Just ask a veteran freight broker how they keep up with their jobs amidst the daily hustle and bustle of running the business and they will invariably tell you the same thing – managing the logistics that build the business is getting pushed aside all too frequently by the logistics of simply keeping the business running.
Load board management fits solidly into the latter camp. Critical, time-consuming, recurring, and almost always far from the highest and best use of the broker’s time.
This is what it entails, why brokers are starting to outsource it, and how it should be outsourced.
What Load Board Management Actually Involves
To those unfamiliar with freight operations, a load board refers to an online marketplace where brokers list loads and carriers look for freight suitable for their trucks, lanes, and schedules.
It appears like a straightforward business. In reality, operating load boards in large numbers entails non-stop work:
- Listing loads: Each available load must be listed correctly – the pick-up location, destination, weight, equipment type, cost, and window period. Listing a load incorrectly consumes everyone’s valuable time and hurts one’s credibility with carriers.
- Refreshing and monitoring: Posts on load boards gradually sink below the threshold over time. Effective management entails refreshing posts, renegotiating prices in case the load does not receive attention, and eliminating posts where a load has already been covered elsewhere.
- Handling of the phone calls and messaging: All these phone calls and messages are from the carriers about each of the posted loads since the carriers will call to ask whether the load is available for pickup, how much they would pay for the same, and other issues about the load.
- Qualifying the carrier: Some of the requirements could have been set for your firm. Without having verified such aspects as the license, insurance, and safety rating of a truck, you cannot book him/her.
- Updating the TMS system: The decision made should be entered into the system and load status updated. Failure to keep track of what’s happening at the boards through an accurate reflection on the TMS is like running blindly.
These procedures are fairly easy; it only requires much time – especially when dealing with loads in the region of fifteen or twenty.
Why Brokers Are Outsourcing It
Mathematical logic dictates that a US-based freight broker, who has to pay around $55,000-$65,000 per year for a full-time employee coordinating the operation of load boards, can easily delegate this task to an efficient BPO for significantly less money — up to 60-70% less.
Cost is just one aspect of the equation, though. The other aspect is coverage hours.
If a freight brokerage works according to the schedule from 8 AM until 6 PM Central Standard Time, it will need someone to coordinate loads at 10 PM once the customer calls right after finishing the delivery process. This can be conveniently done by outsourcing a team from another time zone.
Scalability is yet another important consideration. The moment a new shipper account appears or a peak season begins, load board traffic can double overnight. It is much easier to scale up a BPO service than to hire and train additional personnel in house.
What Good Outsourced Load Board Management Looks Like
The key is “trained.” Generic BPO teams who have not had any experience working in the freight industry cause more harm than good. Load board teams who are not knowledgeable about dry van versus reefer requirements, are clueless on reading a safety score, and don’t have any idea how to navigate around the TMS system are going to cause a lot of trouble for your company and carrier partners.
However, there is the other end of the spectrum, where you have dedicated freight logistics BPOs who can work with freight brokers and have experience working with DAT and Truckstop, MC number checking, and TMS systems such as McLeod, Tai, or Mercury Gate.
Onboarding will still take some time but much less when compared to non-freight teams. Also, there will be fewer mistakes when you onboard a logistics BPO.
Incinque Business Solutions: Logistics BPO Built for Freight
Our logistics support staff at Incinque Business Solutions has hands-on experience working directly with US freight brokers and 3PLs in managing the load boards, carrier communication, TMS data entry, and even working outside normal business hours. We know what freight entails – the software, the jargon, the processes – because we have hired our logistics support staff with these qualifications in mind. Your coordinators do not need to spend their days refreshing loads; let’s discuss that.
