The overwhelming majority of truckers believe that freight brokers should have to disclose how much they’re making off of brokered loads. That’s according to a poll TruckersReport.com conducted back in May. Now the FMCSA is asking for truckers to officially weigh in and answer whether or not brokers should be required to automatically disclose financial details about their transactions to the drivers hauling the loads.
A great deal of anger has been directed toward freight brokers over the years. The anger only increased when freight levels tumbled thanks to COVID-19. Some truckers claimed that the circumstances only highlighted the problem with brokers – that they’ve been taking fairly priced loads, paying truckers starvation wages, and pocketing the rest.
In response to the anger, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association filed a request with the FMCSA asking for transparency concerning broker rates.
“OOIDA requests that FMCSA require property brokers to provide an electronic copy of each transaction record automatically within 48 hours after the contractual service has been completed, and prohibit explicitly brokers from including any provision in their contracts that requires a motor carrier to waive its rights to access the transaction records.”
FMCSA is now seriously considering the proposal and has asked for comments from the public.
You can view the proposal and make a comment on the federal register website.
Source: truckinginfo, overdrive, FMCSA
For all the time i was out there i was making less than minimum wage and gone from my family all week, barely making enough to get by and getting totally ripped off! These guys are sticking their hands in the pie when it should be mine! Crooks!
There should be cap on both parties.The rate from the shipper should be transparent to the carrier.in this hide and seek game in between brokers and carriers, customer always pay more for no reason and customer is not paying out of his pocket he simply raised the rate on the product to cover the extra cost of transportation so now general public has to pay for it.
Amen
Deregulation should be temporarily suspended. There isn’t any other solution. Competition has produced a musical chairs form of bankruptcy that has been “incorporated” as an acceptable and somewhat mundane business practice.
The unaccounted for debt in trucking and every other American business is then bundled and sold to other nations so they can back their empty currency with our empty currency. This has led to global militarization and unending low and mid-level conflict . The interest rate we are now paying to avoid a world war , is an undeclared world war. “A clever obscenity”
Unbelievably well said.
I’ll concede the deregulation but the other paragraph? Nah.
Wow, you went in! Great post
Man, that’s the truth. Not only with trucking, but so many other businesses: mortgage, pharmaceuticals and on and on.
As insane as that sounds, Royce is… right? I agree, at the very least.
Besides, you know how much drivers got paid back when trucking was Regulated by the government? If not, just know that it is way more than pay that private companies have forced everyone to work for since deregulation.
Absolutely I love to see the Rates , Tire for all those years the Broker make that money with out dealing with truck brakes Downs and high fuel prices plus others costs!
Yes I believe that brokers are making more money than the truckers hauling the loads. All they do is post the loads and will not tell you the actual rate. Someone needs to put laws into effect that require brokers to
tell drivers how much the brokers are making off of the load at hand.
heck they don’t tell us much of anything about the loads.
and they lie lie lie lie lie; especially those giggling female brokers.
we should get the full names of
Load Boards should show the following-
rates
shipper
receiver
address
photo/ directions into exact dock location
weight
exact cities
appx times to load/ unload and
much higher detention/ delay rates
If this info was added, many shippers and or receivers would be left wondering as to why they are finding it difficult to have their freight shipped.
The Broker, Shipper and Consignee currently have all the power. This must stop
The above info would also give the operator the opportunity to pass on certain b.s. shippers/ consignee’s who behave as if they are doing us a favor.
Frankly, they treat us like shiznit-
drop trailer or disconnect at locking Docks or
Driver must wait inside or
Driver must wear a safety hat/ eyewear… I HAVE NO TIME FIR THIS! Show me your dock, load me, and I can get the heck on.
Keep the government out of trucking.
You must be one of those slimey brokers?
No, the government gave us elds, mandatory 30 min breaks, and stupid hos.
I don’t want more government in trucking, because they make things worse.
You need to decide what you need to make and refuse anything less, that’s how capitalism works.
You don ‘t mind the government forcing me to use the dam ELD, but when it comes to transparency issues like this, you want to keep them out. Like Josh said, you must be one of those slime balls.
No, the government gave us elds, mandatory 30 min breaks, and stupid hos.
I don’t want more government in trucking, because they make things worse.
You need to decide what you need to make and refuse anything less, that’s how capitalism works.
Royce’s comments are pretty much to the point and insightful.
In addition that any brokers whether logistics/load broker (within a trucking company and including rhe company itself should be mandated to disclose a formal copy of the invoice charged for the load so O/O’s are able to see if there’s any skimming going on.
Been one of my complaints fer years.
Absolutely, I’m an owner operator with my own Authority and I have never run for a broker. WHY? because why should I give my hard earned paycheck to someone setting behind a desk in a leather chair in an air conditioned office driving a BMW or Mercedes and I’m doing all the work, carrying all the responsibility, paying the overpriced insurance, treated like s#%t, staying away from home and family, driving a $3000 truck, and paying what little I do get to all the government and made up entities that you are required to pay.
