HaulMonitor — User Guide

Section 1

Setting Up Your Fleet

Your fleet profile is the foundation of HaulMonitor. It stores your equipment details, home base location, and the rate structure used to calculate net revenue on every backhaul opportunity. Complete your fleet profile before creating any requests.

Navigate to Fleet Setup

Open the navigation menu (☰ Menu) in the top-right corner and select Fleets. On the Fleets page, click + Add Fleet to open the setup form.

Fleets page showing existing fleets and Add Fleet button

Enter Fleet Information

Fill in your fleet's basic contact and identification details. Fields marked * are required.

Fleet Name *

Your company or fleet name (e.g., Carolina Transport Fleet)

MC Number

Your FMCSA Motor Carrier number (e.g., MC-123456)

DOT Number

Your USDOT number (e.g., DOT-123456)

Fleet Manager Phone *

Used for text notifications when opportunities change

Fleet Manager Email *

Used for email notifications

Set Your Home Base Location

Enter your fleet's home base address — this is where your trucks return to after deliveries. HaulMonitor uses this to calculate out-of-route miles for each backhaul opportunity.

Home Base Address *

City and state or full street address (e.g., Davidson, NC or 123 Fleet Dr, Davidson, NC 28036)

💡 After you type the address and tab away, HaulMonitor automatically verifies it using PC*MILER and shows a ✓ Verified confirmation with the exact coordinates. No manual lookup needed.

Configure Rate Structure

The Rate Configuration section drives all financial calculations in your backhaul and estimate reports. Scroll down past the fleet information to find it.

Revenue Split

How gross load revenue is divided between your fleet (carrier) and the shipper (customer).

Carrier %

Percentage of load revenue paid to your fleet. The Customer % is auto-calculated as the complement (e.g., Carrier 20% → Customer 80%).

Mileage & Stop Rates

Rates charged for out-of-route miles and extra stops created by taking the backhaul.

Mileage Rate ($/mi)

Your cost per out-of-route mile, loaded and empty (e.g., 2.00)

Stop Rate ($/stop)

Cost per additional stop on the backhaul route (e.g., 50.00)

Other Charges Optional

Up to two additional per-load charges (e.g., detention fees, lumper fees).

Charge Name

Short label shown on reports (e.g., Detention fee)

Description

Brief explanation, max 25 characters (e.g., 2+ hr wait time)

Amount ($/load)

Fixed cost applied per load

Rate Configuration showing Revenue Split, Mileage & Stop Rates, and Other Charges

Fuel Surcharge (FSC)

HaulMonitor calculates FSC automatically using live DOE diesel prices, or you can enter a rate manually.

PEG ($/gal)

Your baseline fuel cost per gallon already included in your mileage rate (e.g., 1.200)

MPG

Average fuel economy of your fleet — typically 6–8 mpg (default: 6.0)

PADD Region

Select your region for live DOE diesel price feeds. The current price auto-fills from EIA.gov.

DOE PADD Rate ($/gal)

Current diesel price. Auto-populated when a PADD Region is selected, or enter manually.

💡 FSC per mile = (DOE PADD Rate − PEG) ÷ MPG. For example: ($3.736 − $1.200) ÷ 6.0 = $0.423/mile.

Save the Fleet Profile

Click Create Fleet Profile at the bottom of the form. You'll see a success confirmation and be returned to the Fleets list. You can edit your fleet profile at any time — changes take effect on the next request run.

Section 2

Creating a Backhaul Request

A Backhaul Request tells HaulMonitor where your truck currently is (the datum point) and when the equipment needs to be back home. The system searches live load data, scores every opportunity by out-of-route efficiency and net revenue, and presents the best matches in a ranked list with a route map.

Open the Request Form

From the navigation menu (☰ Menu) in the top-right corner, select Start Backhaul Request.

Fill in the Request Details

Request Name *

A descriptive name for this request (e.g., Backhaul Request 12/30/2025)

Datum Point *

Where your truck currently is or will be at the start of its return home. Enter city/state or ZIP (e.g., Charlotte, NC or 28036).

Select Fleet *

Choose which fleet this request is for. The fleet's home base and rate config are used for all calculations.

Equipment Available *

The earliest date the truck is available to pick up a backhaul load

Equipment Needed Back *

The date the equipment must be returned home by

Set Options — Relay, Auto-Refresh, Notifications

Relay Request Optional

Enable if the load will be handled by a relay driver rather than your outbound truck running the full route home. Mileage is calculated as the relay driver's complete loop.

Auto Refresh Optional

HaulMonitor can automatically re-run the search on a schedule so your results stay current without manual intervention. Choose from 30 min to 24 hr intervals.

