I have to ask ... Is there any real value in LoadLink?

[Michael Ludwig]

Title pretty much says it all. Is there any real value in having a LoadLink subscription?
As I had relayed elsewhere in this forum, I cancelled my LoadLink subscription for cyber security reasons. However, I also looked at my real usage of the platform and in the final analysis, there really was not a cost benefit. I realized I paid thousands a year to access 1 or 2 loads annually. Figuring it backwards, I could have run quite a few empty miles for what LoadLink cost me.
I also understand that LoadLink is a good jumping off point for new entrants to the industry, but if those new entrants are on the ball, and pay attention to what's going on, they should have a solid stable of reliable load brokers and carriers in about 6 months or so, and shouldn't need LoadLink, and the subsequent exposure to some of the worst bottom feeders in the industry.
It just seems to me that LoadLink is really just an expensive solution to poor carrier planning.
Your thoughts ???

 

[loaders]

From strictly a broker’s perspective, I believe it to be a necessary, albeit expensive tool. Obviously, like most brokerage firms, we have a list of regular clients who ship and receive from the same points week in and week out. Those shipments never appear on Load Link. However as a broker, we like to be able to offer transportation services to and from just about everywhere there is a road. Regardless of how many years you have been in the industry, and we are approaching 32, you will never know every carrier, every courier, every city cartage or warehouse operation located in every nook and cranny across North America. For those reasons we bite the bullet and keep renewing our subscription to Load Link. Yes, there are days when we might not post anything as all of the freight we have that day goes out to the carriers who have serviced those lanes for years. We have found that if it helps us move a strange, or unique “one of” shipment for a customer, it really goes a long way in cementing our relationship.

 

[Jim L]

@Michael Ludwig and @loaders brings up a good point to review your subscription and really identify its worth. Here are my two cents about the topic:
When times are 'even' and there just seems to be enough trucks for the amount of loads available, and the prices become fair, the board is a good tool to match those loads together with usually a carrier/broker who have done business in the past and those lesser-known ones are able to start in the market.
The issue becomes when it is unbalanced. When this happens, it can cause more harm than good.
The circumstance of the floods in BC, and then extended into 2022/Q1, people were able to take advantage of the higher rates offered to move trucks, a great time for the carrier. The broker has to sort through very little truck offerings and complains that people are posting trucks that are no longer, or never were available.
On the flip side, the market we are in right now is the exact opposite; brokers have their pick of a number of carriers who are eager to get their trucks moving. Carriers call on dozens if not hundreds of loads to give their price on something that they never get a phone call back. Brokers can make one phone call to get their load covered.
In both of these scenarios unscrupulous individuals come out of the woodwork to prey on those who may not have their processes nailed down yet. When times are tough either way both carriers and brokers find themselves dabbling in lanes or areas that they have very little experience in but are willing to take a chance because there is money available to try it. They eventually tie themselves up with an unscrupulous individual and have that amazing opportunity to redefine their policies and procedures to ensure that they don't get burned again.
Now comes the review part. How often can you really make money from the load board unless times are really good one way or another? How often do you lose money because of somebody off the load board who didn't know what they were doing/outside their wheelhouse, double brokering, or just taking advantage of any situation they can? How often do you really turn on the load board and make one or two phone calls to get the truck/load covered?
For me, we never use the load board in our main lane. We only use it in the lane that is seasonally cyclical as the brokers that had loads a couple months ago magically do not have them again when carriers need loads. We have been burned and we spend a lot of time reviewing new brokers and finding out the hard way those brokers who have no clue about what they are doing. Maybe it's time for us to take our lumps a different way; running empty miles as @Michael Ludwig said.

 

[loaders]

Load Link reminds me of the story about the fox in the hen house. Here you have a gathering of brokers and carriers all in one place, ripe for the picking by unscrupulous “foxes” who buy entry to this “hen house” by means of a subscription. While the operators of Load Link try to some degree, to keep an eye on the door and scrutinize those buying admission, we all know of examples where some real bad actors have caused havoc and suffering. My point is that regardless of where a new customer or supplier may come from, Load Link or an unsolicited phone call, the onus is always on you to perform your due diligence and follow up with references. No one else can, nor should do that job for you. If you have no previous experience with this new entity, proceed with the utmost of caution.

 

[Michael Ludwig]

Although this topic has only been up for a couple days, I would be very interested in hearing many other's opinions.

 

[MikeJr]

I have to agree with Loaders on this. If you are an established broker or carrier you can go to your regular pool of carriers/brokers/cusotmers to get freight moved or get loads. It's when your regular pool is dried up or you are entering into new territory that LL is very handy for making new connections.

That being said, STRONG relationships go a long way. I do recall having great relationships with Copper Bros (now part of Sylvite), Highlight, and others where I said to the owners. "Look, you're handling certain lanes for us in your niche market and should you wish to expand to new markets I have plenty of business that we can partner on. I have a 15 year history of pricing that we've been paying, presumably very close to what everyone else is paying. I'll share with you 1 skid - TL rates I'm looking to pay for these other markets and this kind of informaiton could be helpful in deciding if those markets fit with your plan moving into that region...

