The pattern is familiar. A freight forwarder takes on a domestic move. They post the load on DAT, include the rate, and wait. Nothing comes in. Not a single call. Not a counter. The load expires and the forwarder picks up the phone to call around manually.
The problem is almost always one of six fixable issues in how the load is being posted or priced.
What is DAT and how do carriers use it?
DAT Solutions is the largest load board network in North America. Carriers use it to find available loads that match their equipment, their lane preferences, and their rate expectations.
A load posting is the record a broker or shipper creates with the load details: origin zip, destination zip, pickup date and time window, equipment type, weight, commodity, and either a posted rate or an indicator that the rate is negotiable.
Spot rate is the price offered for a one-time, non-contracted load. It reflects current market conditions for that lane, equipment type, and date. DAT’s RateView tool shows the 7-day, 15-day, and 30-day average spot rates for every lane. Experienced carriers check RateView before calling. If your rate is below it, they move on.
Coverage means finding a carrier who accepts the load at an agreed rate and has the equipment and authority to run it. Until coverage is confirmed, the load is still your problem.
When a carrier opens DAT, they filter by lane, equipment type, and date. They see hundreds of postings at once. The ones that get calls are priced right, complete, and posted at the right time. The ones that sit are missing one of those three things.
The mistake most forwarders make when they start posting their own domestic loads: they price based on what they want to pay, not what the market requires.
Why am I getting no calls on my load postings?
1. The rate is below market
This accounts for the majority of cases.
DAT’s RateView shows carriers what they should expect for your lane right now. A posted rate 10 percent below the current market average means experienced carriers skip it. They have options. The loads that get covered quickly are priced at or above market.
Before posting, pull the RateView rate for your exact origin-destination pair, equipment type, and current week. Post at the mid or high end of the range. If your target rate is below what RateView shows, no posting strategy fixes that. The margin problem comes first.
2. Your account has no credit history
Carriers do not just look at the rate. They check who is posting.
Before calling, most carriers run a quick credit check through Carrier411, RMIS, or DAT’s built-in credit tool. They look at how long the company has been in business, what the credit limit is, and whether there are payment complaints. A new freight broker account with no payment history, no established credit limit, and an unverified MC number gets passed over. Carriers have been burned by brokers who don’t pay within terms and they filter accordingly.
Register with Carrier411 and RMIS and complete your profile. Verify your MC number and list your payment terms clearly. If you’re new, a 30-day net with a low credit limit signals risk. A quick-pay option on early loads builds history faster.
3. The posting is missing details
A carrier scanning 200 loads will skip any posting that requires a phone call just to get basic information.
Details that kill response rates when missing:
- No specific pickup time window, just a date
- No weight or piece count
- Vague commodity description (“general freight,” “misc goods”)
- No mention of lift gate, dock requirements, or special handling
- No rate or rate-negotiable indicator
Carriers want to decide whether to call before they call. Complete postings get calls. Incomplete ones sit.
Fill every field. Specific pickup window, exact weight, plain-language commodity, all accessorial requirements upfront, and a rate or a clear call-for-rate indicator.
4. You’re posting too far in advance
The spot market runs on short lead times. Carriers plan 1 to 5 days out. A load posted 2 to 3 weeks before pickup will sit. Carriers are not making decisions that far ahead.
The sweet spot for most lanes is 2 to 4 days before pickup. Same-day loads can be covered but typically need a rate premium to compensate carriers for the disruption to their existing plan.
Post within the 1 to 5 day window unless you have a specific reason to post early: unusual equipment requirements, a very difficult lane, or a carrier relationship you’re locking in.
5. The lane is structurally difficult
Some origin-destination pairs have low carrier coverage regardless of rate. Outbound lanes from regions with more freight than trucks, remote pickup or delivery locations, or destinations that leave the carrier with a poor repositioning option all shrink the pool of interested carriers.
DAT’s market conditions indicator shows the truck-to-load ratio for any lane. High loads relative to trucks means rates go up and coverage comes faster. High trucks relative to loads means carriers are selective.