Notifications Optional

Get alerted by email, text, or both when auto-refresh detects a change in the top result. Sent to the phone and email on your fleet profile.

Start Backhaul Request form showing all fields, Relay, Auto Refresh, Notifications, and Create button

Submit the Request

Click + Create Backhaul Request. HaulMonitor geocodes the datum point, builds the route corridor from your location to fleet home, and scores all matching loads. This typically takes 5–15 seconds.

Review Results

Your request appears in Open Backhaul Requests. Click a request card to open the full results view.

Open Backhaul Requests page showing active request cards

The Route Home Map shows the top 10 opportunities plotted along your corridor home. The red A marker is your datum point; the green B is fleet home. Numbered circles show pickup locations.

Route Home Map showing datum point, fleet home, and opportunity markers along the corridor

Below the map, opportunities are ranked by Customer Net Credit (highest first) with a full financial breakdown per load.

Backhaul results ranked list showing financial breakdown with Customer Share, Mileage Exp, Stop Exp, Fuel Surcharge, and Net

Customer Net Credit

Bottom-line benefit per load: carrier revenue share minus all OOR costs

Gross / $/mi

Total gross revenue from the load and revenue per mile

OOR Miles

Out-of-route miles added versus driving straight home

To Pickup

Miles from your datum point to the load's pickup location

⚠️ Results are estimates only. Always validate mileage figures with your own routing engine before committing to a load.

💡 Use Refresh Now in the top bar at any time to re-run the search against current load data. If auto-refresh is enabled, the countdown shows when the next automatic refresh will run.

Section 3

Creating an Estimate Request

An Estimate Request is a planning and proposal tool. Instead of searching for a specific live load, it projects the annual financial value of backhaul opportunities along a given route — useful for customer proposals, pricing negotiations, and fleet planning. The output is a formatted report you can print or save as a PDF.

Open the Estimate Request Form

From the navigation menu (☰ Menu), select Create Estimate Request.

Fill in the Request Details

Request Name *

A descriptive label for this estimate (e.g., Estimate Request 03/05/2026)

Datum Point *

The starting location for the return route. Enter city/state or ZIP (e.g., Charlotte, NC or 28036).

Select Fleet *

The fleet whose rate config will be used for all financial calculations

Equipment Available *

Start of the date window to search for available loads

Equipment Needed Back *

End of the date window — equipment must be home by this date

Annual Volume

Expected loads per year. Used to project annual revenue totals on the report (e.g., 52 for weekly, 120 for roughly weekly with some weeks doubled).

Minimum Net Credit

Only opportunities at or above this net credit per load are included in the report averages. Prevents low-value or negative loads from skewing results (e.g., $50 or $100).

Create Estimate Request form showing all fields including Annual Volume, Min Net Credit, Relay, and Create button

Relay Mode (Optional)

Enable Relay Request if the backhaul will be run by a relay driver. In relay mode, mileage is calculated as the relay driver's full round trip (home → pickup → delivery → home minus the deadhead), giving a more accurate cost picture for relay operations.

Submit and View the Report

Click + Create Estimate Request. HaulMonitor finds matching opportunities and generates the report. It's saved under Open Estimate Requests — click any card to open it.

Open Estimate Requests page showing saved estimate request cards with datum point, dates, annual volume, and min net credit

Reading the Estimate Report

The report shows three columns — Highest Net, Average (All), and Top 5 Average — across four metric groups. Only opportunities meeting your Minimum Net Credit threshold are included.

Customer Credit

Net Credit per Load

Bottom-line credit per load: carrier revenue share minus all OOR costs (miles, stops, FSC). Highlighted green on the best opportunity.

Annual Credit

Net Credit × Annual Volume — total projected yearly benefit to the customer

Route Activity

Carrier Miles (per load)

Out-of-route miles added per load versus driving straight home

Total Annual Mileage Add

Total additional miles driven across the full annual volume

Stops Added (per load)

Extra stops added per load — typically 2 (one pickup, one delivery)

Carrier Annual Revenue Components

Backhaul % Split

Annual revenue from your carrier percentage of gross load revenue

OOR Miles

Annual cost of out-of-route miles (miles × mileage rate × volume)

OOR Stops

Annual cost of additional stops (stops × stop rate × volume)

OOR Fuel Surcharge

Annual FSC on out-of-route miles (FSC rate × OOR miles × volume)

Total Carrier Revenue

Sum of all annual revenue components — the total financial impact of this backhaul lane

💡 Click Print / Save as PDF in the top bar to export the report. Use Edit Estimate Request to adjust dates, annual volume, or minimum net credit and regenerate at any time.