10 Ways to Find (and Book) Truck Loads Online

Being a carrier can be highly rewarding except when you struggle to find truck loads. And, not just any truckloads, but the right ones: those that work with your schedule and in your preferred lanes.

The good news is, there are strategies and tools to find profitable jobs that keep you running and expanding. Take advantage of these 10 suggestions to find the right loads for your particular operation.

1. Decide who you want to work with.

Understanding the makeup of your ideal customer is the foundation of your business. While it might be tempting to take any job that pays, not being specific enough can leave money on the table. When looking for the ideal customer, keep in mind the following things:

  • Reputation. Working with reputable brokers usually means a steadier payout. There are some benefits to working with customers who might not have a long-standing reputation yet. Maybe the pay is higher, or you want to build a long-term relationship that might lead to a higher volume or more convenient lanes. If you decide on this route, be sure you understand the risks. Overall, the rule of thumb is: be on the lookout for fair-minded brokers who have relationships with the types of customers you want.
  • Location. Focus on the geographic area and lanes that make the most sense for you, your equipment, and your lifestyle. Maybe you want to spend more time with your family. Or maybe you want to avoid winter blizzards, or severe weather in the Plains states come spring.  Maybe you’re not into spending 10 hours crossing Texas. Whatever your preferences, once you’ve mapped them out, look for loads in convenient locations or that can be hauled through your ideal lanes.
  • Pricing. The dream, of course, is to find brokers offering well-priced loads, including some that offer quick-pay and reasonable days-to-pay options. But go beyond the numbers and look at the job as a whole. Does that high-paying load come with hidden headaches? Maybe some lower-rate jobs are in great lanes, or the route circumstances are perfect.  Look at the bigger picture when it comes to price.

2. Use a load board.

A good load board is the best tool you can have for your business. But a word to the wise: when it comes to load boards, you get what you pay for. While you might not shell out a cent for access to that advertised “free” load board, it could still cost you. Many free boards don’t include critical information such as costs or even lanes. Fraud can also be more prevalent on these boards. Scammers can steal a broker’s identity, book a load demanding up-front payment, and then take the cash.  

To find a reputable, high-quality load board, look for:

  • Flexibility. In this case, flexibility means a larger pool of lanes and shipments. It also means access. You want a load board that’s easily accessible, either from your home computer, a laptop or tablet, or your smartphone. It’s also a good idea to seek out load boards with apps that work across multiple platforms.
  • Options. As a carrier, you have specific requirements. There are certain types of loads you can carry and geographic areas you prefer. The best load boards offer plenty of information to help you make decisions, including rates, heat maps (for planning), origin and destinations, and broker ratings.
  • Volume. Paying for a load board is an investment that pays for itself. It allows you to quickly find good loads from brokers and shippers. Before you sign on with any load board, make sure it offers the types of freight you can haul. 

3. Work with a freight broker.

When used in tandem with a load board, freight brokers can be your best friend when it comes to snagging the best loads and finding the most convenient lanes for your purposes. Freight brokers connect shippers to truckers and are excellent sources for jobs, especially if you’re just starting in the business. The best part is that freight brokers do most of the legwork for you, from negotiating shipping rates to handling certain administrative tasks. Building a relationship with a reputable freight broker can be a smart long-term investment that brings you consistent, quality work.

If you’re thinking about partnering with a freight broker, be sure to understand the costs. Good brokers should be upfront about commission fees and transportation costs. 

4. Get approved for “Book It Now” loads.

If you have a network of brokers you know and trust (and who regularly use your services), Truckstop.com’s “Book It Now” instant load app can save you time and money. Book It Now connects you to a pre-vetted load that fits your equipment, pricing, and lanes without having to search multiple apps or platforms. The app gives you all kinds of data from the broker, so you have accurate load details with the flexibility to book at any time, day or night. This means you know exactly what to expect before hitting the “okay” button. 

Book It Now is free for carriers. Just fill out the email template to let brokers know that you’re qualified, ready, and able to help them out.

5. Analyze information.

Data is king when it comes to finding your ideal loads. Quality load boards should offer in-depth information, such as broker contact info and location, rate trends, lanes, and type of loads.  The Truckstop.com Load Board offers plenty of data, highly accurate and current, making it easier to figure out costs and profits for every load.

6. Run a backhaul search.

Running a backhaul search means you’re working backward. In other words, you’re looking at the destination to see what kinds of outgoing loads might need transport. By doing this, you can get a list of truckloads to sort by rate, miles, and shipping company. Many carriers find backhauling extremely valuable, especially when more loads are coming out than going in. It’s also a smart way to break into new lanes.

