Why do we as an industry keep using this nasty word. At the end of the day it is just a ploy by customers to keep the rate down.
There is no such thing as a backload it is always an important job for somebody.
nothing to do with customers, a backload is obviously what you fetch back, a “backload rate” is what you get paid once half a dozen hangers on have took their cut out of the job! the customer is still paying the same money!
theres two or three operating at the mo who seem to be going for world dominance the way they are carrying on, approaching companies who use a lot of haulage, “forget what your paying now, we’ll do em for x amount” then splashing the loads all over the truck mags and the net, some have fell for it some have told em where to get off, realising that these setups don’t actually have any wagons and in reality don’t know if they can cover one load, let alone twenty!
i was offered a load last week, corus scunthorpe to cardiff, played along with it until i heard the rate 
oh how we laughed!
did the same job this week all but direct, it payed £150 more than i was offered 
thats a big lump of money out of something thats only going 200 mile down the road!
i’ve had a gut full of the lot of em, if i ever had a choice of going back to working for forwarders or packing in, i’d put the wagon n trailer up for sale the same day.
could not agree more, the only time i ever use a forwarder is for a first load to a new destination. then once i,ve picked the load up i just go direct to the customer and do it for them, cut out the middle man altogether