Using audience filters to protect your bench

The four filters on a Dispo job post

• ZIP-prefix match (automatic) — only haulers whose service areas include your location ZIP prefix will be notified.
• Required credentials — any combination of EPA, TCEQ, RRC, ISN, Avetta, USCG, OSRO, and/or minimum insurance limit.
• Favorites only — limit the bid audience to haulers you've previously starred.
• Specialty capabilities (component-level) — ship-to-shore, stainless code, acid handling, bilingual driver, etc.

Playbook: recurring jobs

For a job you run every week (say, the spent-caustic purge from our case study):

• Start broad, narrow over time. Post job #1 with just required creds (ISN + $5M insurance). See who bids. Over a few weeks, favorite the haulers who bid well and run clean.
• Switch to favorites-only once you have 4+ favorites. You'll save bid-review time and still see competitive pricing from haulers you already trust.
• Pin the audience filter on the saved waste stream template (future feature — coming soon) so every re-post inherits it.

Playbook: emergency / short-notice jobs

When the clock is tight (see the ship-to-shore case), you want bigger audience, tighter capabilities:

• Don't set favorites-only — you want the universe of qualified haulers, not just the ones you know.
• Do set specialty capabilities that actually matter (USCG + ship-to-shore). Better to get one bid from a qualified hauler than five from haulers you'll have to screen out.
• If required-cred filtering returns zero bids within an hour, relax one filter (e.g., drop insurance from $10M to $5M) and re-post.

Common mistakes

• Over-filtering. Requiring every possible credential cuts your bid count. If you haven't had trouble with ISN-only haulers historically, don't also require Avetta. Start with what you actually enforce.
• Favorites-only too early. If you've only favorited one hauler, favorites-only = that one hauler bidding. Defeats the point.
• Specialty capabilities as a stand-in for credentials. “Ship-to-shore” is a capability; “USCG certified” is a credential. Post as the credential if that's what you actually need on paper.