If you’re not involved in the trucking and transport industry, you might wonder where you can find a skilled driver with a trailer to haul a heavy shipment. It’s easy and convenient to ship small items almost anywhere, but where does one go to transport machinery or heavy vehicles? Some people may still use the classified section of their local newspaper or an all-purpose online exchange market, but wouldn’t it be better to use a specific system designed to match customers with heavy hauls to experienced drivers? These places do exist! It’s called a load board, and Trusted Dispatch operates a load board with some of the fairest rates in Canada.
Our online system is your place to find drivers to transport large and heavy machinery, equipment, and vehicles. Our drivers specialize in heavy transport for short distances, long hauls, and cross-border shipping. The best part is that using Trusted Dispatch to match you up is risk-free, simple to do, and comes with exceptional customer support when you need it.
How a Load Board Works
The simplest explanation is that a load board is a place to match available shipments with open drivers. But it’s more complex than pairing the first available driver with the first shipment available. Not all trailers are the same, and loads can vary drastically in the size of the machines that need to be shipped. For example, a heavy haul will need a trailer to support the weight. An overly tall machine needs a lowboy trailer to meet the road regulations. An oversized load needs an appropriate trailer and sometimes additional support, such as a pilot escort, depending on the province or state it is travelling through.
There are several considerations to make before finding the right driver for the load. What the digital load board offers is a convenient place to post a shipment with the important details reported accurately and easily visible. The Trusted Dispatch load board requires shippers to determine the pick-up and drop-off locations along with the measurements and specs of the equipment they want to be shipped. These details are then posted to the load board so drivers can easily browse the available shipments that match their trailers.
Connecting With Professional Drivers
Once a driver finds a load that they are equipped to haul, they can claim the shipment and be in touch with the customer to sort out the fine details, including exact pick-up times, how to prepare the equipment for loading, and more. Trusted Dispatch requires customers to prepay for their shipments to secure professional drivers. However, the drivers will only receive the payment after making the delivery. This way, if a driver must cancel, the customer will get their money back. Customers can also relist their load to connect with other available drivers. Prepaying the fees also gives the driver peace of mind that the shipment is authentic and that they will be paid for their services without wasting their time tracking down payment after the fact.
Types of Shipments Posted on Load Boards
Different types of load boards may feature shipments of all varieties, while others will specialize in particular loads. At Trusted Dispatch, we focus on heavy haul shipments in Canada, the United States, and cross-border shipping. This includes shipping machinery and equipment from the agricultural sector, construction industry, forestry industry, and the oil and gas sector.
Our drivers have delivered all types of loads across North America. Here are some of the more common shipments we see on the Trusted Dispatch load board:
Agricultural Equipment
The farming industry is a major player in Canada and the United States. The modern advances in agricultural equipment have dramatically expanded capacity in recent decades. But with these technological advancements, the size and weight of these machines have also dramatically increased. If you’ve ever had to pass a harvester or combine on a secondary highway or rural dirt road, you’ve appreciated firsthand the monstrous size of some of these vehicles.
When farmers purchase equipment from online auctions or second-hand retailers in far away locations, they need professional drivers to transport those machines. The drivers in our network have transported farm equipment within provinces, across the country, and even over the United States border.
We see various farming machines and implements posted to our load board, including newer and older models of New Holland, Case IH, John Deere, Kubota, Caterpillar, and more. The top machines we see posted to the load board include the following:
- Tractors
- Combines
- Harvesters
- Seeders
- Swathers
- Sprayers
- Balers
Heavy Industry
Construction Equipment
The construction industry uses many types of large equipment that require heavy haul transport between job sites, whether it’s from one end of a city to another or across greater distances. Machines such as bulldozers, excavators, backhoes, dump trucks, graders, and cranes are the most frequently shipped pieces of construction equipment that Trusted Dispatch drivers see transported.
When moving large pieces of equipment, it can be easier to take off any parts that are removable. These removable parts or attachments might fit on the trailer, or they may require separate shipping. For example, the blade of the bulldozer can add significant weight and cause the load to be oversized. Sending the parts in a fall off load can be far easier than trying to keep them on the machine.
Construction Cranes
Another piece of equipment that requires disassembly before transport is a crane. You’ve seen construction cranes lining the skies of every major city. Before they can be transported, they must be collapsed and disassembled to fit on transport trucks, sometimes requiring more than one.
