Common Carrier Problems
Most of what costs a carrier money isn't dramatic. It's a dispatcher leaving, a detention claim nobody filed, four hundred empty miles that weren't in the rate. These are the ones we see most often, what causes them, and what to do about each, starting with what you can do this week.
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Finding freight
- I Can’t Find a Good LoadWhen the board looks empty it is usually filters, timing or market, not supply. How to work out which, and what to do about each.
- My Truck Is EmptyWhat an empty day actually costs, and how to decide between waiting for freight and moving the truck somewhere it exists.
- I Need a ReloadThe best time to find your next load is before the current one delivers. How next-load planning works and what a reload should pay.
- I Need a Load Going HomeGetting home on a specific day without giving away the rate. How to plan freight backwards from a deadline instead of taking what is left.
- I’m Stuck in a Bad Freight MarketHow to tell a genuinely dead market from a bad search, and the math on repositioning versus waiting it out.
- I Don’t Have Time to Search Load BoardsBoard searching competes with driving, and driving wins. What that actually costs, and the three ways carriers solve it.
Rates and profit
- My Truck Isn’t Making MoneyRevenue up and profit flat usually comes down to four things: cost per mile, deadhead, rate discipline and unbilled accessorials. How to find which one.
- Is This Load Worth Taking?Work out what a load actually pays in about two minutes: net revenue per mile including deadhead, against your cost per mile.
- You’re Taking Whatever Rate Is PostedCarriers accept posted rates because negotiating takes time they do not have. What actually moves a rate, and how to make countering the default.
- Empty Miles Are Eating Your MarginDeadhead is the cleanest cost to cut because it produces nothing. Where it comes from, what it is really costing you, and what to change this week.
Dispatchers and coverage
- Your Dispatcher Just QuitHow to keep trucks covered after losing a dispatcher, what to triage first, what to outsource, and how to decide between rehiring and automating.
- My Dispatcher Isn’t Finding Good LoadsBefore replacing them, work out whether it is the dispatcher, the market, or the brief they were given. Each has a different fix.
- Should I Hire a Dispatcher?A straight comparison of hiring in-house, using a dispatch service, and automating: with the fleet sizes and costs where each one makes sense.
- Can AI Find and Book Loads for My Truck?What AI can do for a truck today: find loads, negotiate with brokers, book, handle paperwork and check calls, plus the parts that stay with you.
When things go wrong
- My Truck Broke Down With a Load OnWhat to do in the first hour, what to tell the broker and when, and how to protect the load and the relationship while you get moving again.
- I’m Stuck at the ShipperWhat to do while the clock is running: documenting the wait, notifying the broker, and protecting the load behind this one.
- I Missed My AppointmentWhat to do when a delivery window slips, who to tell, in what order, and how to protect the relationship and the loads behind it.
- My Driver Is LateFind out where they actually are, tell the broker before they ask, and work out whether the loads behind this one are still viable.
Brokers, paperwork and getting paid
- The Broker Won’t AnswerWhat silence usually means at each stage of a load, how long to wait, and when to stop chasing and protect yourself instead.
- Detention Never Gets PaidDetention is usually lost to missing records, not refusals. What to establish at booking, what to document, and how to make a claim stick.
- The Broker Hasn’t Paid MeMost late freight payments are paperwork problems, not refusals. How to find out which one you have, and the escalation path if it is the other kind.
- You’re Doing Paperwork Every EveningWhy freight paperwork eats your evenings, which parts are safe to automate, and how to stop invoicing being the thing that waits.
- I’m Getting Too Many Broker CallsMost check calls exist because the broker has no other way to know. Give them one and the calls stop.
- You Got Double-BrokeredWhat to do if you hauled a double-brokered load, and the checks that catch impersonation before you commit a truck.
- I’m Not Getting Paid for AccessorialsLayover, TONU, lumper and extra stops go unbilled because the terms were verbal. How to get them on the rate confirmation and onto the invoice.
- The Broker Changed the Load After BookingA stop added, a rate reduced, an appointment moved. What you are actually obliged to do, and how to reprice rather than absorb it.
- I Need to Cancel a LoadWhat cancelling actually costs, how to do it without losing the broker, and the difference between cancelling early and going quiet.
- What to Check on a Rate ConfirmationA two-minute checklist for the document that turns a load into a contract, including the three lines that decide what you get paid.
By equipment
- I Can’t Find Reefer LoadsReefer freight is seasonal, regional and posted inconsistently. Where the capacity actually is, and why your filters may be hiding it.
- Reefer Loads Aren’t Paying EnoughReefer costs more to run than dry van in ways the rate rarely reflects: fuel for the unit, longer waits, higher claims exposure.
- I’m Always in Detention With Reefer FreightGrocery and produce facilities detain reefer carriers more than anyone. What to establish at booking and how to make the claim stick.
- I Can’t Find Flatbed LoadsFlatbed freight follows construction and industrial cycles, and much of it never reaches a load board. Where to look instead.
- I’m Not Getting Paid for TarpingTarp pay is unpaid physical labour when it is not agreed up front. How to price it, get it on the ratecon, and get it onto the invoice.
- I Can’t Find Step Deck LoadsStep deck freight is scarcer and posted under generic categories. The filtering problem, and why running flatbed freight wastes the equipment.
- I Can’t Find Power Only LoadsPower only freight sits mostly with a few networks rather than on open boards. Where it is, and what to check before committing.
- Hotshot Isn’t Making MoneyHotshot economics only work on speed, urgency and short deadhead. Where the margin usually goes, and what to change.
Getting started and growing
- How Do I Start a Trucking Company?What it takes to get authority, what it realistically costs, and the first-90-days problem nobody warns you about.
- Brokers Won’t Work With My New AuthorityWhy the 90-day and 6-month rules exist, which brokers actually apply them, and how to get moving before your authority ages.
- I Can’t Afford Another DispatcherGrowth costs money in steps, not smoothly. Where the next hire lands, and how to move it out by fifteen or twenty trucks.
- I Need Dispatch Coverage at NightFreight posts and problems happen outside business hours. The realistic options for covering nights and weekends, and what each costs.
- I’m Burned Out Running My Trucking CompanyThe load never ends because the business is three jobs. How to work out which one is consuming you, and what can realistically come off.
On the road
- I Don’t Have Enough Hours for This LoadHow to check feasibility before booking, what to do when an appointment is not legally achievable, and why this is a booking problem.
- I Can’t Find Truck ParkingPractical approaches when the clock is running out, where capacity usually is, and how to stop planning the problem into your day.
- My GPS Sent Me Somewhere Trucks Can’t GoWhat to do when you are on a road you should not be on, and why consumer navigation keeps doing this to commercial vehicles.
- My Driver Doesn’t Have the Load InformationWhat a driver actually needs before rolling, why it goes missing, and how to stop rebuilding it by phone at the gate.
Work out the numbers first
Most of these come back to knowing what a load actually pays. If you haven't worked out your cost per mile recently, start there: it's the number every other decision depends on. How to calculate load profitability.
Run the numbers on a load with the rate, the miles and your cost per mile, or browse more carrier guides.
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