These days there are essentially two kinds of load-matching web sites, or load boards as they often refer to themselves.

As Technology Editor John Bendel reports in the March issue of Heavy Duty Trucking, commercial load-matching sites make money by charging users, usually a monthly subscription fee. This differs from load-matching sites maintained by companies who make money in other businesses, most often as brokers or carriers. These boards are normally available free of charge.
A new load-matching site, www.truckbuzz.com, is the latest indication of a shift in Internet load-matching markets and a bitter competition among commercial load-matching services, Bendel reports.
Bendel looks at the history of Internet load-matching and talks to Truckbuzz.com founder Darren Brewer, who also owns www.nettrans.com, a commercial Internet load board in business since 1996.
While it's getting harder and harder for commercial load boards to charge for subscriptions, Brewer says, there is still a viable market for commercial load boards that can reach what he calls "critical mass," a volume of listings that makes a subscription worthwhile.
For more on the load board situation and a full "IT Solutions" section each month, see the March issue of Heavy Duty Trucking.

To see if you qualify for a free subscription to Heavy Duty Trucking, go to www.heavydutytrucking.com/subscribe.asp.