Category: Newbies

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Newbies

Reefer rates rise

Following a three-month decline, truckload rates for refrigerated vans increased 2.2 percent on the spot market in March from February, according to TransCore’s Truckload Rate Index.Compared to March 2010, rates for the reefer segment increased 2.9 percent. Spot market rates are those paid by freight brokers and third-party logistics providers to the carrier.Outbound lanes originating in Chicago and Dallas warmed up the reefer rates, which typically rise along with reefer freight volume during the early spring produce season. This year’s severe winter weather delayed or reduced produce shipments, particularly from California.

Reefer rates increased gradually throughout the month, while van and flatbed rates on the spot market rose during the first week of March and remained stable through the rest of the month. Van rates were up 4 percent, while flatbed rates rose 2.5 percent compared with February.

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Newbies

Trucking Salaries

When you are just entering into the trucking industry, you are going to have to “pay your dues” so to speak. The most important factor is getting that one year of driving experience under your belt. After this, you will be able to find enhanced trucking companies offering higher truck driver pay. Once that first year of driving is completed, better trucking job opportunities will open up for you. Depending on many factors such as: the state of the economy, the number of years you have been driving, your safety record, you’re on time record, etc… You will eventually be able to move to a better truck driving job, Just in case the trucking company you are with is not working out (when you first start out, this may be the case.)

Experienced and Time will PAY

Just remember that you will see and hear about those driver jobs paying $100,000 per year…you will be told that you can make $50,000 to $85,000 per year driving a truck and be home every night…and these facts can be true. However, just know that these higher paying truck driving jobs are more difficult to come by, and they are not the trucking jobs that happen over night. To have one of these better paying truck driver jobs takes time, experience and skill. Also, you can imagine that not too many truck drivers quit these types of trucking jobs. You can make very good money in the trucking industry. Just be realistic and do not let anyone set your goals too high.,,,TOO EARLY. You will have to “pay your dues” and build up your experience and driving skills.

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Newbies

Getting CDL License Tips and Tricks

To start your lucrative career as a truck driver, you need to first complete some of the legal formalities required to work for a trucking company as a truck driver.

The pre-requisite for aspiring truckers as required by the trucking companies are:

1. The truck driver should be at least 21 years of age for interstate driving.
2. The truck driver should be at least 18 years of age for intrastate driving.
3. The truck driver should have passed the DOT physical exam.
4. The truck driver should have cleared the drug test.
5. The truck driver should possess valid driving license from the state of residence.
6. The truck driver should possess the commercial truck driver license, CDL

CDL license is the passport to enter the trucking industry. It will permit you to haul available loads weighing over 26,000 lbs. You can get the CDL license after attending the training and clearing the CDL exam. Some professional companies would even pay for your CDL training.

After the weeks of attending CDL classes, there will be a CDL exam to judge what you have grasped from the training and to see if you are eligible to get the CDL now or not. The CDL test is conducted in two parts. The first part is the written or theory exam which will test the theoretical knowledge on three subjects: combination, airbrakes and general knowledge. You should have learnt the type of vehicles such as hazardous material vehicles, passenger vehicle, combination vehicles and the technical issues related to them.

This first part is pretty straight forward and the questions asked are direct from the manual. So regular study schedule with dedication is all you need for this. Studying your training manual well will not only help you clear the CDL exam but will help you incredibly in your truck driving job too. A quick tip: pay more attention to figures and number related information as they are the most asked questions.

The second part of the test is the practical test. It includes three tests: pre trip safety inspection, skills test and road test. All the knowledge you need to clear the CDL exam will be included in the training program. You will be receiving additional DVD’s which will make you familiar on how to take the test? What to inspect and say about it?

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Tips to take the pre-trip inspection test:

Remember to point out and describe all the safety related issues that you can see on the truck. There are some important key phrases that will make you score high in this test.

1. If you see any bolt, add to it all the bolts are properly tightened and there are no rust or metal shavings on them.
2. For any part you can see attached to the truck, do mention it is securely mounted,
3. If you some across any part which is holding some fluid, then make sure to comment it is not leaking.
4. Check wipers, lights, hazard lights, horn and comment that all are working properly.

If any thing is not clear do not hesitate to ask the examiner about it.

