Things are looking up at LoadScout.
"In the last few weeks, we've seen that loads are picking up," said Len Herstein, LoadScout's marketing director. "We've seen individual companies posting more loads."
That could be good news for a sagging trucking market.
It's great news for LoadScout, which has seen its own business volume rise considerably in three months. Herstein said LoadScout is posting between 2,000 and 3,000 loads per day and that current membership represents some 40,000 trucks. LoadScout was launched in December by CyberCrop.com, an agricultural software company based in Fort Collins, Colo.
"We do have a significant number of hoppers, dumps and livestock trailers, but most of the trucks on our site are vans, reefers and flatbeds," said Herstein.
Herstein said that while LoadScout is a technology-based matching service and it has a web site at www.loadscout.com, the company made a very deliberate decision not to use dot-com in the name.
That's because LoadScout customers, mostly small fleets and owner-operators, do not need Internet access to use the service. Customers can use LoadScout over the phone with all the functionality of the web.
For example, customers can tell LoadScout what kinds of loads they're looking for and be contacted when matches appear on the system. Most load-matching sites offering such proactive searches notify by e-mail. LoadScout can do the same. But LoadScout can also generate automated phone calls. Users need not be online to learn of a match and a potential load.
"We're seeing 500 proactive load-matches a day," said Herstein. "That doesn't include matches that result when customers search themselves."
LoadScout is currently offering a one-month free trial and a six-month membership for $200.