Check the truck-to-load ratio before posting. Difficult lanes need rates above market average to compensate for the repositioning problem. If a lane consistently shows poor coverage, a dedicated carrier relationship will outperform the spot market long term.
6. The MC authority type is wrong
DAT requires a freight broker MC number to post loads. A freight forwarder’s NVOCC authority covers ocean and international moves. It does not cover domestic brokerage.
If a forwarder is arranging domestic trucking by placing it with a carrier, a Freight Broker Authority from FMCSA is required in addition to the forwarding license. The MC number on the DAT account needs to be registered as a freight broker authority. Posting loads without proper broker authority is a regulatory exposure, not just a DAT issue.
Verify the MC number type before assuming the account is set up correctly.
Post with a rate or call for rate?
Two approaches exist and both work. The choice depends on where you are in learning the lane.
Post with a rate. Carriers see exactly what you’re offering. Carriers comfortable with the rate call immediately. Carriers who want more don’t waste anyone’s time. The downside: a wrong rate produces zero calls.
Call for rate (post without a price). Forces a conversation. Carriers call to find out the rate. You learn what the market is paying by hearing their counters in real time. The downside: many carriers skip unpriced loads rather than call.
For forwarders new to posting domestic loads, posting with a rate is the better starting point. If no one calls, you know the rate is the problem. Adjust up until calls come in. Once you understand what the lane clears at consistently, either approach works.
What happens after I get coverage?
Getting the call is the first problem. The second is managing the rate agreement and the booking confirmation without creating manual entry downstream.
A carrier calls, agrees to the rate, and sends a rate confirmation back. That confirmation, with the carrier name, MC number, agreed rate, pickup number, and equipment details, has to be matched to the open job in the TMS and entered by hand. At a few domestic jobs per week, manageable. At 20 to 30 domestic moves per month across multiple lanes, it becomes the same inbox-to-TMS problem that ocean import creates.
TIO’s trucking rate management workflow reads carrier rate responses and booking confirmations from the inbox, extracts the relevant fields, and pre-fills the TMS record for ops review. Every write still goes through human approval. Your team signs off on each record. The starting point is a pre-filled form rather than a blank screen.
The DAT posting problem and the downstream data entry problem are separate. Fixing the posting gets coverage. Removing the manual entry after coverage keeps the domestic workflow from scaling into an ops bottleneck.
For more on the capacity math as domestic volume grows, the scaling without hiring post covers the full picture across all lanes.
If domestic coordination is eating hours your team should be spending elsewhere, the demo is 20 minutes. We run it on a real shipment email so you see the extraction and review queue on your lane.
Frequently asked questions
Why do carriers ignore load board postings with rates included?
The most common reason is that the posted rate is below the current market average for that lane and equipment type. Carriers check DAT's RateView data before calling. A rate 10 to 15 percent below market gets passed over in favor of better-paying loads. The second most common reason is account credibility. Carriers check broker credit scores and payment history on Carrier411 and RMIS before deciding whether to call.
Does broker credit rating affect DAT load board response rates?
Yes. Carriers use Carrier411, RMIS, and DAT's built-in credit check to evaluate brokers before calling. A new account with no established payment history, a low credit limit, or unverified authority gets fewer responses than an account with a clean record and clear payment terms. Completing your profile on Carrier411 and RMIS immediately reduces the friction.
Should I post loads on DAT with a rate or without one?
For forwarders new to domestic load board posting, posting with a rate gives faster market feedback. If no calls come in, you know the rate needs to adjust. Once you understand what the lane clears at, posting without a rate and negotiating directly can work, but it reduces response volume from carriers who prefer to skip unpriced loads.
How far in advance should freight loads be posted on DAT?
The spot market operates on 1 to 5 day lead times for most lanes. Posting more than a week out produces few responses because carriers are not planning that far ahead. Posting 2 to 4 days before pickup typically generates the most activity. Same-day loads can be covered but usually require a rate premium above the market average.