While in skills test the best tip is to drive slow. When you are slow you will have enough time to control the vehicle if anything goes wrong. For road test the best tip is to calm down. Make sure you have followed the basic steps like fastening the seat belt and adjusting the mirrors.

Hope you will find these quick and easy tips handy while appearing for your first CDL test.

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Carriers Newbies

LTL Freight Performance

Frozen Food specific Industries (primarily Dallas based frozen food transporter with truck load and lesser than truckload freight services) released its fiscal results for the 2nd quarter of 2010. The first emphasis of the transporter is to drag temperature controlled and iced up perishables for the fitness care, sweet, and foodstuff industries. The transporter conjointly comprises a third party logistics (3pl) division to surpass requirements of transporters and other cargo brokerage clients.
The Firm’s CEO specified the transporter as an improved stress on facility quality and asset application. Mr. Stubbs trusts the main objective on lucrative client holding can upsurge limitations in trucking companies and rise in tonnage and cargo count on the LTL unit similarly. A mixture of any departure of opponents and shrink in existing capability has enhanced the merchandise shipping and logistics bazaar. These economic issues allowed Cold Foodstuff specific reduction in their pre-tax damage by quite a forty one.
In spite of income exclusively indicating up September 11, the occupation of current machine, upsurge in prizing, and absence of participants permitted for these enhanced results. For the previous 6 months but, the functioning income had reduced fairly third-dimensional. Truck efficiency (sedated by revenue per truck / week) was conjointly up by reasonably four-dimensional all over the quarter because the marketplace has appeared to offhand contain by the favor of the available loads. In 2009 Frozen Food unambiguously said they’d dogged to park a slight of their present tractors till the marketplace came. Presently the commercial market seems to be setting them into facility because the marketplace continues to reinforce.
Transporters are conjointly ready to retort to the cargo marketplace. Shipper managers say they require a willingness on a portion of the transporters and logistics firms to normalize valuing to reflect the constriction of the market. Truck Drivers approaching to figure out will certainly simplify the conveyance occupation yield to effectiveness as merchandise expenses escalate off of conventionally low ranks. Numerous transporters have accepted cost-saving methods as harms through the latest assortment of years. Through the 2nd quarter of the 2010, most haulers have seen improved results from a mix of a good freight pricing atmosphere and fall outs of those transporter values saving methods.
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Frozen Food definite senses a massive portion of its achievement through these stormy financial periods are the supervise obligation to the commercial and slyness to pursuit new productivity in all stages of the maneuver. The shipper remains to possess a potent money situation while not mortgages outer of its credit contract. Frozen Food specific has nearly 7 million greenbacks in cash, 83 million in shareholder equity and no unresolved debt.
It seems transporters have recovered an authority within the transpiration skill. Many Transporters and third party logistics corporations have stated advanced than predictable wages and tapering losses due to constriction ability and dense overhead. A monetary release inside truck driver job certainly seems to be happening. Let’s anticipate a thrust permits for a continued financial retrieval not just for merchandise and transport, though conjointly for the wider economy.

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Lifestyle Newbies Trucker News

Changing Times for Trucking Transportation

Transportation via trucks in the United States is the primary source of goods and materials transportation means over land. This can be marked as the most interesting and revolutionary period for the trucking sector seen so far. Competition is tougher than ever, quality and services are better than ever. The benefits are equally reaped by big and small fishes in the business owing to the technology advancements and industry awareness. Truck driver employment requires a relatively higher qualification now. Regulations by the highway and other national authorities are getting harder to meet.

The business had very few competitors in the past. Now the things are changing and the trucking industry is facing increased challenges everyday. The train cargo services are expanding their network and reach. Trucking is also the obvious choice for medium to small businesses but some large chains and companies are shifting their trend toward the train cargo services due to decreased time of transportation. Innovative designs of carriages allow the shipping company to carry more loads in a single journey. However the trains have a drawback that they can never overcome, that is they need rail roads to carry goods around. So, quite simply trucks have access to some areas where trains cannot go, yet. To beat the competition the truckers have also implemented their market strategies and provide an easy and convenient option to haul available loads.

