Category: DAT

How to Spot Good Loads in Bad Markets

Posted on September 3, 2019 by - carrier, DAT, express truck tax, expresstrucktax, owner operator, trucking industry, trucking loads, trucking tips

This blog was written by Chad Boblett for DAT. Boblett is the owner and driver of Boblett Brothers Trucking in Lexington, KY. He also founded the “Rate Per Mile Masters” group on Facebook.


I have been a spot market pirate for almost nine years. As a pirate, you want to get in and get the good stuff. This means I use lots of tools to know where the most demand is for the trailer I pull.

If you look at the entire Lower 48 states as a whole, then you will find that most of the time the market is not flooded with more loads than trucks, but you will find that there is always a good market somewhere. And it’s always changing. This is what makes the spot market scary and exciting.

DAT load boards provide the largest and most trusted digital marketplace for truckload freight.

I have seen a polar vortex, an election year, and the ELD mandate bring raise and lower the demand for trucks drastically. In the second half of this year, tariffs could be another intensifier, followed by the 2020 election year. Just because a lot of markets are slow now doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way. But it does make you have to work harder to find the good stuff.

The best strategy is for your destination to be a stronger market than where your truck is located now. There are two tricks for figuring this out.

– Do a reverse load search for where you are now and where you want to go. Are there more loads coming in than going out of your destination market? If so, then these trucks will become empty and be your competition for your next load. In the DAT TruckersEdge dashboard, you can see the number of inbound loads versus outbound loads for every state.

– Check the load-to-truck ratio. Pretend you are a guy going to a bar to talk to women – Do you want to go to a bar with a lot of dudes or would you like to be one of the few trucks in town that can take care of business. This is the way I look at the truck to load ratio numbers. I want a lot of loads with fewer trucks, and I use the Hot Market Maps in DAT Power to find those markets.

Trucker Tips: How I Find The Best-Paying Loads

Posted on July 26, 2019 by - carrier, DAT, express truck tax, expresstrucktax, find truck loads, loading, owner operator, Owner Operators, truckersedge

Guest blog post by DAT Contributor Sammy Lloyd. 

Being an owner-operator is tough. You need all the tools possible to stay profitable. Back when I was leased-on with a carrier, the only way for me to make more money was to become an expert on cutting costs. Now that I operate under my own MC number, I focus on more than just my expenses.

Here are three strategies I use to squeeze more profit out of every load I haul: 

1. Know the current lane rates

After I got my own operating authority, I started out with the Enhanced version of the DAT TruckerEdge load board. It included 90-day lane rate averages. I soon realized I was leaving money on the table by not knowing the 15-day average, so I upgraded to the Pro version. It has helped me get above-average rates.

The first time I told a broker I was looking at the 15-day average on DAT, his whole demeanor changed. He could tell I knew more about lane rates than someone who isn’t serious about their business.

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2. Research which freight markets are hot

I’ve learned over the years that freight is like a living organism — forever changing, moving, and growing. A market that is hot this week may not be next week, and vice versa. You have to keep up with the changes weekly, even daily, and stick to strong markets with plenty of freight.

Before I’ll ever call a broker, I’ll go into TruckersEdge and do some lane searches to see what lanes are paying the best. Then I’ll check the load counts in the market I’m in and get a load-to-truck ratio. If there are way more loads than trucks, I know my trailer is a hot commodity and it will take more money for me to jump on a load.

On the other hand, I’ll take less than the average rate if I know it’s going to take me into a strong market. That’s why it’s crucial to stay up to date on both the market you’re in and the market you’re headed to.

3. Always look ahead to your next load

After I get on a load and know where I’m going, I’ll look into the market I’m headed into and get an idea of where I need to go next. I try my best to stay a load and a day ahead at all times.

I’ll try to secure another load at my destination before I get there. If I’m delivering a load at 8 a.m. tomorrow, and I can get another load with an open pickup window at or above the average rate, I’m all for it. Very seldom

do I pull a load for less than average, but sometimes the cards just aren’t in my favor.

But I keep in mind that time equals money: Rolling at $1.50 per mile today is more profitable than $2.00 per mile tomorrow. Pre-booking my next load helps me cut down on wasted time, and time management is very important in this business. 
With good planning during my week, I find that I can make room for an additional load by week’s end.
On my YouTube channel, MakeCents Trucker, I tell people all the time: I’m not the smartest in the industry. I’m learning as I go, and this is what I do. In an industry where most fail as an owner-operator or independent carrier, I’ve been able to keep the lights on.

DAT Solutions provides truckers and carriers access to North America’s largest marketplace of loads and trucks with over 900,000 loads posted daily. Click here to learn more about DAT and how you can get 30 days free on DAT TruckersEdge.

Click here to view the original DAT blog post by contributor Sammy Lloyd.