After deciding to go independent and saving enough money to do so, the questions came to my mind, "How was I going to get work now?" and “Where am I going to run?” Some people go into this with contacts for freight already in their back pocket, which I did have, just that none of 
them would have given me any consistency in loads. The question also came to mind, "What type of equipment did I want to pull?" I have had experience on many different types of trailers, but was not quite sure on what type I would use to make my living.
When looking at the factors that went into my decision, there were several key elements that led me to want to continue pulling locally in a dry van. Flatbed and reefer rates can be very alluring here in California. With an ample amount of cold storage facilities and the “hot” prices during the produce harvest season in California's Central Valley, I can admit it was very tempting to choose one of those two trailer types. The added equipment and maintenance is something all together in its own with each of those specialties though. I could've easily done both of those and remained quite close to home, which was one of my major deciding factors going into deciding how and what I would haul.
Being that most of the experience I have locally was either pulling around pneumatic trailers with powdered cement or pulling dry vans, I knew the rates and lanes for these types of hauling the best. Since pneumatic hauling requires specialized equipment including the installation of a blower on the truck, my tractor seemed best suited at this time to continue pulling around the dry freight I had become accustomed to pulling 
around in containers and dry vans. I figured at this time it would be best for me to stick with what I know and just do it better than the rest! I decided to stick with swimming in the pond that I knew well enough, 
instead of spreading myself all over the place trying to find work, leaving me more vulnerable to becoming a fish out of water! In this mindset, local SoCal work is what I decided to pursue, rather than trying to make turns to Vegas, Fresno, or Arizona. This also left me with less of a chance of having to layover without freight to backhaul home, or even worse, having to deadhead back empty. Choosing to go with interstate apportioned plates would allow me to have that option to spread myself out a bit, should the need arise.
Being that my previous experiences were either as a company driver or as a leased-on owner-operator, I had to figure out for myself now where the freight was going to come from. Over the years I have spent much time scouring a few of the smaller load boards to see what the rates were like around my operating area, even though I couldn't haul any of the freight because I was tied to a carrier by an exclusivity contract. This of course did not give me the whole spectrum of freight rates for what I do, but allowed a snapshot view into what some of the brokers were willing to pay to get there freight hauled by an independent.
In general, a large amount of the freight on these boards has already had several people take their cut off the top, before it ever even gets to the driver. It was in considering that knowledge that decided it best to look around for either direct freight or finding loads through a steady broker that handled direct freight. Both posed an immediate challenge, as getting your foot in the door with direct freight usually takes a lot of work building trust and brokers usually do not want to work with someone that has brand new authority. After scouring the Internet and making a bunch of calls weeks prior to my authority becoming finalized, I was fortunate enough to make a connection with a broker that was looking at taking on a couple more dependable independent owner-operators for hauling his freight. Being that I get to haul direct for him means there is still some “meat” on the loads, which leaves me ample room for rate negotiations in the pursuit of a fair amount of profit.
The path I took to decide what and where to haul is only one of many ways to do so. There is no proven method or a definite “wrong” or “right” way to figure it all out. Nothing truer can be said about this issue than that you will ultimately decide what works best for you based on your desired lifestyle and will have to conduct more industry research than you ever thought possible! The Internet can be an invaluable tool in this process with the use of tools such as load boards to develop an understanding of rates, social media groups within the industry to make contacts, and standard industry classification (SIC) codes for your desired operating area to help find direct customers. There's plenty of freight out there to make a good living hauling it as an independent. Deciding if you are going to haul intrastate or interstate, as well as your desired lanes and type of equipment to be used is ultimately all up to you in the end. After all, you’re the shot-caller now!