You need the tools to make every trip matter in a competitive industry. There’s plenty of work out there for trucking companies, but everyone is competing for the most profitable loads. How do you find them and make sure you’re the one who gets them?
We have several tips to help you find the most profitable loads for your drivers. It all starts by making sure you have happy drivers. If they’re not happy, they’re going to leave, and that leaves you with loads to haul and no one to haul them.
Keep Your Drivers Happy
You can’t keep taking loads if your drivers aren’t happy. Unhappy drivers are often the ones who don’t feel they ever get time off or have to wait longer than they hoped to get paid. Make sure you’re paying your drivers on time. Ideally, look into payment arrangements where they can request payment on demand.
More than 1,000 workers were polled and 81% of them said they would take a job where they could get on-demand pay over one that they couldn’t. Four out of five workers admitted they would be more loyal to a company that offers free on-demand pay.
Register to Haul Government Loads
Become a government contractor and get paid more money to haul loads for the government. In the past, drivers have been paid as much as $1,900 for around 250 miles to haul a government load. The rates/jobs will vary, but you can make more money hauling for the government.
FEMA loads can pay well, but payments for those loads may take time. You don’t have to worry too much about this as invoice factoring is a great way to haul FEMA loads and get paid quickly.
Use Find Loads Technology
Use technology that helps you find loads. You can search by area, load size, or pay and find the loads that best suit your needs. This is important as you can ensure your drivers are hauling full trailers on the outbound route and on the way back.
For example, you have a driver heading from Chicago to Atlanta with a half-full trailer. Look for another load that is going somewhere in the Atlanta area that will fill up the other half. On the return, make sure your driver stops and picks up additional loads to ensure the truck is full for the return too. You’ll make more money, and that helps your drivers get better pay. The more money you make, the more you can pay them.
A load board is going to have thousands if not millions of opportunities. They’re a great way to build your reputation with companies you’ve never worked with before, and their reviews of your trucking service can be valuable as you grow.
Pair find loads software with a GPS system that allows you to carefully plan the routes your drivers take. This can make it easy to use find loads software as you view the routes your drivers follow. Always plan for a road closure and have backup plans in place if an interstate gets shut down for an accident or act of nature.
Hire a Dispatcher
Hire a dispatcher whose role is to work with brokers and shippers and negotiate advantageous rates. Plus, you can often have a dispatcher who will do other tasks for you like interviewing drivers and submitting bills of lading or invoices for payment. Delegate some of the work that ties up your valuable time.
If you have a dispatcher who is handling some of the bookkeeping duties, it frees up your time to haul loads yourself or travel to promote your trucking services. When you want to take a vacation or need to stay home and recover from an illness, you already have someone in the office that you trust to run things in your absence.
A dispatcher becomes your dependable employee when it comes to tracking where loads are. Rather than spend hours each day keeping track of this, your dispatcher could be answering phones, searching load boards, tracking shipments, and making sure you get paid. It’s beneficial to have someone helping out as you grow your trucking business.
Ask Around
Check town news to look for new companies that are about to open in your area. Look specifically for companies that will need trucking services. For instance, you learn a clothing manufacturer is opening up in town. You know they’re going to need someone to deliver their shipments to area stores. Reach out to them before they open and offer your services. They may not need your services yet, but you’ve already put your name out there, and that ambitious nature can make an impression.
Get Others to Refer Business Your Way
You have a happy customer. Use them to network and bring more business. When you’ve proven yourself trustworthy, your happy clients will tell their associates, and that increases the potential for other clients. As you start building up demand, you’re able to set rates that provide a reasonable profit instead of taking any work you can get.
When you deliver exceptional service, you’re also going to win repeat business. The happier you make your customers, the more profit you gain. Plus, as your clients grow their revenues, you’ll be in a great position to ask for a rate increase. You’ve proven yourself trustworthy and dependable.
Don’t Lose Sight of the Value of Mid-Tier Jobs
When you’re searching for work, don’t lose sight of the mid-tier jobs on a job board. They may not pay as much as some of the highest-paying loads, but one $10k haul might pay the most, but three $5k jobs pay more in the long run. Sometimes, quantity can pay more in the long run.
Another thing to consider with the mid-range loads is that the companies may increase their rates once they find they like working with you. They’ll want to keep you on rather than try to find someone as dependable, and that leads to higher-paying loads in the future.
Factor Your Invoices
If you could attract and retain more drivers with a benefit like on-demand wages, wouldn’t you want to do everything possible to make that an employment benefit? When you get paid instantly for the loads they haul, on-demand wages are possible. You want new trucks to take on more loads for the clients you’re working with. Factoring invoices also helps with that. And, Saint John Capital can make all of that happen.
Freight invoice factoring is a service where you get a factoring company to pay you immediately. Once you’ve picked up or delivered a load, you use the app to submit your bill of lading. The factoring company processes it and submits payment to your bank or your business credit card or fuel card. You can then use the money to pay your bills, pay your drivers, and grow your business.
It’s easy to get started. Fill out the online form at Saint John Capital. It’s free and doesn’t take long. Start by factoring one or two invoices and see what you think. After that, you’re welcome to factor all of your invoices or only the ones for clients you haven’t worked with much. Reach out to Saint John Capital to start factoring your invoices and keep your drivers happy.
