Link Alternatives
- Thread starter RoadKing
- Start date
2
Was just having this discussion the other day. If you have satellite tracking, try Shaw Alliance, which is connected also with GPSnet. You can not only trade with other bonafide carriers with satellite tracking but you can track the truck your freight is on if you desire. They have a rule about who they let in, particularly brokers and other carriers who have demonstrated bad faith and poor ethics in business. You know, s**tty companies. There's another board called Load Surfer and when I checked it out, it had every imaginable DNU carrier sitting there, with no real way of conveniently blocking them...and wasn't much freight. That was like the end of last year. I can't imagine it has changed much.
Fact is, I believe most people on Link either have no sales force or ineffective sales people. It should exist only to help match capacity with freight and not be the Kijiji or eBay of freight.
Fact is, I believe most people on Link either have no sales force or ineffective sales people. It should exist only to help match capacity with freight and not be the Kijiji or eBay of freight.
2
Sylectus
Loadsurfer
Laughing because Load Surfer refers to it as "the freight pipeline" when actually the sewer just got longer.
Loadsurfer
Laughing because Load Surfer refers to it as "the freight pipeline" when actually the sewer just got longer.
R
Roca
Guest
30
Personally, I've always found that if you go to boards like GetLoaded or Internet Truckstop, among others ... you tend to find the Canadian brokers looking to 'co-broker' freight or double broker it.
The fact is, even though most carriers in Canada are too small to have an effective sales force, dispatchers in part are inside sales people who deal with the carrier's house accounts and 3PL customers.
Link was only meant to match capacity with freight when things fall out of the realm of normal for carriers and brokers -- not as a business model It's better to have partnerships with brokers/carriers without using the Link if you can.
The fact is, even though most carriers in Canada are too small to have an effective sales force, dispatchers in part are inside sales people who deal with the carrier's house accounts and 3PL customers.
Link was only meant to match capacity with freight when things fall out of the realm of normal for carriers and brokers -- not as a business model It's better to have partnerships with brokers/carriers without using the Link if you can.
30
As a freight broker we use link. However, I would say that less than 10% of our traffic gets posted.
Any freight broker worth a pinch of coon poop should easily be able to call 25 carriers off the top of their head to cover three skids going to Chicago. If you can't you ought not to be sitting in that chair.
We use it as described by "theman" to find carriers for moves that are out of our normal traffic patterns.
No one builds relationships any more... so sad.
I still remember back in the day before link... before fax machines even became popular... we used to spend the morning calling our carriers and getting rundowns on where they were, where they were going and where they wanted to go... ahhhhhh good times... now-a-days some newbie broker posts freight that you've done for them 20 times previously and if you're not the first or the cheapest you don't get it... and their response often is "Oh... I didn't know you went there."
Yeesh...
Any freight broker worth a pinch of coon poop should easily be able to call 25 carriers off the top of their head to cover three skids going to Chicago. If you can't you ought not to be sitting in that chair.
We use it as described by "theman" to find carriers for moves that are out of our normal traffic patterns.
No one builds relationships any more... so sad.
I still remember back in the day before link... before fax machines even became popular... we used to spend the morning calling our carriers and getting rundowns on where they were, where they were going and where they wanted to go... ahhhhhh good times... now-a-days some newbie broker posts freight that you've done for them 20 times previously and if you're not the first or the cheapest you don't get it... and their response often is "Oh... I didn't know you went there."
Yeesh...
30
Nawk, you brought back some funny memories about the days before Link. I think I still have my giant three-ring binders full of carriers names and phone numbers (most either out of date or long gone). You make a good point about relationships. Back then, we had to talk with our carrier suppliers. During the course of those discussions about what freight you had and where he had his trucks, chances are there was some personal talk as well, hobbies, interests, family - whatever. Those seemingly insignificant tidbits provided some insight into the character of the people we were dealing with. Unfortunately, in todays age of faceless e-mails, that personal interaction is greatly diminished.
Could you please elaborate this point? Is there any special tips and tricks that we need to know about Link?
Thanks
R
Roca
Guest
searching instead of posting is a good trick, then you can choose your carrier / broker base from there.
or
buliding your private network if you want people to call in on a posted truck / load.
and you can report anything to them, I have done this many times, whether it be payment or performance issues, always got answers that helped!
instead of complaining on here, I just go straight to the source and I get what I need, y'all should try calling them and speaking to a manager of some sort if you need, not just a CSR
or
buliding your private network if you want people to call in on a posted truck / load.
and you can report anything to them, I have done this many times, whether it be payment or performance issues, always got answers that helped!
instead of complaining on here, I just go straight to the source and I get what I need, y'all should try calling them and speaking to a manager of some sort if you need, not just a CSR
I can search a truck but cannot search a Load (or I'm doing something wrong here?)
Last edited by a moderator:
10
Raod King
One can search for available trucks in any location, and this works for well for brokers and can help carriers as well , by allowing you to know how many other carriers are presently servicing that point or lane.
As for freight you must post and see what comes up.
One can search for available trucks in any location, and this works for well for brokers and can help carriers as well , by allowing you to know how many other carriers are presently servicing that point or lane.
As for freight you must post and see what comes up.
2