Rates/Shipping quote

Hi, Sammy, did you become a broker by completing one of those online courses?

 

Hooooo boyyyyy....

 

If I told you that I wanted to open an Italian restaurant, but that I have zero experience in the business. Would you suggest that I go online and do a little bit of research on how to make lasagna?

I'm really curious what your online research to start your own brokerage entailed.

 

Your best paying freight will eventually come from relationships that take years to build. Shippers pay higher rates for reliability and on time delivery, but it takes a lot of time and investment to prove the value. Office visits, breakfast meetings, lunch meetings, baseball games, football tailgates are all things you do to spend time with people making the decision to ship using your freight service and pay for the reliability.

If you are just bidding you are likely the check price. The guy with the relationship will get a call with your price and all the other bidders prices and then get a chance to match or pass. The other thing they will get is the chance to say there is no way freight will move at that price, trust me. When the loads sit and the deadline passes guess what goes up? Your status as trustworthy goes up.

Before you dismiss this as too costly or time consuming and go back to battling for low rates with TQL and the other Super Brokers, remember that the carrier invested a lot of money and risk in the truck and trailer. If we want great business partners then we should be willing to risk at least the same amount of money over time to build our broker side. Brokers are supposed to be carrier allies and partners. That is the core idea of the business.

l am by no means saying it is easy to balance out. Right now we have a number of higher paying load contracts because we have invested in solid shipper relationships.. Our challenge is on the carrier side.

 

Why sure the hard part is developing relationships with carriers...Why?

Because asset based carriers do What you are already doing..But Want no Middle Party involved..

Also- The Days of the 'Dog and Pony' Shows are pretty much gone.....Shippers/Buyers Don't want to "hear it".. They want relationships Developed Right Now With Service and Value.....

Many Brokerages Do Not have Capacity Themselves......Many Shippers Can get 'nervous' about that.....Especially Newer entrant Brokers.

Me Personally, I Choose To do the extra work involved and the Risk by Handling 85% of my Business directly with my Customers (No Middle party)...... Yes,I Have Slow Pay and Such.....But The Relationships are far more rewarding than the Latter.

Early in my career as a carrier.....I Used to use Brokers almost exclusively..........

The Extra Work Building Relationships with my Customers Completely Outshines Ever working with another 3pl again...Yes,At Times I'll Need a broker Load, But I don't rely on it.

Not only has my annual Revenues Increased By 30%.......But more importantly, I Feel a Sence of Accomplishment When My Truck is Servicing a Customer Without Fail..

 

I agree with you 100%

The focus of our business is those carriers like you said, early in their carrier career using brokers exclusively, or that occasional broker load for the more experienced.

The value a broker should bring is that we can load a carrier truck tomorrow while they work on building their own shipper book of business for next month.

The best carriers will outgrow the need for broker loads.