7. Sell yourself.

When asking yourself how to book truckloads, be proactive rather than reactive. Let brokers and shippers know that you’re available for hire and can deliver their goods on time. Do you have a hazmat certificate? Do you specialize in moving heavy freight? Don’t keep it a secret! Head to your favorite load board, post your truck and add as many details as possible to help others find you with their most important search terms.

8. List more than one type of transport.

Just because you drive a reefer, flatbed, or dry van doesn’t mean you can’t do a little cross-cargo listing. Consider using your refrigerated truck to haul dry goods if there aren’t any perishable goods to carry. Or, maybe your flatbed can haul other heavy items. Obviously, it won’t work for everything. You can’t carry ice cream on a flatbed. But with a little creative thinking,  you might find extra loads you hadn’t considered before. Also, if you restrict your search to only full truckloads, you could be missing out on less-than-load (LTL) options. Will you be paid less for that job? Yes. But you’ll also be building good customer relationships for down the road, and you can fill your truck with other LTL loads to make more money and be profitable on that haul.

9. Register as a government contractor.

Private companies aren’t the only ones on the hunt for haulers. Government organizations also outsource transportation needs. We aren’t just talking about the federal government, either. Local city governments need things hauled, as do county municipalities and state agencies. In every part of the country, there’s a government entity that needs to move something. The only challenge with these jobs is that you need to register as a government contractor, which requires a few extra steps. If you want to avoid the paperwork and other requirements, consider partnering with a company that already has a government transportation contract.

10. Work with truck dispatchers.

Truck dispatching services are another route to finding the right brokers and shippers. Some dispatchers go a few steps further, offering administrative assistance in accounting, billing, and collections. While you’ll have to pay a bit extra for these, you get time back that you can spend focusing on the road or with family.

ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE DATA IN LARGE TRUCK COLLISON ANALYSIS

Dennis F. Andrews & Rudy Limpert

Introduction

Motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with electronic controls to accomplish a large number of different safety, emissions and comfort functions. The first large truck electronic ABS controls were introduced in Mercedes-Benz trucks equipped with air brakes in 1976. Although FMVSS 121 required indirectly (only momentary wheel lock was allowed) ABS brake controls by 1975, wheel speed signal processing was done by relatively slow analogue circuitry. The ABS requirement was deleted until 1999. Currently, analogue signals from sensors are processed in the micro-processor. The micro-processor causes an analogue signal to be produced to actuate valves or other electric components.

With increasingly stringent emission controls placed on combustion engines, electronic micro-processors (ECM) were first used in the mid-80s and are standard equipment in motor vehicles today.

Today special expertise and equipment must be used to properly download stored data from micro-processors. Once downloaded, the data can yield valuable information about the operation of the vehicle at the time of a collision or emergency braking situation involving the vehicle.

Fundamental Considerations

Electronic Control Modules (ECM) often contains valuable data to assist in the analysis and reconstruction of large truck traffic accidents. ECM data are often compared to the data collection capabilities of Electronic Data Recorders (EDR) found in passenger vehicles. However, the two units are in fact different and designed with different algorithms and purposes of data collection.

The EDR is designed to monitor aspects of passenger vehicle operation and then capture and store a short period of vehicle operation data in the event of a collision requiring air bag deployment, usually about 5 seconds. Data captured usually consists of documenting vehicle speed, brake use, seat belt use and deceleration experienced by the vehicle as a function of time. For example, immediately before a collision, an EDR wakes from sleep mode to capture and store data when pre-determined pre-impact deceleration thresholds are met, or in the event of a collision, impact sensors are activated. When the program criteria for an airbag deployment are met, the airbags are deployed and the captured vehicle operation data is store in a locked file for download capabilities. This file is a permanent file and cannot be overwritten with new data.

The ECM in a large truck is designed to continually monitor vehicle operation and capture data when vehicle components fail to operate correctly. In addition to capturing data when a truck’s component fails to operate correctly, the ECM captures data when the large truck experiences hard braking, or hard deceleration. A hard brake or hard deceleration is recognized by the ECM when the drive wheels experience a change in wheel speed of about 7 mph/sec. On dry ground this change in wheel speed equates to about a 0.31 g deceleration of the vehicle. However, because a change in wheel speed is being measured, wheel speed changes on wet or icy roads may occur quicker when brakes are applied because of reduced friction between the wheel and the roadway, triggering a hard brake data capture by the ECM.

