In the March 14 blog post Say Goodbye to Excess Truckload Capacity, our industry pricing manager Mark Montague mentions several factors that are putting a squeeze on capacity.
Weather-related delays and low inventories, combined with a steadily improving economy, are increasing demand. Meanwhile, the growing driver shortage and decreased productivity due to new HOS rules and other factors, are reducing supply.
When it comes to securing capacity and agreeing on a price, it may seem as if carriers are in the driver’s seat. However, as a DAT customer, you have a number of tools at your disposal that can help. Here’s what you can do to prevent being squeezed in a capacity crunch:
- Know the rates – Sure, tighter capacity may cause rates to rise, but you need to know what rates are doing today in order to negotiate with confidence. DAT RateView™ provides both real-time spot market rates and current contract rates. It is available either as a standalone cloud-based software service, or as an integrated solution with some DAT load board packages.
- Know where capacity is tight – Users of DAT Power and DAT Express™ load boards can check the load-to-truck ratio in each state or market area. Power users will find Hot Market Maps under the Research tab, while Express users will find Hot States under the Tools tab.
- Find new partners in the lanes you run – DAT’s LaneMakers tool helps brokers find potential partners in specific lanes. Simply search in your lanes and you’ll get a list of the carriers who have posted the most trucks there recently. Reach out to them, and you are likely to find capacity. LaneMakers is available to DAT Power users and can be found under the Research tab.
- Offer a higher paying backhaul – Brokers can earn the loyalty of small, for-hire fleets by helping them to design profitable round-trip routes, even when your freight takes them only one way. RateView now calculates the reverse move, or backhaul, and also displays the best options for the trucker to secure a pair of return loads, to create a more profitable, triangular route back to the point of origin. RateView automatically suggests up to five TriHaul™ options.
- Be where truckers are – When you post a load, make sure you’re reaching drivers where they are. Posting on DAT not only gives you access to the nation’s largest load board, but your loads are seen on monitors in truck stops nationwide, and on the MyDAT Trucker mobile app, which is used by more than 100,000 drivers.
For more information on any of these features—or to see a demo—contact your customer account representative or call DAT customer support at 800-547-5417.