I haul for two companies that has never used no one but brokers. One day I walked in their office, introduced myself, told them a little about myself, explained what I am doing and what I can offer them. My rate is $3.86 a mile for non tarp step deck loads. Both companies jerked my arm off and literally told me that was way way cheaper than they have ever paid using a broker. Also they liked knowing who was coming to their business and hauling their product. It creates a good relationship between the shipper and what becomes kinda like family with the driver. Both companies after hauling for them have given me keys to access their gated facilities and have even given me more money on some loads because the broker has a roller coaster of prices and stipulations, I only have $3.86 per mile period. Doesn’t change which they like and they know exactly what to expect. In fact with the fixed rate there able to tell their customers to the penny what it’s going to cost without talking to me. To take it a step further they have been able to accommodate their customers by dropping their shipping rates from the high broker rates. It’s a win win solution for everyone involved not to use brokers.
I know I’m going to get back lash on the facts about what I wrote especially from the broker world but it’s not just fact, it’s the truth.
I did the same and have never looked back.
Mr. T and Billy Jones are dead on. I was company guy for 22yrs, walked away. O/O for 5 yrs now and building on the INFORMATION THATS INFRONT OF YOU. Open your eyes lady’s and gentleman. Your played by brokers because of the lack of education information you dont have. Federal stats have the info. Every 3yrs its put into play. Avg rate since 2018 worked to be 2.23p/m. That is doubled when a rate is accepted by customer you haul for. You have your own numbers p/m. We are all different pending on geographic home locations. I use A broker to rip them off. I dont accept less then 3.50 p/m to haul. Have you seen some of their rates un 3rd qrtr. Brokers are getting the picture, some are. KEEP TRUCKING AND COMPLAINING LOL
Am a ex-diesel mechanic turned driver for past 5 yrs,only pulled for 2 different brokers.1st one paided no less then $2.00 a mile,but amounts to $0 when he side stepped and disappeared owing me $15,000 with a wife dying with cancer that I had health insurance to be covered to continue treatment and he knew this!Special place in hell for him I can only hope! 2nd-Made anywhere from 1.20-1.80 a mile till I decided to park it because of pandemic + racial tensions and anything unfair happening from drivers being pulled from their trucks and unit stolen to being shot at and when they defend themselves,the driver ends up on losing end w/ a record! Am getting off track,but after reading your post,I have never felt as close to moving closer to getting my own authority,it’s the insurance that scares me,but anyway,thank you Mr T and Billy Jones.Be safe guys!
Excellent job Mr. T. I did the same. Just hit my customer with 4
p/m. They excepted because of bad service and increasing rates from brokers cause broker cant find trucks to move loads. I LOVE IT
Lady told me she was using brokers for her freight, cause they were cheaper. Her freight still sits on the dock today. SORRY DEAR
I know some brokers in the past that kept saying that they were making such amount when the reality was different, way different, and now if by law they are required to attach proof of what they make they will find a way to proof something different to keep getting the money they hide, until they get an audit, sometimes I haul hay, they were making 1700.00 for each load, when the truck is getting 650.00, is not fair.
Well, they picked up a phone and made the deal. All you’re doing is driving an entire day with your specialized Commercial Driver’s License, potentially risking your life hundreds of miles from home
Why shouldn’t they get 2/3’s of the money? (sarcasm)
Brokers are necessary, but in the last decade, brokers have turned into an organized Mafia organization. Price fixing, hidden fee, undisclosed profits, etc… Their uncontrolled & unregulated greed has every O/O and every Mom&Pop trucking company by the short hairs with their ‘protection’ racket.
“Be a shame if you couldn’t find a load to where you need to go, wouldn’t it? It would be really sad if something bad were to happen your company, right? So I think when you consider what COULD happen, $650 isn’t such a bad price after all, capisce?”
It is very fair. You agreed to haul the load. Stop crying and go to work
Broker or company boy?
Sounds good except you need to add fuel based on 5.5 mpg to cover fluctuating fuel prices and def.
Remember when Wal-Mart cut out the middle man? That’s what brokers are. For some it is the only option. I, on the other hand, would like to see more companies recruit an o/o to consistently haul at a consistent rate.
Everyone would benefit, except the brokers. Brokers been to take notice. Start paying a better rate or suffer the backlash from an entrepreneurial
American workforce.
Nope I am on owner Op an if the doesnt pay what I think it worth i dont move it. I really dont care what a broker makes an he doesnt care what I make
As far as more federal regulation, tread lightly. It’s easier to tighten a knot of regulation than it is to loosen.
There needs to be a discussion about the broker industry and ways to ensure that there are fair practices in place for both sides. For now, the broker generally has the upper hand while the driver is forced to accept the outcome with no meaningful recourse.