Communication beyond 'this one load, this one move' is so important for all parties. Most people focus on the now, not the future so they aren't really taking advantage of the resources that are available to them by simply communicating more.

I see that outside of transporation also, different industry same challenges.

Keep well,
Mike

 

[loaders]

What do you mean….”you have to agree with Loaders?” Everyone agrees with common sense and logic….don’t they? LoL! Have a great day Mike. Lots of snow up there at the Lakehead?

 

[MikeJr]

If only everyone was logical. Life and business would be much easier wouldn't it??

Re: weather - We have about a foot of snow here and it's going to hang out around -5 for the next couple of weeks. I'm ok with that as I have the bulk of my christmas decorations outside already and the patio furniture is in the back garage surrounding the hot tub. It seems like every year there's more and more to put out though, Matthew is 5 now and sure loves this time of year!

Keep well,
Mike

 

[BPOVFB]

Broker POV

I have found Loadlink beneficial, the less experience in the market - potentially the most benefit.

Now, you may have carrier XYZ that through the years you've found goes from (X) to (Y) - but others might not know that. Think of those old broker packages that asked what lanes you service blah blah blah, when you're new - you don't have that infrastructure potentially and most people just fluff that off anyway - so how do you learn? Call a million carriers and ask hey do you service (x) to (y)? good luck on that wasted time...

So you put the lane on link - now you've learned who goes where (or at least is posted they go there) you've saved alot of man hours. Got a lane you don't know anyone on ? Post the lane, see who is there. Now of course there are bottom feeders out there - but it is a good resource until you get up on your feet and develop those relationships. In all honesty, there are a lot of legacy carriers that will not give you the time of day when you're new - or even when you're established.

Or youre just chasing the lowest rate with a team of TFW's - which honestly, loadlink is low oppourtunity cost for the effort you have to put in to post... it's" smart" business either way.


From the carrier POV - there are ALOT of new entrants in the brokerage game, even in our niche field of OD/HH. Having posts on lanes up - brings those new entrants (as noted above) into view and in fairness - sometimes Outbound doesn't bring you to an area you frequent, so you need that visibility. Of course, you plan $ wise for this - but I'll go anywhere for the right $ - if i can make some "gravy" on the way back - 1 smart move pays for my LL account - which I share across 2 "divisions". You can also note "trends" or hey - Company XYZ2 - always posts this lane... when i want to go cut grass, i know who I'm going to be up against and potential - the customers interest/intent in awarding business to anyone but the lowest.

If you know what you're doing and why you use it - have some controls on how you use and use those contacts to grow it can be very useful.

Just like city councils - you'll always get a few deadbeats, but you learn who those are pretty quickly and hopefully don't make any great mistakes.

It's a buy for me, albeit the quality can leave a bit to be desired.

 

[Michael Ludwig]

I can see where it makes sense for the load broker. It's basically the who's where and when encyclopedia.
I can't see where the value is for the carrier though. Not when there are so many other proprietary load boards out there that are run by "name brand" load brokers and are free, like Mode, Hub, XPO (RCO?), and the like, in addition to the somewhat controversial ones like CHR, TQL, and Uber, but even those are far better than the ever-increasing amount of bottom feeders, and outright thieves, on LoadLink.
Is it possible that in their quest for quantity over quality, LoadLink may have outlived its usefulness, or at least its value in terms of dollars spent?

 

[Ruler]

They seem to Monopolize the industry. I am surprise the Canadian Government has allowed this for the last 2 decades. My friend worked there and upper management discriminates against certain employees.

 

[BPOVFB]

Big claims, careful. There is more monopoly on the side of a McD's cup though... i don't know id use that one.

 

[theman]

The value to LoadLink is that if it's not too expensive to subscribe to you can pay it back pretty quick if you're in a bind every so often needing freight.

But as a carrier - you need either direct shippers or collaborative relationships with good brokers to build a business. For a broker - unless you're a bottom feeder, spot quote specialist ... you need strong carrier partner relationships to give the right service to your customers ... otherwise, kiss them goodbye.

It's also much more cost effective to manage less accounts than more, the onesy-twosey thing should be the exception, not the rule.

I know I'm not in this field anymore, but this will never change.

 

[Igor Galanter]

TruckSmarter | Free Load Board, Fuel Savings, & Truck Factoring

Build, manage, and grow your trucking business. Easily find & book loads with the 100% free load board. Save $1000s on diesel with our fuel discount network. Get paid instantly with simple, transparent factoring for truck drivers.

www.trucksmarter.com

I hope some day and better sooner then later, we all will be able to use this one or similar APP in Canada, eh..
As of LL, I did use for about 4 month actively, then two month just had it for a rainy day which didn't happen yet..
But I'm an exclusion being a 1 man show anyway..
In general, agree with all knowledgeable member here.

