Back-office automation for dry van carriers

Hey Bubba! is an AI back-office automation platform for fleets. For dry van carriers that starts with the freight: Bubba searches your connected load boards continuously, screens every load on net revenue per mile including deadhead, and counters the posted rate instead of taking it, including on the loads that would not have been worth a phone call.

The problem with dry van is speed, not supply

There is always freight. The difficulty is that everyone else can see it too, the barrier to entry is a truck and an MC number, and a good load posted in the morning is often covered within the hour. Whoever reaches the broker first, with a truck in the right place, usually gets it.

That rewards availability over judgement, which is why dry van carriers end up taking posted rates. Not because they cannot negotiate, but because by the time they have finished negotiating the last load, this one is gone.

What Bubba does on dry van freight

• Finds and books the load. Bubba works the connected boards while your trucks are moving, so the search does not stop when someone in the office is on another call.
• Counters anyway. Bubba negotiates upward from the rate floor you set, on loads a dispatcher would have accepted at the posted rate for lack of time. How rate negotiation works.
• Works several brokers at once. The same lane can be negotiated with more than one broker in parallel, which a person on one phone line cannot do.
• Screens on net, not gross. Dry van rates cluster tightly, so deadhead decides which loads actually pay. Bubba calculates net revenue per mile, including origin deadhead, before pursuing anything. How that calculation works.

Matching

Dry van matching runs on truck position, trailer dimensions and your lane preferences, checked against driver availability and Hours of Service before a load is pursued.

At any fleet size

• Owner-operators. The board is being worked while you drive, which is when the good loads post.
• Small fleets, 2 to 10 trucks. Every truck gets countered rates, not just the one someone had time for.
• Midsize and enterprise, 11 or more trucks. Rate discipline enforced fleet wide on the highest volume freight you run.

After the booking

On dry van freight, where volume is high and margins are thin, the work after booking adds up fastest: rate confirmations to check, PODs to chase, invoices to raise. Bubba parses the rate confirmation, files the documents against the load, answers check calls from ELD data and prepares the billing. See the AI back office.

Frequently asked questions

Will Bubba take a dry van load at the posted rate?

Only if the posted rate clears your floor. Bubba counters first, negotiating upward from the minimum you have set.

Which load boards does it search?

The boards you connect, including DAT and Truckstop. The full list is on the connected tools page.

Can I limit it to specific lanes?

Yes. Lanes, deadhead radius, rate floor and minimum rate per mile are all set by you.

Does it account for deadhead?

Yes. Every load is screened on net revenue per mile with origin deadhead included, so a high posted rate far from the truck does not rank above a closer load that pays more.

Related

• How to reduce deadhead miles
• Rate negotiation automation for fleets
• Dry van trucking companies directory