Forestry Machinery
In Western Canada, we see a fair amount of forestry machinery that gets posted to the load board. Our drivers are experienced in loading all types of heavy equipment and will ensure your machine is loaded carefully, accurately, and secured properly for transit. Some of the machines that our drivers have shipped include:
- Feller bunchers (tracked or wheeled)
- Skidders
- Dozers (the same consideration for the parts as discussed above under construction machinery)
- Log loader
- Processors
- Forwarders
- Harvesters
Forestry equipment and machines are valuable assets which is why you want experienced professionals that never skip on safety procedures to transport your shipments. We only work with professional drivers who take pride in their service and skills, so you know your load will be delivered safely, on time, and in its original condition.
Why You Might Need to Use a Load Board
There are many reasons why you may need to use a load board to arrange a shipment of heavy equipment. A popular place to find used heavy equipment for agriculture, mining, forestry, and construction is at heavy equipment auctions. You might be participating in person, hoping to bid on the right models for the best price. When you do win a bid on a machine, you’ll need to arrange transport back to your location. Whether this is nearby or far away, the logistics can feel complicated.
You might not even be physically present at the auction. Many renowned auction houses have online events where heavy equipment sells at reasonable prices. This accessibility enables you to extend your search for further away auction events. But the problem remains that you’ll need to figure out shipping once you make your purchase.
Using a load board, such as Trusted Dispatch, is the perfect way to arrange secure, timely transport of your newly purchased equipment. Whether you’re buying used from an auction, a dealership, or an individual sale, a load board will match you with a driver.
How Owner Operators Can Find Loads
Independent drivers love being part of the Trusted Dispatch network because we offer fair rates that make shipments worth your while as a driver while also offering customer value. Our practice of excluding middlemen and facilitating prepaid loads keeps everyone happy and accountable. Whether you’re looking for extra work, want to fill empty backhauls, or have flexibility with your fleet, there are always loads ready on the Trusted Dispatch laid board.
Long Hauls
If you prefer long-haul shipments, our load board involves those too. Frequently we have customers in British Columbia requiring shipments delivered from Ontario and vice versa. We’ve even had agricultural machinery shipped from the MidWest and Southern United States up to Canada. As drivers, you have the freedom to choose the shipments that better match your schedule, expertise, and route.
Short Hauls
A load board similar to Trusted Dispatch is also a great place to find quicker short hauls. Maybe you want to squeeze in an extra shipment on the weekend or fill a return trip with a few shorter transport, then short hauls are a perfect match. Loads are posted with their destinations and specs, so you can pick and choose from the distances available to find the one that works for your schedule.
Heavy and Oversized Hauls
If you own or have access to RGN trailers or lowboys equipped to transport heavy equipment or oversize machinery, then the load board can also match you with those types of shipments. We collect as detailed information as possible regarding the shipments, so you know what to expect from each posting. That being said, sometimes there are finer details that need to be sorted out between you, the driver, and the customer. This may include anything from where the equipment is sitting for the pick-up location to determining the additional costs of pilot vehicles.
When our drivers select their loads, we put them in direct contact with the customer, so they can get answers to any relevant questions directly from the shipper. This is also a great opportunity for drivers to explain the requirements of the road for oversized hauls and the additional costs that may be necessary.
Cross Border Shipments
Drivers with experience crossing the border to or from the United States with shipments may be looking for extra cross-border shipments. We advise our customers to work with a customs broker to make the process smoother for everyone. We even provide a list of recommended customs brokers on our website. We make it clear that it is the responsibility of the shipper to take care of the paperwork.
We Take Pride in Our Professional Drivers
Professional drivers are not only defined by their years of experience on the road; it’s how well they follow protocols and safety procedures. We only work with drivers who are proven to take their work seriously and value the customers’ shipments. What does this look like in practice? It means our drivers don’t rush but work efficiently to load machines onto their trailers properly. It also means they double-check all tie-downs and security chains so that your equipment is in the right position for transport.
Professional drivers also take the time to cover vulnerable parts of the machine, such as covering the windshield. They’ll also pull away at low speeds to ensure the load is secure and avoid accidents before hitting the main routes. In addition to performing their tasks in a professional manner, our drivers will treat you with respect, show up on time, and maintain communication until the delivery is complete.
Find Extra Shipments On the Trusted Dispatch Load Board
If you’re an owner-operator or manage a small fleet of trucks and drivers, Trusted Dispatch can help fill in the gaps between jobs. Our free-to-use load board features various heavy equipment shipments needing transport across North America. If you value your customers and take pride in your skills, we want you to join our network of professional drivers. See our drivers in action and then consider joining our team.
