You may not have a problem getting carriers to cover a load, but every freight broker occasionally hits the wall with those hard-to-book shipments. Maybe the shipper requires a less common trailer type, or maybe the load is going into or coming out of a less desirable location.
If you’ve posted a load onto the DAT load board for brokers and carriers haven’t responded, try these 3 truck-finding hacks.
To learn more about these an other truck finding techniques, attend DATCON19
A search in DAT CarrierWatch for carriers with flatbed trailers within 50 miles of Mobile, AL.
1. Search the DAT Directory and CarrierWatch – Let’s say you need a flatbed trailer to deliver a load to Mobile, AL. Who might want to go to Mobile? Carriers who are based there and want to get back home. You can search for them in the DAT Directory or in DAT CarrierWatch.
- DAT Directory lists carriers who are DAT customers and it is included free with all DAT load boards.
- DAT CarrierWatch is a carrier monitoring service that can be added to your load board. It includes ALL carriers who have DOT autority, even those who aren’t DAT customers.
Learn more about DAT CarrierWatch
When you include a rate with your load posting, your load will rise to the top when carriers sort by offer rate.
2. Post your offer rate – The more information you include in a load post, the more likely carriers will be to respond. And when carriers search for loads, they often sort the results by offer rate. So when your load includes a rate, it will rise to the top of the search results.
Using DAT LaneMakers, you can see which carriers have posted the most trucks from Atlanta to Chicago in the last 30 days.
3. Use DAT LaneMakers – DAT LaneMakers comes with subscriptions to the DAT Power load board. It allows brokers to generate a list of carriers who have posted the most trucks on any given lane. You can even filter your searches by the class of equipment you’re looking for, such as flatbed, or specify a trailer type, such as a stepdeck or removable gooseneck. The advanced version of LaneMakers not only lets you see carriers’ truck postings, but also load searches.