In the present tough and turbulent economic times when clients demand more loads to be transferred in less time and with cheaper price, trucking sector is experiencing some down trends. Individuals and their families associated with the business are also affected. Truck driving jobs get reduced when there is comparatively low freight and cargo to be carried.
Many reasons are behind the scene to the present day situation of the trucking section in United States. Cost of fuel in local and international market is attributed as the main cause of the problem. The uncertainty in the fuel pricing makes the business somewhat more risky than usual overall.

Truck driving jobs have become more and more demanding. Authorities and individual carrier companies of goods transportation are imposing tougher regulations and rules for their drivers. In this situation the freight forwarding companies and the freight broker wants to survive and thus their demands for load transporters are getting higher and higher every day. Even if the owner operator uses the truck load boards, the one who bids lowest gets the deal

The most important change in the truck load carrying sector is that now the loads are available online. All truckers are free to bid on their desired load. The competition in the Industry is causing lower transportation rates and also choice to truckers whenever and whatever load they want to transport.

With access to internet in their vehicles the truckers are now available to plan their route to maximize the loads. They have also increased their capacity of load per truck; this affects cost of transportation and gives truckers an edge. Some larger trucking companies have online load tracking facility for their clients. This increases confidence and reliability of the trucking company and of the sector overall.

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Freight Loads Newbies Trucker News

Load Board 2011 New Features

New Features in admin load board

How to video on how to search for available truck loads.

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Newbies

Choosing The Right Load Board

There are many load boards to choose from so when making the hard decision if a load board is good or not, an owner operator can evaluate how long the load board keeps expired loads in its system to start with. Knowing this information will really allow you to gauge whether or not the board is one that they should frequent or not. Most load boards will have its inventory of loads daily meaning no load stays on the board for more than 24 hours. When the load board has a good relationship with its customers, a customer will find that the shippers and brokers will actively manage the loads they have posted not only daily but throughout the day. This works both ways, because the load board owners should also work actively to manage the board to keep all of the data as fresh as possible. The more recent the information the better because if it is recent that means that it is good for the taking…and that a deal can be made!


Owner Operators search for Freight loads placed on the load board, shippers or brokers typically post loads that are meant for full size trailers. However, there should be no surprise that on load boards a customer will find partial or Less Than Truck Load (LTL) loads posted by shippers or freight brokers. a driver can definitely expect to see posted load sizes to vary from very small up to full loads with many different trailer types such as flatbed, dry van, reefer, box truck, straight truck and bobtails. This allows for each trucking company to pick and choose the loads that fit their needs or capabilities best and it is all done quickly and accurately because it is done through the internet.

load boards or good for both owner operators finding jobs and shippers or brokers finding drivers and will help get more truck loads. Not only will it help get more truck loads, it will help to streamline the process of getting more truck loads. In the past trucking companies and those companies that had the loads that needed hauling were paying fees that were making it difficult to stay afloat. Today, with an ever changing economy, it is nice that everyone is able to access the information in an affordable way.

Today those who take the loads and those who need the loads taken from point A to point B can easily meet up and decide for themselves if theirs is a business deal that they would like to enter into. Who would have ever guessed that getting loads from one area to the next would really would be this easy? Load boards really have revolutionized the trucking business and there is no doubt that the load board technology will continue to grow and expand with technology, making it easier than ever as time goes along.

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Lifestyle Newbies Trucker News

Truck Driver Jobs – Importance in the Industry

Importance of Freight Brokers in Trucking Industry!

Freight in general terms is referred to as goods that need to be transported from the place of production to the place where it can be utilized as a commodity. For freight shipment various modes of transport can be availed depending on the requirements. Airlines, ships and trucks are the three main modes that are used globally for shipping of goods. These days intermodal freight transport has gained its importance when the cargo safety is of utmost importance. Freight brokers helps create new owner operator jobs when any such requirements arise.

Now the question is how the manufacturers or producer companies can avail an efficient freight transport system to distribute their goods safely and on time? Here comes the role played by Freight Brokers. Freight broker acts as a link between the companies or individuals that need shipping service and the truckers and owner operators that provide shipping service. The shipment price is decided keeping in mind the rate which is beneficial to all the three parties involved for the goods shipped. By paying a little commission to the broker the shipper can get the required reliable shipping service without putting in efforts to find one themselves. Some companies hire fright broker to take care of the complete shipment procedures of theirs.

