Hauling Freight with a Company vs. Load Board Freight [Pros and Cons]

As an owner-operator, should you book your own freight? Or should you decide to sign your truck on with a trucking company to haul their freight? 

Which is better? Which will make you more money? 

For many drivers, the career path they take is to be a company driver, then lease a truck and eventually pay off the balloon payment to become an owner-operator. But now that you’re an owner-operator, where do you go from there? 

You have the financial stability to go on your own authority, but do you want the perks associated with running with an organization where someone’s still looking out for you? Or do you want the freedom of doing your own thing? 

As an operations manager here at Anderson Trucking Service (ATS), one of my primary roles is to ensure our drivers are successful — no matter what they’re hauling. I’ve worked with owner-operators that secure their own freight using load boards and I’ve worked with owner-operators that haul freight for one specific trucking company. 

When you read this article, you’ll learn the differences between the freight you’ll haul as an owner-operator signed on with a company compared to an owner-operator solely using load boards for freight.

You’ll gain a good understanding of the pros and cons of each and which one is the best fit for you. 

Signing On With a Company as an Owner-Operator 

As an owner-operator, you can sign on with a trucking company to haul freight for them. You’ll operate under their authority and DOT number. 

You’ll have access to their freight, their support team and a driver manager or dispatcher. Someone will always help you find freight and you’ll have the opportunity to accept or deny load offers. 

If you’re new to being an owner-operator, this is a great way to get started. 

There are both pros and cons to hauling this kind of freight as an owner-operator.

Pro: Support in Choosing Loads

As an owner-operator who signs on with a company, you’ll have a team working behind you. A sales or customer service representative (CSR) negotiates a rate per a contract, books the freight and then offers the freight to you based on the type of trailer you have, what types of loads you can haul based on the endorsements you hold and your availability. A planner may assist with negotiating rates for spot quote freight.

The load offer goes to you and your dispatcher and it’s your choice if you’ll haul that load. If you accept the load, the dispatcher, CSR or driver updates the shipper and receiver (it depends on the customer’s request). The loads are build-out prior to the load offer, so you won’t have to worry about completing that part. 

You’ll be able to discuss load offers with your dispatcher to ensure you’re selecting loads that’ll ultimately make you successful. They can help guide you to make the best decisions so you can keep turning a profit. 

It can be difficult to plan loads yourself, so having a team behind you advising you on loads is a huge benefit. They can keep you motivated to keep moving freight. 

Con: Lack of Freight Variety 

As an owner-operator signed on with a company, you’re restricted to the freight that that particular company hauls; you’re confined to their customers. 

Depending on the company you signed on with, you may or may not have a lot of freight variety as a result. You may only be hauling general freight, or you may be hauling a variety of specialized freight. 

Either way, keep in mind that signing on with a company as an owner-operator restricts your freight selection. You’ll still be able to accept and deny load offers as you please, but if you don’t like the freight lanes or the freight that the company hauls, you may need to sign on with a different company entirely. You can also opt to run under your own authority and select your own freight from load boards.

Hauling Freight with Load Boards 

As an owner-operator, you can also choose to operate under your own authority and book your own freight. Often drivers will use digital load boards to select freight, but they may also use a broker or search for their own customers.

If you choose to be this type of owner-operator, your freight options are truly limitless but you’ll be running a company by yourself with no assistance. 

There are pros and cons to hauling this type of freight. 

Pro: Freight Variety

As a truly independent owner-operator, you can book freight with anybody and everybody. You have a lot more options in front of you. If you don’t decide to broker freight or search for your own customers, there are dozens and dozens of digital load board apps to choose from with thousands of loads at the touch of your fingertips.

There’s more variance on digital load boards. You can jump from board to board and cherry-pick the freight you’d like to haul in your favorite areas. Maybe you only want to move a certain type of freight in a certain area. Maybe you want to haul something totally new every single day. With digital load boards, you have the opportunity for that high variety. 

You can program your preferences into digital load board apps and receive load suggestions based on your preferences. You can also use the apps to look at a map of the U.S. and select where you’d like to go. Once you analyze the freight, lane, shipping and delivery dates and revenue associated with the load, you can decide which loads you’ll haul. Keep in mind that you can also bid on loads.

Unlike when you haul freight for a company, you’ll be required to take care of all the paperwork as a true owner-operator. 

Pro: Book Out Your Schedule

Another benefit of hauling freight with digital load boards is that you have the opportunity to book loads out weeks in advance. Freight books out much farther in advance with load boards than it does when you book freight with a trucking company. 

This gives you the option to book out your next several loads. 

Con: Lack of Support Makes it Tough to Succeed

Running under your own authority can be difficult. You’re in charge of everything; you’re truly on your own running your own business. Not only will you need to be under your own authority, have your own DOT number and take care of all the paperwork and financial expectations, but you’re also in charge of booking loads to keep yourself successful. 

While a lot of drivers want the freedom of using digital load boards to select their freight, many struggle to figure out how to plan out their loads. They may not make the best business decisions. They may not understand how the market works so they’re constantly accepting loads in backhaul markets and failing to turn a profit. 

It can be a lot of work to manage the background side of things with all the paperwork but also be organized enough to plan your loads. When you don’t have a dispatcher helping you, keeping you on track and helping you choose loads that will make you successful, you may struggle to succeed. 

Haul Freight with ATS

Choosing to haul freight as an owner-operator with a trucking company versus hauling freight on your own comes down to how independent you want to be. Do you want the support of a company? Or do you have the desire to do it all yourself and strengthen your own business? 

The decision also comes down to the type of freight you truly want to haul. Depending on their customer base, you may be limited when you haul freight for a company. When you choose to haul freight from load boards, you can bounce from app to app to choose whatever freight you’re qualified to haul.  

At ATS, we know you enjoy freedom but also love to have a helpful team behind you to give you the support you need. Learn more about our owner-operator program and speak to an ATS driver consultant to determine if your truck meets the requirements.