Choosing the right load board for your trucking business

Having a good load board is critical to your success as a trucker or owner-operator, but there are lots of load boards out there to choose from.

How do you know which load board is right for you and your trucking business?

Trying to find the right load board when there are hundreds to choose from can be a tedious process. Not all load boards are created equal, and cost is always a concern. Although there are free load boards available for matching freight, they may end up costing you money in the long run.

Check out this article if you’d like to learn more about pros and cons of free load boards.

You need to quickly know what you’re getting into when you post a truck or accept a load. And finding a board that consistently provides high-paying loads in a time-efficient manner will keep your truck(s) on the road.

These tips for choosing the right load board will help!

Pay attention to price.

Don’t be afraid to comparison shop. There are LOADS of load boards available on the internet. They can vary drastically in what features they provide and the price range (from free to $100+/month). A free load board is NOT going to have the security and advanced features that a load board with a monthly subscription fee is going to have. It’s also going to have fewer quality loads to choose from (loads that have potentially been sitting there for a long time!). Truckstop.com’s Load Board has three different options to choose from so you can pick the load board features that fit your budget.

Read the fine print. Many free load boards start charging after a limited trial period.

Check the number of loads.

When you’re trying to find the right load for your truck(s) and preferred area, you need to have a lot of loads available to sort through. Truckstop.com’s Load Board boasts over half a million active loads with multiple ways to sort so you can find what you’re looking for quickly. Make sure you’re using a load board that provides that kind of volume and variety.

A good load board should have hundreds of thousands of legitimate loads.

See how often loads update.

A load board isn’t doing you a whole lot of good if it doesn’t update regularly. Loads come and go quickly, so check how often the board updates before deciding which one to go with. With Truckstop.com Basic, the load board updates every 60 seconds. With Truckstop.com Pro, the load board updates in real time.

Time is money in trucking. Make sure your load board posts current loads.

The load board should be user-friendly.

You don’t want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to work a load board when the load board should actually be working for you. Pick a load board that’s intuitive and easy to understand. See if the company has training videos you can watch to help decide if their load board looks easy to navigate. Not to mention that short, to-the-point videos will make any onboarding process a cinch.

Truckstop.com has a series of videos designed to optimize your use of our load board and suite of products.

Check for advanced features.

Aside from offering basic searching and posting of loads, a good load board should offer advanced features like credit ratings, rate analysis, and additional decision tools. As you start using a load board, you may want more information about brokers you’re working with. Here are a few of the advanced features to look for which could save you time and money.

Book It Now

The capability to book loads instantly with the click of a button, at any time of day, is a fantastic convenience. This means you can avoid the tension of negotiations and simply hit the road faster. You’d rather be driving anyway! Getting load details, rates, and location info in advance with the ability to book at your convenience is the ultimate advance feature. This feature is FREE to all carriers.

CreditStop®

Credit ratings and days-to-pay matter. Truckstop.com’s CreditStop® provides a credit score, the average days it takes the broker to pay, and an experience factor based on the broker’s time in business, financial strength, and more. Available with Truckstop.com Pro.

Rate Insights

Truckstop.com’s Rate Insights is powered by machine learning and artifical intelligence to tell you the estimated freight rate for a specific load. It allows you to access posted and booked rate estimates and historical trendlines. It’s great to have in your back pocket when negotiating with brokers. Available with Truckstop.com Pro.

If you’re interested in the Truckstop.com Load Board, schedule a demo!