Tag: flatbed

Categories
Business Owner Operators

Profitable Owner Operator Business Practices

To evaluate any business performance one need to draw out the difference between its income and expenditures. The difference between the two accounts for the profitability of a business. In case of the owner operator jobs, the income is calculated from the paid mileage per month. And the expenditure would include the installment for truck and trailer payments, licenses and permits, tolls, fuel cost, insurance, maintenance and repairs, road and fuel tax, office expenses, factoring services and salaries. The difference in the two will give an owner operator its profit from the business.
If the expenditure is reduced, the income is automatically increased and thus the profit. Few essential business practices to generate profits for owner operators and small trucking companies:
Thorough research of the pros and cons of the industry: You cannot jump into this with your head first. If you have experience as a driver and you know the industry well then you can look forward towards it. However, if you are new to the industry then you need to do your homework before starting with the venture. All calculations and feasibility should be kept in mind.
Emergency Fund: For an owner operator job to run smoothly and climb the ladder of success it is a must to maintain an emergency fund. In case of the truck breakdown or any other crisis you can utilize the fund to solve the problem so that you can get back to roads soon to avoid more loss.
Adequate use of Load boards: With modern innovations you can utilize the services of load boards by large found on the internet. This will help your truck keep going on the roads. With its regular usage you will not have to depend on the traditional methods of personal approach. You can directly get exposure to better deals and loads available for hauling.
Coping with Deadheads: Sometimes it becomes inevitable to avoid deadheads and you have to haul loads to such dead areas. In this case you need to increase your pay per miles so that the deal comes out to be profitable for you. If this doesn’t work out and you are in a situation to afford to sit idle for a day than do not take the load and wait for a better business deal.
Factoring and Insurance Services: If you can make use of a person who can handle your business accounts such as receivables and collections then you should not avail factoring services. This would increase your profit margin. Similarly before taking up an insurance do market research and get the best offer in it.
Negotiate Well: You would maximize your profit if you negotiate with the clients and brokers well. Always calculate the minimum level below which you would not finalize the deal. As you need work the businesses and brokers too need you. Be flexible but not too much, make your requirements clear.
To become a successful O/O you need to have motivation along with set plan of actions and business skills. You can only be successful if you want yourself to be successful.

Categories
Freight Brokers

How to Become a Freight Broker?

A successful freight broker is a highly paid job; however a little cost incurs from your pocket to establish yourself as a freight broker. As a freight broker the job responsibilities will to match the shipper’s requirement with the carrier company. The person looking for owner operator jobs can get the assignments from the freight brokers to start of their business.
To become a freight broker you need to undergo following steps:
1. Legal Procedures to become a registered Freight Broker:
• Broker’s Authority: In United States Broker Authority is given by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). FMCSA is the division of Department of Transportation here and is an authorized body to issue broker license. In order to get the license one has to fill the form OP-1 which is an essential step to own a broker license. This step costs $300 to an individual.
• Surety Bonds: Any prospective Freight broker will have to purchase these financial instruments worth $10,000. This trust fund or bonds acts a security deposit which can be put to use in case you brokerage services incur any losses to the parties involved.
• Processing agent: This procedure requires you to select one processing agent in the country of your business operation. This role of the processing agent arises in case of any legal disputes. To appoint one such agent you need to fill in the form BOC-3. The form fee is $50.
2. Freight Broker Training:
• To become a successful freight broker you should know the trucking industry and its requirements well. You should be well versed how the trucking companies work. What are the different trucks types and when should one use the specific trucks meant for the purpose? The broker should work in the close liaison with different truck drivers such as flatbed drivers, reefer drivers and hotshot drivers so that the loads available are efficiently trucked.
• If a person is new to the industry and want to start his business as a freight broker then he can enroll himself with many freight broker programs run throughout. The programs will help you build the necessary skills and knowledge required to start off as a freight broker
3. Business Setup:
Now that you have undergone the legal procedures and have got enough information on the industry, you will require a business setup to start off. For this the minimum requirement will be one computer with internet connection as most of the deals these days are finalized online by using the latest innovation in the field freight load boards. Then, you need a telephone and fax lines to fasten up the deals and fast communication with the clients and the truck drivers. To accomplish smooth and controlled processing you need to buy efficient broker software.
Here you are completely ready to start off with your profitable freight brokering business. For people who do not have sufficient funds at hand to make initial investments, they can start their work under any registered freight broker as an agent. In this case no start up cost will be incurred and you will get the exposure in the industry before you have enough funds to start on your own.

Categories
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.

Categories
Freight Loads

Best Practices For Efficient Load Safety

Although the practices followed differ a little every time with the type of commodity, location and rules pertaining to the specific sites but the general guidelines for the loading of the trucks carrying freight will be more or less the same. The safe loading of the tuck is essential to avoid any injuries to people and loss to the goods. The box truck freight that reaches the destination intact and on time is profitable to all associated with the activity.

Load restraining is the most crucial step in the loading of commodities. Load restrain helps the goods to stay in their place while the truck is moving. The best load restraint practice should be able to handle maximum force in the forward direction, followed by the force of weight sideways and rearwards. Partial weight force should be restrained vertically too.

There are few facts that should help to get the best load restraint for your trucks carrying freight:

  • Use of rope is an ineffective way to restrain loads as the tension it can bear is very less, though it may look very strongly tied.
  • It is not that the chances of loosing the goods are higher in a speeding truck; it is even more when the truck is slow.
  • Long webbed strap should be used in restraining the load, as the short chains could not be tied around well.
  • An assumption that the heavy weight load is able to restrain itself is very wrong. Both the heavy as well as light loads are likely to fall in a similar way.
  • If A load while loading is retrained well then it can withstand the same even when fully tilted and will never dislodge even in the worst of braking and swerving.
  • Load accidents are likely to happen when the journey is of city areas where the speed is low, because the restraint applied in such cases are less than for regular long distance travel. Therefore the same load restraint should be used irrespective of the journey.
  • The common assumption of checker plate deck providing more restraint than smooth plate deck is very wrong. Both are slippery the same way. The grip on the deck as well as rack can be efficiently attained by putting a strong rubber load mat underneath the load. Wood timber is effective as well.
  • Use of Conveyor belt is not as effective as rubber mat, as the conveyor belt provides slippery surface.
  • Lashings should be regularly checked during the journey as they tend to loosen up after the load settles.
  • In case the deck and the load both are slippery. Proper calculated webbing strap of required lashing capacity should be used. Inefficient lashing capacity may prove hazardous.

If proper loading techniques are followed especially the application of effective load restraint with specified performance standards it is to benefit all the parties involved; the forwarder or the consignor, the receiver or the consignee and the freight forwarding or the trucking company

Find more loads on our trucking loadboard

Categories
Freight Loads

Flatbed Trailer Loads

There will always be a high demand for flatbed drivers, simply because there is so much freight that can not be palletized and the majority of un palletized freight that needs to be hauled usually needs to be delivered miles away from their pickup location.