind of fuel mileage the trucks getting I like to know if a check engine light comes on what the problem is.I like to track maintance intervals and I like the fact that it dont matter if I am at home at my desk or away with the family if there is a problem I am on top of it.
I have not installed on my regulated truck yet but it also does the logbook for you.
once the beta program is over I plan to put it in both my trucks and then will start bringing in owner/ops.
to me its to risky to trust a stranger with my lively hood I like to know how my trucks are being operated at all times. also these things pay for themselves by using this device and the right kind of driver I can qualify for a 30% discount on my commercial policy.Right now I am paying roughly $9000 per year for insurance on my trucks and trailers so I pay teletrac around $50 a month per unit for my old unit fleet director 8 the only difference in fleet director 9 is it now does electronic logs and routing that communicate with eachother.so not only do I receive alerts if over hours speeding and such I also know within a few minutes if a truck goes off route.very useful tool for any operation.
GPS Tracking Devices, GPS Systems & GPS Tracking Systems

 

[kwexpress]

also as far as employment and background checks I use DAC online
Employment Background Checks, Background Screening - HireRight

 

[kwexpress]

there is all kinds of backoffice solutions that make it so even a small expediter can run a first class operation without having to take out loans to finance start-ups.

to me trucking is all about cash flow 1 load at a time thats why I use factoring most brokers I run with give me 1/2 the cash when I am loaded so I am not really taking that big of a chance to begin with and if I dont the payable terms of that company I factor them.

not every company that I run for is it needed like for instance Landstar run it today fax in paperwork 2 days latter its on your com-check card.

bolt has thre own quick pay program as well as panther so I wont factor any of their freight bills these are rock solid companies in my book. any company that expects me to cover the cost and wait more than a week to get paid they get factored if the credit is good enough to factor.
I just add fee to quote or bid.
keep it simple

 

[blizzard2014]

there is all kinds of backoffice solutions that make it so even a small expediter can run a first class operation without having to take out loans to finance start-ups.

to me trucking is all about cash flow 1 load at a time thats why I use factoring most brokers I run with give me 1/2 the cash when I am loaded so I am not really taking that big of a chance to begin with and if I dont the payable terms of that company I factor them.

not every company that I run for is it needed like for instance Landstar run it today fax in paperwork 2 days latter its on your com-check card.

bolt has thre own quick pay program as well as panther so I wont factor any of their freight bills these are rock solid companies in my book. any company that expects me to cover the cost and wait more than a week to get paid they get factored if the credit is good enough to factor.
I just add fee to quote or bid.
keep it simple

You must not be running many cargo vans in your fleet. I used to add the factoring fee to my quotes foe cargo van freight and they way things are right now, it would cost me the bid. Factoring is good if you can get it done for a decent price. It saves a lot of time making phone calls and tracking down money. I even pass on a small fee to the drivers if they want to be paid the same day that they deliver. But some people on here would say that because we use factoring companies we are one step away from bankruptcy!

 

[kwexpress]

1 cargo van no it dont run alot 1or 2 run a week mostly but I got a back up broker that helps it move a little more but that bidding is done by them at a lower rate than I bid.I would not suggest anyone try this with just a cargo van.I myself run mostly flatbeds I dont find many of the brokers off sylectus that offer fuel advances or even that pay in 2 weeks let alone 1.
as far as the factoring goes if I was running for a carrier I would be giving up more than 5% to them anyway.I tried a lease with one the the sylectus carriers he was charging me 20% and I was paying the insurance on top of that.I booked my own loads so 20% for someone else to do my billing just didnt make since to me.and I was alot closer to bankruptcy by the time he paid me,so factoring in my case gave me a 15% raise and next day pay.how can that be bad?

 

[CharlesD]

Factoring is a necessary evil these days, but when I was out there just booking my own stuff and not running any other units, I didn't factor that much. Once you get past the initial 30 days you have the money rolling in and everything's good. It's when you want to start paying contractors that factoring comes in handy.

But, and this is a pretty big but, there is a certain break even point when the fees you pay to a factoring company in the course of a year are more than you would have to pay for a full time employee to do book keeping and payroll. You get enough trucks rolling and start generating enough revenue, you can see annual factoring fees in excess of $50k quite easily. The only kicker is having enough cash to pay everyone for the first 30-45 days until you start collecting on the billed loads. We're not there yet, but I would like to get to that point sometime soon. I could do a lot with what we pay out in factoring.