In the event of hard braking or deceleration, data pertaining to the operation of the large truck is captured and stored in a temporary file which can be overwritten. Types of data captured by the ECM include data pertaining to vehicle speed, brake use, engine load and rpm, throttle use, and clutch use. Data previously stored in the temporary data file is over written by newly captured data obtained by the most recent hard brake, or hard deceleration, experienced by the large truck.

The ECM is the main control unit of the large truck.

Everything about the large truck is programmed into the ECM. Remove the ECM from the side of the engine, the large truck becomes inoperable. In short, the ECM is the central nervous system of the large truck. Data collected by the ECM are collected to facilitate servicing of the large truck engine.

The ECM captures data under two conditions:

1. When a vehicle fault is detected and recorded as a fault diagnostic code

2. When the vehicle experiences a hard brake deceleration where the drive wheel speed decelerates at a pre-set change in speed, usually about 7 mph/sec

When a vehicle fault is recognized, a fault diagnostic code is set and the ECM takes a snap shot of the vehicle’s current parameters and performance. The snapshot records such parameters as wheel speed and engine RPM at the moment the fault was realized. Only a limited number of fault code snap shots are stored at any one time.

During hard brake applications, or hard deceleration, often referred to as critical braking events, the ECM takes a snap shot of the vehicles parameters and performance. The snapshot captures such parameters as vehicle speed, clutch use, engine RPM and throttle use. The data is stored in a temporary file and remains there until it is overwritten with new data captured and downloaded by the ECM during a new hard brake event experienced by the large truck.

The deceleration of a large truck’s drive wheels is measured by a Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) pulse generator and tone ring that is mounted on the tail-shaft of the transmission. The ECM measures the VSS pulse frequency, and then calculates vehicle speed.

Preset decelerations vary from manufacture to manufacture. For example, the deceleration threshold for a Detroit Diesel ECM is 7 mph/sec., about 0.31 g’s, while the deceleration threshold of a Mack ECM is set at 10 mph/sec., about 0.45 g’s.

Because the speed data collected are based on the semi-tractor’s driver axle wheel speed, proper investigation needs to include the size of the wheels on the semi-tractor at the time of the accident. The proper tire size for the semi-tractor is generally found inside the driver door on the door latch pillar or “B pillar”. After insuring the semi-tractor is equipped with the proper tire size, the investigator can take his investigation one step further by measuring the radius of the drive wheels. Doing so will allow for calculation of the wheel speed when coupled with the appropriate axle ratio, engine RPM and transmission gear position at the time of the hard brake event.

Time periods recorded during hard brake events generally range from 32 to 105 seconds before the hard brake event and 15 seconds after the hard brake event. Fault code snapshot times are typically 44 seconds before the fault code detection and 15 seconds after.

Snapshots taken during hard brake events and fault code detection are not taken for use in accident reconstruction. These snapshots are taken for vehicle servicing and fleet management. Accident reconstruction personnel have adapted the use of the collected data to accident reconstruction. Because the data are not collected as an accident reconstruction tool, care must be taken to associate the collected data with a complete reconstruction of the accident utilizing traditional reconstruction procedures. For example, speed obtained from an ECM data recorder MUST be consistent with the calculated speed based on crush damage, distance traveled, and associated drag factors.

Fault codes can occur at any time during the operation of the large truck. Fault codes of interest to the accident reconstructionist are codes set during a collision under investigation. If power is not lost during the collision, fault codes can be set during the collision. For example, if the collision results in the radiator being ruptured and radiator fluid is lost, a radiator fault code can be triggered that captures the speed of the large truck at that moment. Fault codes captured during a collision may provide wheel speed, engine RPM and other pertinent data associated with the collision, even if a hard brake event before the collision was not detected. For example, a collision that occurs without pre-impact braking may still yield valuable information from fault codes triggered by collision damage and detected during the collision by the ECM.

Care must be taken when attempting to download fault codes. Fault codes are very sensitive in nature. Many fault codes can be cleared by starting the semi-tractor’s engine. Others can be cleared by attempting to download the ECM data, which then clears all set codes to their default settings. Because fault codes are easily lost, care should be taken to insure the tech downloading the information has a good working knowledge of obtaining fault codes before attempting to download fault code snapshots.

