Based on a recent survey of more than 500 carriers, TransCore’s 2010 Carrier Benchmark Survey found that carriers using load boards for more than 40 percent of their loads earned $800 more per truck every month than carriers who used load boards less frequently. The TransCore Carrier Benchmark Survey also showed that all carriers’ revenues had trended up by almost $1,500 per truck per month over 2009 as the economy improved, freight increased and rates trended up. Full survey results are available at www.transcorefreightsolutions.com.
“There is a myth that carriers don’t need to use load boards when freight is abundant,” says David Schrader, senior vice president of TransCore Freight Business Services, “But this survey calls that into question. Thousands of small carriers use our services as a kind of 24/7 sales department that helps them compete with larger carriers who have in-house sales staff.”
Of the companies surveyed, 60 percent reported they had 10 or fewer trucks, and 87 percent reported having 50 or fewer. The survey also revealed the following information about frequent load board users (those companies with 40 percent or more of their loads coming from load boards):
• They averaged 3 cents more in revenue per mile in 2010 than less frequent users;
• Frequent load board users averaged 309 more load miles per truck every month than less frequent users; and
• As a group, they averaged 4.2 percent fewer empty miles every month than carriers who used load boards less often.