Freight brokers avail the services of efficient load boards. They can track all the trucking industry information and updates from the load boards. They would come know of any available loads or if any company is in need of the broker service. Simple bidding by a few clicks of your mouse button and the job will be yours. The broker in turn will contact the shipper and the trucker to accomplish the task. This is both economical and reliable for both parties. With the professional service by the broker the shipper can track the real time location of the shipped goods whereas the carrier companies and individual trucker can get the quick payments for the goods delivered by them with fright brokers in between to smoothen up the process.

The expert service of freight brokers are really important when the goods to be delivered require special shipment process, such as LTL hauls, long hauls. In case of the goods being hazardous they wood require exceptional freight transfer techniques. As the brokers know the trucking industry inside out they can provide with such special services efficiently.

Many of the freight brokers are the ones who themselves have worked with some trucking companies. They have gained the technical skills and experience and now use their knowledge in a more rewarding job of the fright broker. There are many freight broking programs running across the world which can make you a professional freight broker in the trucking industry.

Thus we see the freight brokers are playing a vital role in trucking industry. They provide fast and efficient trucking solutions to the shipper and provide with valuable jobs to the shipping company. They widely use their personal contacts to keep climbing the success ladder in the industry. For information on How to start the freight broker business check out other posts by us.

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Lifestyle Newbies Trucker News

Load Boards – How To Use Them ?

How Does This load board Help Me If I am a Truck Driver or Owner Operator?

If you are Truck Driver or Owner Operator you are going to use this load board to find available truck loads in your local area or to move truck loads from state to state.  load board Once You have found a truck load that matches your trailer type, simply contact the shipper of that load with the contact information the shipper left when the shipper placed the truck load. Find Freight Loads is not the Shipping Company, we are a freight matching service the utilizes our load board to match freight between you the truck drivers and the shippers placing the available truck loads. Click Here If You Are Looking for Local Trucking Companies. We Have over 30,000 Trucking Comapies Nationwide in our database. OnlyRegistered Members can view contact information for an available truck load.

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Carriers Newbies

An Insight to Truck Driving Jobs!

Freight and logistics related jobs from the trucking industry are the most sought-after jobs in the United States. The reason for such jobs being in demand is the trucking industry in the United States today is expanding enormously. The job does not involve just the delivery of goods and materials, but the drivers have to be really skillful to perform the truck driving job. As there is a high requirement for skilled workers in this field the jobs in this sector are high-salaried jobs. With the new inventions and innovations taking place each day around us, the traditional truck also changing for the betterment.

There is a complete tie up between the owner operator and the driver. The owner operators are always in need of the skilled driver because they need to handle this very responsible work of handling heavy trucks and delivering the goods to their clients on time. For this they need to reply only on the experts. They are willing to pay good salary for getting an expert in the field. In turn truck drivers will work hard to deliver their best results so that they can provide highest delivery solutions for present consignment and make the relations between the parties good for future business too. The truck drivers also work for handling the truckloads to get an extra income. Both have to work hand in hand for complete collaboration and the benefits of each other.

Some other perks enjoyed by the truck driver to make their occupation a little more lucrative is that the trucking companies sometimes allow the family of the truck driver to visit them at the place of their work.  The industry will provide the driver with some allowances like medical benefits, insurance and safety. Modern trucking system will include all the equipment and tools needed to complete the journey for the delivery of goods, especially in the case of liquids or hazardous chemicals. These days’ truck drivers are provided with GPS tracking device which will help you to find your location and provide road guides to reach to your destination. As long as the driver is serving the purpose of the company the company will take care of his needs. He can work with his own flexibility as long as the goods are delivered on time.

A skilled owner operator driver is needed by the trucking company to take over the freight services and shipment of goods. A good truck driver must have certain qualifications that are set by the company such as knowledge in terms of maps, routes, traffic rules, and navigation. Good manners and a high sense of responsibility is needed by the company. The driver must be disciplined and give priority to safety. He should avoid mistakes that can cause death, injury and loss of any sort.

Since to search such skilled drivers is becoming tough day by day, there are many load boards today that provides all freight and trucking industry solutions in a fast and reliable way. The trucking business now can avail such facility and can get there requirements like drivers and others met by them.