Alternative to Central Dispatch??

I always call past transporters directly if I have something along their route (assuming I know it. . I always ask). Better for both parties, really.

So I take it there's room in the market for competition for CD?

What are they charging transporters? From what I've heard it's something like a minimum of $60/mo for a certain no. of "leads" (loads from a state/to a state you specify) which you're expected to call the dealer to grab the load, and so it winds up being a hassle for both sides?

Anyone willing to post some screen captures of how the transporter side of various load boards are set up?

 

Yeah I'd considered that already. Hardest part will be getting a large enough nucleus of dealers/transporters initially for a critical mass. Gotta have both for it to work. . . I have some thoughts on how to reach out to both effectively but I don't really want to post that information publicly. Suffice to say if it gets off the ground there will be an initial period of time where it's free for both sides. Early adopter bonus, if you will.

The logic being if it costs you nothing to sign up, you probably would.

 

So how would you transporters like for your end to work?

Ideas I've already come up with include searching loads by distance from a zip or city rather than a whole state, possibly search for loads along a specified distance from a corridor (i.e. 'find loads within 50 miles of I81 between TN and NJ). I'm told that will be a complex feature to implement. "Oak Ridge PhD level math" is what one of my devs compared it to.

I like 1D's pricing structure where transporters can "take it now" or "make an offer", so you can always ask for more electronically without having to call anybody. I'd improve on that by allowing both parties to negotiate electronically. . . so if you're looking at a load that's being offered for $200, you can offer to do it for $250, the seller can counter at $225, no need to call.

Service would be charged based on accepted loads, not "leads".

Phone/tablet app would be ideal as well (so you guys/gals can search for loads from the cab of your truck without getting out the laptop) but depends on development cost. May not be available on the initial rollout.

 

On the dealer side, 1D charged by mileage range. 1,000 mi haul was $10/car, 500 mi was about $6, that sort of thing. Interesting to hear that RAT was potentially charging you guys more than the shippers.

I had figured more of a flat rate, as realistically it's the same amount of work on the part of the website if it's a $200 haul bill or a $1,000 haul bill. . and I do like the idea of only charging the side that initiated the transaction, or at least bias the bill in that direction.

And yes, absolutely on the condition issue. I buy a lot of stuff from Copart and am as explicit as possible when describing what I bought. Problem is I don't actually see them until they show up, so I have to go off photos and Copart's description of damage, which is 2 lines in the vehicle attributes (primary damage, secondary damage, and usually vague like 'front' or "undercarriage'). One thing that we could probably do is link to the lots at their respective auctions so the carriers have the same photos the buyers have. . . easy to do with Copart and IAA, don't know about Manheim/Adesa, but as they primarily sell runs/drives stuff it hopefully won't be as big of an issue.

1D had the ability to upload docs/photos, which I did, but 90% of the time the carriers never looked at them. Most transporters showed up with 3-4 car wedge trailers with one guy driving and a wife at home scouring load boards (presumably), and the wife didn't always share the full info package with hubby so there were a few surprises. . .mostly stuff like flat tires or dead engines. Don't really know how to prevent that other than make it mobile/tablet friendly so hopefully hubby will log in and check for himself.