Unlike EDRs, data obtained by the ECM is not stored in a locked file that cannot be over written. With each hard braking event, the most recent snapshot is recorded. ECMs will store a preset number of fault codes and then start overwriting stored codes with the most recent recognized fault code. Because fault codes can be captured before a collision, care must be taken to ensure the data being reviewed pertains to the current event under investigation.

Care must also be taken when evaluating hard brake data captures. If more than one hard brake file is stored, be sure the correct file is attributed to the accident under investigation. For example, Detroit Diesel ECMs stores the last two hard brake events and the last stop. The last stop recorded will be identical to the most recent hard brake stop recorded if the last stop was the hard brake event that triggered the snapshot. However, if the semi-tractor was driven and wheel speed reaches 1.5 miles per hour and is then braked to a stop, the last stop record will show this most recent braking event as the last stop instead of a stop record identical to the last hard brake event.

Before the ECM data were obtained, efforts were made to calculate speed using traditional energy calculations by estimating the deceleration experienced by the semi-tractor and trailer due to braking. Most calculations used 50 percent of a full road surface drag factor of 0.73 for a deceleration of 0.36 g.

Because ECM hard braking data is not capturing data specific to a collision occurring, the data analyzer needs to determine where the collision possibly occurred within the data.

Conclusions

As can be seen in the information above, large truck ECMs can contain valuable information to assist in the reconstruction and analysis of large truck collisions. But like any tool, the ECM information is not a tell-all about the collision. The information must be used in conjunction with a complete analysis of all the evidence and information available. The investigator should become familiar with the type of engine and ECM on the vehicle so proper precautions and procedures can be taken to insure the safe download and usability of any stored information on the ECM in question.

Testing to determine the reliability of ECM speed data recorded by the various ECMs shows a good correlation between the captured data and the actual measured data of the large truck. When proper analysis between the captured data and the physical evidence is performed, an accurate representation of the large trucks speed at the time of the accident can be given.

ECM data downloads are another tool in the arsenal of accident investigators resources to reconstruct an accident involving large trucks. When proper precautions are taken so data is not lost or destroyed, the reconstructionist can obtain valuable data to assist in the analysis and reconstruction of these complex traffic accidents.

Common Reasons for Failure in Engine Control Modules

Corrosion and moisture

Corrosion or damage due to moisture is one of the main reasons for ECM failure. Corrosion can enter the ECM through the wiring harness and moisture can enter by a failure in the seals in the ECM itself. This happens over a period of time (5 to 10 years) due to the ECMs exposure to the elements.

Fuel solenoid

The electronic fuel solenoid is also a main reason for failure in the ECM. The solenoid can cause a short in the ECM due to corrosion in the solenoid or the wire running from the solenoid to the ECM harness. The electronic fuel solenoid is located at the top of the fuel pump. The solenoid seems to fail due to corrosion as fast or faster then the ECM. If your truck is running fine then you shut your engine off and it won’t restart then this is a good indication that the starter has shorted out the ECM.

Injector wiring harness

The third thing that can cause failure in the ECM is the Injector wiring harness or the sensor wiring harness. Once again corrosion or breaks in the internal wiring in the harness can cause a short in the ECM or corrosion can enter the ECM through the wiring harness. Again this is caused by exposure to the elements.

Grounding issues

Another issue that can cause failure in the ECM is poor grounding. This can be the result of loose or corroded ground wires to the battery or the frame. This is especially problematic in the Celect Plus model.

Starters

Replacing the starter with the wrong model starter is becoming a big problem with the Celect Plus ECMs. Many starter rebuilders will bypass the override sensor in the starter. The override sensor regulates the voltage going to the ECM so when the override sensor is bypassed you will get voltage problems in the ECM and it can generate fault codes or other problems. If you only started having problems with your ECM after installing a starter then the starter is most likely the root of your problem.

Dead battery cells

Dead cells in batteries can cause failure in the ECM. Many times a battery is left in the rig long after a cell has died. This affects the grounding in the battery.

Jump start

If the vehicle has been jump started recently and the cables were connected improperly this can cause a spike in your ECM and cause it to short out. A bad jump can also blow out 2 amps which are located between the ECM and the firewall.

Welding and lightning

Arc welding on the frame can blow out the ECM as well as lightning strikes. This is not very common but it does happen from time to time.

Identifying the problem

If your check engine light is on then you should be able to read a fault code from your ECM. The fault codes should help identify where the problem is originating from. You can also check the voltage where the wires come into the ECM harness with a voltmeter. The voltage should be between 9 to 12 volts for optimal usage. Anything 6 or below and you have a problem.