 

[Freight Broker]

I can see the value for the carrier. I work with some pretty good carriers who have no direct customers of their own...none. They simply look for loads on the boards and pick the ones that work for them. Sometimes they work with a small group of brokers while others cast a much larger net. By paying a load board subscription and the brokers' cut these carriers get massive flexibility in return. They're not chained down to any one demanding customer.. they can shut down for the summer (I have a couple of carriers who do that) or they can accommodate any driver's need on short notice.. Billy the trucker needs to see his aunt in Helena, MT? No problem.. we'll get him a load out that way.. Jenny wants a weekend at Foley Beach? No problem.. lets pick a load to Charleston.. problem solved. Conversely.. you're tied to a customer.. they need you to go to Camden, NJ.. sorry Billy!.. you're not going to see your long last aunt for quite some time because you're on your way to Camden, not Helena. Billy responds with his middle finger, and you're down a driver and up one unhappy customer. Load boards are the greatest thing since sliced bread for small carriers in particular.. They can run when and where they want to run, and they answer to no one; and with good drivers ever harder to come by, it makes sense to customise the work to suit their needs as closely as possible.

 

[loaders]

Freight Broker makes a pretty persuasive argument about the benefits for a carrier of using Load Link exclusively as their source for freight. Another one would be having no need for salespeople and the costs associated with them. In my opinion it would still be desirable for any carrier to have at the very least, a handful of direct customers who feed the main lanes and use the load board for additional LTL revenue and the occasional outbound or backhaul when needed. Unfortunately Load Link continues to attract some really unsavoury characters. It is a useful tool but should be employed thoughtfully and with caution by both carriers and brokers.

 

[MLCAR]

I can see the value for the carrier. I work with some pretty good carriers who have no direct customers of their own...none. They simply look for loads on the boards and pick the ones that work for them. Sometimes they work with a small group of brokers while others cast a much larger net. By paying a load board subscription and the brokers' cut these carriers get massive flexibility in return. They're not chained down to any one demanding customer.. they can shut down for the summer (I have a couple of carriers who do that) or they can accommodate any driver's need on short notice.. Billy the trucker needs to see his aunt in Helena, MT? No problem.. we'll get him a load out that way.. Jenny wants a weekend at Foley Beach? No problem.. lets pick a load to Charleston.. problem solved. Conversely.. you're tied to a customer.. they need you to go to Camden, NJ.. sorry Billy!.. you're not going to see your long last aunt for quite some time because you're on your way to Camden, not Helena. Billy responds with his middle finger, and you're down a driver and up one unhappy customer. Load boards are the greatest thing since sliced bread for small carriers in particular.. They can run when and where they want to run, and they answer to no one; and with good drivers ever harder to come by, it makes sense to customise the work to suit their needs as closely as possible.

this use case is for O/O's not carriers. In a case where a carrier has a driver that needs to get somewhere, they would/should have other assets to move around to satisfy a driver and their operational needs. As a carrier with multiple trucks if you are solely relying on LL for your business, its just a matter of time before you close up.

 

[GSJGCE]

Try DAT...we have both at the moment for the last couple of months. DAT is only costing us around $240 cad.

 

[Freight Broker]

Lots of people rely on LL and other boards, and they're in no danger of closing up. So long as you're able to source loads that provide the revenue that you need, it makes no difference if they're from a direct account or from a broker via a load board. When you go to the bank with a deposit no one is going to ask you if that money came from a shipper or a broker.. it doesn't matter.

 

[MikeJr]

I've written and deleted several responses. Maybe this one will stick, maybe not...

There is so much to say on this topic. In short: if Brokers used this tool solely to find carriers on new lanes they want to service and to cover loads their regular providers can't handle 'right now' and carriers used it solely to explore pricing on new areas they are considering servicing, or to supplement their existing business all would be well. This is what this service was designed for and what it can do very well for it's clients on both ends of the deal.

The problem arises when people act outside these basic needs or the unsavory character pops into the picture. Rebrokering loads without intention of paying the transporter, searching high and low for a $50 better deal, giving a load to someone you don't know from Adam just because they claim to have a truck there without doing your proper due diligence on vetting a new provider... All of those scenarios and many more that we have discussed on this forum happen because someone is abusing this system and another person either has their back up against a wall or because of GREED.

Often times people on this forum insist that LL must police their customers. I say it's impossible to do that without input from members. If a perfectly decent carrier with valid MC and valid insurance gets purchased by a fraudster how they heck are they supposed to know? Until the complaints start coming in... The same applies to brokers, they allow brokers, preferably with a $75k Bond if they are operating in the USA or cross border, with an MC and valid insurance to purchase their service. LL probably does a credit check too before allowing a broker to buy into their services. If someone started working in a brokerage dispatch team that was doing some shifty shit how is LL supposed to know? Until complaints for non-payment start coming in... LL as a service provider does need help from it's members to know what is going on in the market, to have people quickly report legitimate issues so they may review the complaint and decide if the accused should remain an active account. In then end, the due diligence relies on YOU to know and trust who you are doing business with, not LL.

On topic: Ya, I see value in LL a as service, if you need it for your business and if more members were using it correctly that would be great too.

Anyway I had a bunch more to say but I'm kinda at work and really should be doing my thing here...

Keep well,
Mike