Why in God's name do so many brokers........

Discussion in 'Freight Broker Forum' started by Big Jay, Aug 6, 2013.

  1. Big Jay

    Big Jay Light Load Member

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    give you the rate you desire and then after a half hour you realize, hey wait a minute I still don't have the confirmation. You then call them and invariably there is a "glitch" in their email and it will come shortly. And then, you are busy trying to fill your other empty truck for tomorrow and another 20 minutes has passed and you still don't have the rate con........so you call them up and they tell you that they were just busy and they will send it right now....

    I know I got more than they wanted to pay, I get that, don't agree verbally to it with me if you are not going to fork over the goods. This is not a home run rate, a single at best but it puts me 13 miles from my house for some high priced Thursday freight and building a deck on Friday- Sunday for a friend.

    If I verbally commit, I will do it. This is not a bad brokerage outfit at all but this office has given me fits before. Rate con just showed up.
     
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  3. passingthru69

    passingthru69 Road Train Member

    They were shopping fr a cheaper trk.
    Then opps we lost the ld. or it canceled. Yea right. Just like the check is in the mail
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 7, 2013
    cetanediesel Thanks this.
  4. trees

    trees Road Train Member

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    In my experience email is better to use than fax, there's really no reason they can't shoot the email immediately. Sometimes they're just busy, and every now and then they're still shopping the load, but the better brokers won't do this.... it's been ages since I've called TQL, jus sayin...
     
    EverLuc Thanks this.
  5. Big Jay

    Big Jay Light Load Member

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    Been ages since I've shopped them as well. Was email. Was reminiscent of past dealings with TQL, however. Nah, I won't share the name but its likely many of you in the reefer industry have worked with them.

    It may have simply been a glitch.
     
    trees Thanks this.
  6. Big Jay

    Big Jay Light Load Member

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    litchfield, mn
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    And I should qualify myself as tired so perhaps this was bugging me more than usual. I trust these guys and it really doesn't happen often.
     
  7. windsmith

    windsmith Road Train Member

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    If I don't get the rate con by email within 5 minutes or so, I'll call and ask the broker for a short email confirming the load pending the actual rate contract. And I still continue to search for a better load until it shows up.
     
  8. SamTheMan

    SamTheMan Light Load Member

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    Sure is nice to have a couple of old school brokers whose word is gold.
     
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  9. dannythetrucker

    dannythetrucker Road Train Member

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    Yep, one of my peeves as well. One such broker put me off several times, I actually believed the guy that he was swamped, someone was out of the office, etc... I believed him but I still cancelled the load. I told him, "If it was good business to go off someone's word we wouldn't have ratesheets to begin with. If you're swamped that's all the more reason to quit taking calls and finalize the one load you have started on." It's the whole bird in the hand for two in the bush thing.
     
  10. 379exhd

    379exhd Road Train Member

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    That last one was pretty good lol.

    As for the crap with the rate confirmation I ask for both a scan and fax for the rate confirmation. If I'm set up you've got all of about 5 minutes before I call you back and ask where it is. I have pestered the hell out of a couple over getting them there quickly. I have dealines to make and need to get moving I don't have time to wait for you to dilly dally around looking for another truck that's going to undercut me.

    I'm surprised this isn't a TQL load. I avoid them like the plague...I light call them tomorrow for ##### and giggles though just to hear

    Dun dun dun"what rate would make that work for you". God I miss that...don't miss hearing I've got more than that in it after my rate is obviously in their opinion out of this world. If my rates out of this world walk your crap there!...as for the OP? Well you said you wouldn't say who it was but they broker a lot of reefer loads....soooooo guessing game begins
    CHR?
    CMA?
    Trans AM?
    GIX?
    Or possibly suntek?
    Idk I'm out of guesses was I even close?
     
    Big Jay Thanks this.
  11. BigBadBill

    BigBadBill Bullishly Optimistic

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    Last year we just dabbled in brokering to help cover customer freight. Mostly put it on friends trucks.

    But this year we are making a big push in this area. Main reasons being it allows us to get better direct and 3PL freight for out trucks (and we have to make sure with can cover a certain volume without becoming forced dispatch) and we are now running all of Covenants Expedite business.

    So I am seeing both sides and will say how stunned I am at the lack of service by many carriers. I think I will throw a party if we go a single day and have every truck show up on time. Honestly, the norm is not making pick-up OR delivery appointments WITH NO CALLS ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING.

    I can easily see how if it is a new broker that you are working with that they will not expect you to be a quality carrier.

    And on that note, build those relationships. Brokers will pay more for people they can rely on. But they don't know that from the first load. So impress them from the start.

    This is not an excuse response. Because regardless of the side of the fence I am on it is about service, period. This is more about education for some so that they can see what is happening on all sides and how you as a carrier/ O/O can make yourself more valuable.

    BTW, if it wasn't that brokering supported my core businesses I would never do it. There is not enough money for the headaches that are involved.
     
    Big Jay, rollin coal and RedForeman Thank this.
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