From offer to booked: calling back the right carrier
Henry takes the call, checks the carrier and gets the rate. Booking stays with you. A short checklist for turning an offer on your board into a covered load.
Henry’s job ends when the offer lands on your board. Booking is yours: you call the carrier back, confirm, and run your normal process. Here’s a short checklist for doing that well.
1. Pick the offer
Sort out the board first: rate against target, fraud badge, and what the carrier said in the transcript. Clear offers at or under target are usually the first calls. See Reading your board.
2. Check before you dial
- Review or Blocked? Call back on the FMCSA number for that MC, not the callback number the caller gave.
- No insurance on file? Ask for the COI and confirm it with the insurer before you book.
- Clear? Still run whatever setup you normally do. The badge means Henry found nothing; it is not a guarantee.
3. Call back and confirm
Open with the rate the carrier gave Henry and the details of the load. Confirm the truck, the driver and the timing. Listen to the recording first if anything in the transcript is unclear.
4. Book it your usual way
Send your own paperwork, set up the carrier in your own systems, and dispatch as you always do. Fifth Wheel doesn’t send paperwork or book loads for you.
5. Close out the load
Once the load is covered, archive it so your board stays clean. Then add the next one.
If you didn’t book
If none of the offers worked, the transcripts usually tell you why: the rate, the timing, or something about the load. Adjust your target or ceiling and repost. More in Getting better offers.