The Lane Makers tool in DAT One is an invaluable resource for finding new carriers or brokers, especially for difficult-to-cover lanes, with access to up to a year's worth of historical data.
How to access LaneMakers
- Navigate to one.dat.com.
- From the left hand side menu, click on Tools, then click LaneMakers.
Setting up your search
- Select Report Type:By default, Carrier Activity is selected.
- Carrier Activity: focuses on carriers' load searches and trucking postings activity.
- Broker Activity: focuses on brokers' truck searches and load postings activity.
- Origin and Destination:Enter your origin and destination, like Dallas to Chicago. You can perform an open-ended search, by leaving the origin or destination empty, or specify to narrow the results.
- Load and Equipment Type: Choose from full, partial, or both for load types, and select your equipment type, such as a van or flatbed. You can select multiple equipment types if you have flexible needs.
- Select your Timeframe and Market SizeBy default, the search looks back 30 days within a selected market area. For harder-to-cover lanes, you can expand your search to look farther back or at a wider area around your origin and destination.Note: These options are only active when your search parameters include a city in either the origin or destination. For example, they are not active if you search from state to state.
- 3-digit zip : the first 3 digits of the target city’s primary zip code. I.e., the 3-digit zip for Fresno, CA is 936.
- Mkt : Key Market Area. We divide the country into 135 key market areas. When you enter a city name into the search parameters, LaneMakers will search for any posting and searching activity that is within the market area containing the target city. To see a map of the key market areas, click on the Hot Market Map in the tools menu.
- X-Mkt : Extended Market Area. This is a collection of key market areas surrounding the target city.
- Region : the general area of the country containing the target city.
Note: Ability to adjust the "Timeframe" and "Market Size" depends on your LaneMakers Subscription level. If you do not currently have access to this feature but would like to add it, please contact DAT at (866) 380-2578.
After setting your parameters, hit the search button. LaneMakers will find all carriers who have either posted a truck or searched for a load that matches your criteria in the designated area and time frame. The tool will return up to the top 30 results based on the number of searches and trucks posted.
Interpreting search results
You can view the volume of load searches and truck postings per DAT carrier account for your specified lane. At a glance, you can obtain information about each company, including their phone number, office location, and types of postings. By clicking on a lane, you can access additional details like authority and reviews.
The Kebab Menu offers actions like adding carriers to your preferred or blocked list, leaving a review, or viewing their full company profile in the DAT Directory.