Everyone wants to save money on their freight quotes. There is no great secret behind this desire: The more money you can save on your freight shipping, the more money you can re-distribute to other aspects of your business or even, if you’re lucky, to your pocket.

At FreightPros, we are always looking for the cracks in the shipping system, and ways to save our customers money. With that in mind, have you heard of backhaul shipping???

Truckload shipping is made up of different parts, and one of those parts is the backhaul. A backhaul is the trip/transit required by the truck driver and his truck to re-position himself after the initial load he was hired to transport, also known as a “headhaul.”

Think of it like this: If the carrier is hired to move freight from point A to point B, what does he do after he’s delivered to point B? In truckload shipping, markets are VERY important, and point B might not be in a good market for making the most money.

The driver has incentive to get back to point A, but he can’t fly there, can he? His trip back to point A is known as the backhaul. The backhaul can be back to his home base, or to another pickup location all together.

So how does the backhaul save you money? Well, if you have a dedicated truckload team (with stuff like GPS truck tracking, not to mention insights into the very complicated mechanisms of driving hours regulations), they’ll be able to tap into these possibilities. Because the demand for these shipments is lower, backhaul shipping rates are cheaper.

Especially if you are moving freight out of a “cold” market, there’s a good chance you can catch a driver on a backhaul, and in turn get a discounted freight quote. The importance of having a team is that these situations arise fast and quick, and you need a team that’s on top of things, watching the load boards, and jumping on cheap quote opportunities.

So that’s how your truckload broker can help you save money on backhaul shipping. Get in contact with your guys (and gals) to see if your freight is illegible for these sorts of rates, and check out our Trailer Equipment Guide for more information on truckload shipping, as well as our other helpful Freight Papers, available for FREE.