Open letter to Inside Transport Community
My name is Roy Thacker and I am the President of Loadsurfer Corporation, the company that owns and operates Load Surfer. Like many companies in the industry, we monitor Inside Transport to keep our finger on the pulse of what is going on in transportation. Although we respect and support your right as a community to present and discuss your opinions and experiences with various players and service providers, I would like to use this forum to respond to some of the misinformation about my company that is circulating on this website. Although I will be happy to respond in future to questions regarding our policies and procedures, this will be the only time that I will be posting an unsolicited response. This is not meant to be a sales plug for my company in any way, shape or form, simply a post to set the record straight. Please feel free to respond via this forum or contact me directly (phone: 416-848-7792 x111 or
rthacker@loadsurfer.com.
What happened to Loadsurfer?
The truth is that nothing happened to Loadsurfer. In the early days, we concentrated our marketing and sales efforts in the Canadian marketplace as there seemed to be a need for a new player in the market. After ironing the bugs out of our software (it runs great now) and our pricing model (an “all-inclusive”, user-based model that fairly addresses the issues of multiple offices, logging in from remote locations, occasional users, etc. ), we decided to stop beating our heads against the wall in Canada (for now). Although there is a huge opportunity here to provide a better solution, there is a major discrepancy between people bitching (we love to complain in Canada; about the weather, the Maple Leafs, load boards, and even complain about people who complain) and people actually getting off their collective asses to support change.
The past 6 months have been spent targeting the US market where we have been getting much better traction (and we are not the only Canadian based load board gaining traction in that market) . That is not to say that we have given up on you guys, we just needed to come up with a better approach. Next week, we will announce the addition of two key players who have been brought in to bring some of the major carriers on board (a couple of them are already posting some of their trucks and excess loads on Load Surfer and (even to my surprise) have reported getting some decent results……….enough to cover the cost of an annual subscription in the first couple of months!).
Who is Behind Loadsurfer?
Early comments regarding my company wondered exactly who is behind Load Surfer. Apart from myself, our major shareholders include J D Factors (a major factoring company) and 2 dispatch software companies (Axon Development and Infosite Technologies). Personally, I have worked for both major load board companies and many of my team have also worked in the load board industry for many years. Prior to landing in the software business, I cut my teeth in the operational and financial end of business as a freight forwarder, This was in the “good old days” when we relied on face to face meetings, a well thumbed rolodex of contacts and a healthy dose of common sense. I did this in an era when a freight forwarder (AKA glorified transportation broker – not dissing freight forwarders here…….I worked in the business for a long time and I looked at our company as a travel agent for cargo) worked our asses off to do our part to keep the freight moving and we actually provided a useful service to our stakeholders.
“Bad Apples” and Loadboards
There has been some concern regarding “bad actors” posting on our board because they have been kicked off Brand L. I will admit that the odd one has slipped through as they do on any load board. However, we usually catch up with them quite quickly and terminate their accounts. This is a problem faced by ALL load boards and the transportation community as a whole. Unfortunately, the transportation industry is an easy target for scam artists, As soon as they are exposed, they shut down and resurface under new companies or with a new employer.
Although we do have a host of checks and balances in place to weed these characters out beforehand, we rely on you as members of the transportation industry, to help us out and let us know when you spot these characters on our (or any other) Load Board. Although our website makes it very easy to report these people (report a broker, report a carrier, etc.), we have really only received one bonafide complaint in our first 18 months of operation and in this case, the broker was NOT on our system and never had been a member………….the loads were posted on another load board.
Probably the best tool that we have is access to the credit department through our parent company, J D Factors. They buy thousands of invoices every month from hundreds of brokers and shippers so they have a very good handle on who is paying their bills and who is not. In fact, we display an icon beside the loads of any load poster where J D is purchasing their invoices without recourse. Although there are other reasons that a load poster might not have an icon, this is a very good indication of whether or not you should be dealing with the party in the first place.
The bottom line is that this issue is very difficult for all load boards to police. We all spend a ton of resources trying to keep up with the bad apples. Although we are obliged to allow parties that we may “suspect” as being bad on to the board if we cannot find any proof of wrongdoing, we will act promptly and decisively whenever we do receive complaints or other negative information. While revenue is important to us as a growing company, we certainly aren’t willing to risk the dissatisfaction and potential loss of our clients in order to make a quick buck.
There were a couple of comments concerning trucks that are not where they say they are. Again, this is a comment that could be directed to all load boards, not just Load Surfer (we hear about it happening elsewhere all the time). The problem is that loads are of fixed origin and destination (i.e. you are not going to pick up a load in Toronto and drop it in Chicago or Dallas). Trucks on the other hand are mobile. A carrier can have a truck in Toronto and be willing to consider going pretty much anywhere for the right price. Other carriers will post their lanes……….which means that they run Toronto-Dallas but might not have trucks available today. Unfortunately, this is a problem inherent to load boards in general and we would welcome any suggestions you may have to help us remedy it.
Getting Results
Another comment that appears a few times is to the effect of “we tried it and got no results”. Many times we have talked to a broker (or carrier with excess freight) and they tell us that they post 20 loads per day and that they will give us a try. Instead of posting all 20 on Load Surfer as well (to compare apples to apples), they post 1 skid from Tennessee to Moosejaw, SK and tell us they are no longer interested in trying us. Much as we would like to, we can’t invent freight or equipment…………if it is a load that can’t be covered anywhere else, chances are slim to none that Load Surfer will do a better job.
Going Forward
Although there are certain people out there that would love to see us dry up and blow away, the truth is that we have known that Rome was not built in a day. We are well-funded and are not going to go away like some of the others in the past. We have built a decent piece of software that can be easily adapted (We can easily create private label load boards if there is enough demand – word on the street is that some at Inside Transport would like to do that………..you have my number).
The bottom line in all of this is that Load Surfer is we are striving to give the industry a good alternative. In reading the commentary on Inside Transport regarding the other products in the market, it would seem that the market is ready for a good provider that cares about its’ customers and is committed to providing the market with the product, service and attitude that you deserve.
Thank you all for listening and for your comments on this forum.
Sincerely,
Roy Thacker
