How to avoid load board and broker challenges

Trucking companies that rely on brokers and load boards might be frustrated with the process. The process of finding a load, connecting with a broker, bidding on a rate, and negotiating for it comes with many challenges, whether it is due to fraud, miscommunication, or a lack of trustworthy relationships. How can those challenges be avoided?

Most trucking companies are classified as small businesses, according to the American Trucking Associations’ latest trend report: 95.8% of fleets operate 10 or fewer trucks, and 99.7% operate fewer than 100. Larger fleets are often private carriers that ship goods for businesses.

Ed Stockman, co-founder and CEO of freight booking platform Newtrul, told FleetOwner that after you remove private fleets from the equation, about 80% of the trucking industry is transactional, which makes finding loads a competitive part of the trucking business.

Of that 80% that Stockman mentioned, about 95% of loads are passed through load boards, requiring shippers and carriers to shift through posting after posting, lane after lane, and equipment requirement after equipment requirement to find a load to haul. This process leaves room for mistakes and, even worse, bad actors.

Freight challenges

While load boards are a necessary part of the trucking industry, they can be a source of headaches.

“You could find five brokers that have Chicago to L.A. [lanes], and then you have to figure out who's paying what, negotiate with all of them, and then make a decision,” Stockman said. “There's so much back and forth, and it's so highly transactional that it's a waste of time for both sides.”

He also said that shippers and brokers might not always advertise the whole truth of the load on the load board, mentioning that a carrier might discover a load to be rubber tires when the load they accepted was for food. Then there’s the question of whether a load or broker is legitimate.

“The amount of real freight out there compared to postings and real brokers compared to fraudulent folks and bad actors is another obviously huge problem in the market right now,” Stockman told FleetOwner.

What Stockman referenced is a genuine and damaging problem in the industry. Trucking has seen a rise in freight fraud over the years. Load board platform Truckstop reported instances of fraud have increased on its platform by 130% from 2022 to 2023 alone. In 2023, Truckstop denied account access to thousands of unverified entities that were unqualified, had inactive authority, or various other reasons to prevent fraud on its platform.

As bad actors pose as carriers and brokers, both brokers and carriers can be victims of freight fraud.

With this negative attention surrounding freight, it’s more important now than ever that fleets give thoughtful review and attention to every load and every interaction with a broker or shipper.

Fleets should practice due diligence

Andy Dyer is the president of transportation management with AFS Logistics, a global third-party logistics provider. Dyer believes fleets can best improve their experiences with brokers and shippers through due diligence.

“A broker is responsible to understand if they are dealing with a reliable fleet,” Dyer told FleetOwner. “I would argue a fleet is responsible for understanding if they are dealing with a responsible customer, whether it be a shipper or broker."

“Brokers very much inspect the capacity that they're buying... to understand, ‘Am I buying from [and] am I working with a reliable source of capacity?’” Dyer continued. “I would encourage fleet owners to do the exact same thing.”

Along with ensuring a broker or shipper is legitimate, it’s important that carriers confirm the requirements of the load they intend to carry. Not only is it essential, it’s their responsibility, Dyer said, and they should be the ones to communicate the load requirements to the driver. He suggested that fleet owners and carriers again practice due diligence when working with a broker or shipper to ensure they are a “good actor,” including communicating well.

“Are you dealing with a good actor? Because quite frankly, bad actors aren't always fraudsters; sometimes they're just knuckleheads,” Dyer told FleetOwner. “To me, it's all about asking the right questions, making sure you get it right, and making sure you communicate it to the driver.”