And so it begins...

Well, I got the job with the small freight brokering company. It's a very small, very new operation. 4 people so far including the owners and it's only about two months old. They seem like extremely nice folks, well spoken and educated. The owners from what I understand have not been in this particular industry but seem to be very intelligent folks. They have a friend helping them get the business going who is supposedly a very experienced freight broker. He's certainly a very nice guy and is going to work with me.

I want to make sure I don't screw up and am looking for any tips and advice I can get to get myself going. I know once I really find a groove with this that I should be fine, it's just this initial beginner stage that worries me. Basically from what I see, freight brokering is like telemarketing except less evil and with less rip offs. You're actually offering a legitimate service, but from what I also see people tend to take you about like a telemarketer. Some day I want to be extremely successful at this, making well into the triple digits, but for now I just want to make enough to pay my bills which are actually quite low. I believe if I can bring home about $2,000 a month I can live just fine for awhile.

What are some do's and don't? Some pointers? I've watched a lot of videos on youtube, some seem completely stupid and you can tell some of these people have never been in a truck before. It actually brought me to the point of laughter a few times, shaking my head. I think having been a trucker for a couple of years will really help me relate to the drivers and the shippers. I've done customer service AND cold calling in my past lives before trucking, so I know how to talk to people on the phone. The nice thing about the company I'm working for is that I basically just have to set the load up and keep tabs on it, while the owner and his wife do most of the paperwork (sending off the packets of information via e-mail, etc). They are licensed, bonded, insured and all of that. Again, really nice folks. I just want to make sure I make friends out there in the industry, not enemies.

Any help or advice is appreciated. Here goes nothing!

 

Yes, I definitely want to be respectful and courteous. I notice a lot of people who do this TREAT IT like telemarketing, like they are instantly there just to sell you something. I want to call up and make people feel like yes, I'm a businessman looking for money, but I'm here to help you get what you need as well and that we can negotiate to make us both happy and a bit richer at the end of the day.

 

From what I see the employment agreement is pretty short, just one page and nothing about me being liable for anything. Just the usual "We can fire you, you can leave, at any time, any type of sexual harassment lawsuit etc will be handled by blah blah" type stuff. It also states my compensation will be 30%, is that pretty good working for a small brokerage starting out? Again, I'm just hoping to make barely enough to live off of for awhile.

 

I don't believe I quite follow, Baha.

 

Oh I see, and thank you very much. From what I understand they're going to be doing just about everything aside from Intermodal and Drayage.