On the first call, a shipper is checking five things: your lanes, your equipment, your insurance, your rates, and whether others trust you. None of the questions are tricks. If you have plain, honest answers ready for each one, the call feels easy on both sides.
"Where do you run, and where are you based?"
This is almost always the first question. The shipper is matching your map to their freight. If your home ground and your regular lanes line up with where their loads go, the rest of the call has a point.
Answer with your base and your honest running area: "I am based near Columbus. I run Ohio, Indiana, and down to Kentucky and Tennessee most weeks, and I am looking for freight back toward home on Fridays."
Notice what that answer does. It names real places. It hints at a backhaul need the shipper may be able to fill. And it does not claim you run all 48 states when you do not. Shippers can smell a vague answer. A true, narrow answer beats a big, fuzzy one, because they can picture your truck on their lane.
If their lane is outside your area, say so straight: "That is outside where I run well, so I would not be your best fit for it." That honesty often earns you a call later for the lane that does fit.
"What equipment do you run?"
Here they need facts, not pride. Trailer type, length, and any limits matter: dry van or reefer, swing doors or roll door, whether you carry straps, load bars, or a pallet jack.
Keep it short and exact: "One 53-foot dry van, swing doors, air ride. I carry straps and load bars. No liftgate on the trailer." If you run a reefer, add the temp range you can hold and whether you can run frozen.
Also name what you cannot do, before they find out at the dock. If your trailer cannot take tall freight, cannot load from the side, or has a weight limit below the legal max due to a heavy tractor, say it on the call. A limit shared early is a small thing. A limit found at pickup is a failed load.
One truck is not a weakness in this answer. Many shippers like knowing the owner is the driver. Say "I own it and I drive it" with pride, and move on.
"What insurance do you carry?"
Expect this question early, and expect a follow-up asking you to send proof. The shipper wants your liability and cargo limits, and wants to know they are current.
A strong answer is short: "$1 million liability, $100,000 cargo, both current. I can have my agent send the certificate to you today, with your name listed on it if you need that."
That last part is gold. Offering the certificate before they have to chase it tells them your office work is in order. Make sure the offer is true — that your agent's number is in your phone and you really can get it sent the same day.
If your limits are lower than what they need for a load, do not bluff and do not get defensive. Say what you carry, ask what the load needs, and let the numbers decide. There will be other loads.
"What are your rates?"
This question scares many drivers, because it feels like a trap. It is not. The shipper is testing whether you know your costs and can quote a clean, steady number.
If you know the lane, quote it plainly, per load, with what is included: "For Columbus to Nashville I am at $950 all in, fuel included. That covers one pickup and one delivery, with two free hours at each end."
If you do not know the lane yet, do not invent a number on the spot. Say: "Let me look at the miles and my costs tonight and I will have you a firm quote by morning." Then keep that promise to the hour. A quote given careful and kept beats a fast quote you later try to raise.
Never answer with "What are you paying?" as your first move, and never promise to beat any other carrier by a set amount. Both make you sound like you do not know your own business — and your business is exactly what they are buying.
"Who else have you hauled for?"
References are the shipper's shortcut to trust. They want to hear that other businesses have loaded your truck and would do it again.
If you have regular shippers or repeat broker loads, name the kind of freight and how long you have hauled it: "I have run auto parts out of Ohio for the same shipper for about a year, twice a week." Ask your best regulars ahead of time if you may share their name and number, and keep two or three ready.
If you are just starting out direct, say so without shame: "Most of my work so far has been board freight, so I do not have direct references yet. That is why I am happy to start with one load and earn the second." Many shipping leads started somewhere too. An honest start plus an offer to prove it on one load is a strong answer.
Do not invent names. One made-up reference ends more deals than no reference at all.
The short version
Shippers ask about lanes, equipment, insurance, rates, and references to answer one question: can I trust this carrier? Give short, true answers, offer your insurance proof fast, and quote only numbers you can stand behind. That is the whole call.