Fleet survey: Load boards boost revenue, profits

Smaller fleets that rely heavily on load boards earned $800 more per truck per month compared to those that that use the freight matching services less frequently, according to a new survey. According to the TransCore Carrier Benchmark Survey, revenues for all carriers this year are up by approximately $1.500 per truck per month, or 11.4% compared to 2009.

Of the 525 carriers surveyed by TransCore, 87% have fewer than 50 tractors and 60% fewer than 10. It defined frequent users of load boards as those obtain 40% or more of their load from the boards. In addition to its fleet management, tracking and logistics services, the company operates the Loadlink load board in Canada and TransCore 3sixty in the U.S.

“There is a myth that carriers don’t need to use load boards when freight is abundant,” said David Schrader, senior vice president, 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.”

The benchmark survey also reported that frequent load board users averaged $0.03/mi. more revenue, 309 more loaded mi. and 4.2% fewer empty mi. per truck per month than less frequent users.