The short version
A load gets covered when a carrier can tell, in about five seconds, whether it fits their truck, their clock and their price. That means equipment type, exact origin and destination, real pickup and delivery windows, weight, and the rate, on the posting rather than on a phone call. Postings missing any of those get filtered out before anyone reads them, and the ones missing a rate get filtered out fastest.
Everything below is what an owner-operator is actually checking when they scan a board. None of it is complicated. It is just frequently left out.
What should a load posting include?
Equipment type stated specifically, real origin and destination cities, pickup and delivery windows with times, weight and pallet count, the commodity, whether it is live or drop, every special requirement, and the rate. A carrier prices a posting against their own cost per mile, and anything missing from that list means they cannot.
| Field | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Equipment type, specifically | "Van" is not "cargo van". A 53-foot dry van driver skipping a sprinter load is the system working. |
| Real cities, not just states | They are planning a route and a reload. "Somewhere in Texas" is not a lane. |
| Pickup and delivery windows | Whether the load fits their hours, and whether the appointment is fixed or first come, first served. |
| Weight, pieces and dimensions | Whether it fits. Weight alone is not enough for anything not floor-loaded. |
| Commodity | Whether their insurance covers it, and whether they want it. |
| Live load or drop | How much of their day this costs. If live, an honest word about the facility. |
| Requirements | Tarps, straps, liftgate, pallet jack, TWIC, hazmat, food grade, temperature, driver assist, team. |
| The rate | Whether it clears their cost per mile. See below. |
Post the rate
The most common reason a good load sits is that it was posted without a number. A carrier scanning fifty postings has to price each one against their own cost per mile, and a posting with no rate cannot be priced, so it gets skipped in favour of the one next to it that can.
You are not preserving negotiating room by hiding it. You are removing yourself from the comparison.
Post a rate you would actually pay, too. A number well under the market does not save money: the load sits, you repost it later at a higher rate anyway, and you now have less time and worse options. If you want to see how a carrier reads your number, rate per mile explains the arithmetic they are doing.
Timing and follow-through
- Post as soon as you have the details. Carriers plan two and three days out. A load posted the morning it ships is competing for whoever happens to be empty right there.
- Answer fast. Carriers call several brokers at once and take the first firm answer. A callback two hours later reaches somebody who is already loaded.
- Have the packet ready. Carrier agreement, W-9 request and insurance requirements, sent in one message. Setup friction loses loads that were already agreed.
- Send the rate confirmation immediately. With the accessorials on it: free time, detention rate, layover, TONU. A confirmation that covers these gets signed faster, because the carrier does not have to ask.
What loses you carriers
- Posting the same load several times to look busier. Carriers notice, and it makes your whole board look untrustworthy.
- Leaving covered loads posted. Every call you take on freight that is gone is a carrier who will scroll past your name next time.
- Understating the weight or the wait. Both get discovered at the dock, and neither gets forgotten.
- Vague requirements that turn into surprises: the tarp that was not mentioned, the appointment that was really a two-day window, the receiver that closes at noon.
- Not being reachable on the number in the posting.
Remember that carriers vet you too
A carrier deciding whether to haul for you will look up your authority, your bond and your payment reputation before they call, and the good ones do it every time. Post under your own USDOT number, use a company email domain and a number that matches your public record, and pay on the terms you promised. The checks they are running are set out here, and passing them cleanly is the cheapest reputation you will ever buy.
The other half of that is your own vetting. How to vet a carrier before you tender covers the checks that stop a load being re-brokered out from under you.
The bottom lineWrite the posting for the carrier scanning fifty of them. Equipment, cities, windows, weight and the rate, on the listing, and most of your coverage problem disappears.
Frequently asked questions
Should I post the rate on a load?
Yes. A carrier scanning a board prices each posting against their own cost per mile, and one without a rate cannot be priced, so it gets skipped in favour of one that can. Hiding the number does not preserve negotiating room, it removes you from the comparison.
Why is my load not getting covered?
Most often the posting is missing something a carrier needs in the first five seconds: a specific equipment type, real cities, a delivery window with times, the weight and pallet count, or the rate. After that, the usual causes are a rate under the market for that lane and a phone nobody answers.
How far in advance should I post a load?
As soon as you have the details. Carriers plan two and three days out, so a load posted the morning it ships is only competing for trucks that happen to be empty in that market that hour.
What should be on the rate confirmation?
The linehaul, and the accessorials: free time, the detention rate after it, layover, and TONU. Confirmations that state these get signed faster because the carrier does not have to ask, and they prevent most of the disputes that come after delivery.
Is it free to post loads on One Load Board?
Yes, permanently rather than as an introductory offer. There is no per-post fee and no commission on the freight. Only carriers have paid tiers, and those buy faster load alerts rather than access.