Yes
They are nothing more that glorified booking agents. There cut should be based on what they bring the carrier. If they want more for themselves, it should be because they brought more money to the carrier, not stealing it from the carrier. I think their should be a cap put on their pay. 10%-12% tops and they can do like they’ve been making us do: Live within your means!
So you want a cap put on someone else’s pay, correct? That same cap should be applied to your pay. It needs to be capped also
🤣🤣🤣 Yep, people just dont understand how business works.
Go ahead and cap me. What drivers make now would often be illegal under Federal labor law, if we weren’t misclassified as contractors, or if the Department of Labor were willing to enforce the laws already on the books.
If I could count on brokers to make the same amount that I do, then my pay goes up, they go broke with me, or they get out of the business. Any of those solutions would suit me fine.
Let’s see how brokers like making less than minimum wage…
No. I think that owner operators need to become smarter business ppl. Too many of o/ops burry themselves in debt. Then they have to accept poor loads to “make their payments”. Then, 10 years down the road when they are as broke as when they started it’s time to start looking for someone to blame for their wasted years, brokers are an easy target. What about the tens of thousands and thousands paid in interest to the banks on equipment loans?? No one complains about that?? I know it’s hard to accept, but the answer to most all industry hurdles is to get out of debt. You’ll become a beast that can’t be contained by anything! Just imagine it for a sec….
Shumunush, i couldnt agree more lol. Debt goes away you see your future more clearly. Thats the carrot that us jackasses see at the beginning and forget in the middle. Oooooh whatta feeling it is to be debt free.
Yep. Let’s all start out rich. That’s practical…
If you are suggesting that lease amd lending companies should be regulated, as well; I’m with ya, but there are already laws againt predatory lending, and no enforcement.
It’s easy to blame the prey, but predators know how to pick the most vulnerable members of the herd, and regulation is supposed to exist to protect the vulnerable – not the predators. Funny, how easily that gets turned around – first in our legal system, and then in our minds…
All rates from service providers, including brokers, should be transparent.
Brokers should be near the top of the list though.
Be careful though, those companies and their rich powerful CEO’s will get the “Free Market Capitalism” screamers all riled up. If you push on this, you will be going up against just about every other conservative who isn’t in trucking.
So lets make it happen, and don’t get scared, don’t shut up, don’t stop pushing when Tucker, Rush, Hannity, Shapiro, etc start fighting against our interests. They will try every spin and excuse in the book to make sure we don’t cut into the profits of the rich Mega-Brokers, who donate heavily to Republican candidates.
Freight rates are the wave that washes over almost every decision being made in our industry. Artificially inflating them hurts all of us, and many of our customers as well.
I agree, to say this whole topic is out of control is an understatement!
These brokers need their wings clipped!
Sorry to say, why’s it going to change now ? I don’t see many decade’s of sleezy lowlifes behavior changing. The majority of truckers are to afraid to park their rigs!!!
The majority of truckers don’t own their rigs. Parking them just means that we import more people from Cameroon to drice them, tomorrow. They won’t stay parked, just because we parked them. There are always more trucks, and more desperate people willing to try driving them, in the vain hope that it will improve their lot in life. There is always someone whose life is bad enough that trucking looks good by comparison, and if there isn’t, there is always a way to make people’s lives worse. Doing so isn’t even difficult, expensive, or time-consuming.
No wonder all the old owner operators are quitting it is sad
I’m not really sure how all of this got started. If a shipper contacts a broker, and those two entities come to an agreement, that the broker will get the shippers freight moved, and in return, the shipper will pay the broker “x”.
Now the broker posts the load, and says it will pay “y”. At that point, its between the broker and the carrier. If the carrier wants to negotiate the payout, that’s their prerogative. If the broker has a bare minimum amount they’ll payout, that’s the brokers decision. If the carrier doesn’t want to move the freight for that amount, the carrier walks away.
Forcing brokers to be “transparent”, or only allowing them to make a certain percentage, isn’t fair to the broker. Would a trucking company, with direct call customers, discuss what they charge those customers, with other trucking companies… or even brokers?
I own a trucking company as well as a brokerage. On average the brokerage make 100$ on a load. Now I have to pay for office space, salaries, office supplies, health insurance, insurance for the company and many more expenses. So when all is said and done I might make 20 bucks off a load. Additionally my brokers and knocking on doors to get more loads. Now some brokerages ie Tql will rape you on the rate. Anyone who asks what my brokerage makes off the load will be told because I am required to disclose the rates to truckers. All of you bitching about brokers need to understand that it takes a lot of time and money to setup a brokerage and run one. So stop being lazy and pickup your phone and start finding loads from shippers and cut out the broker. But we all know you won’t because your lazy.
Sure is nice that your employees get employer-paid health insurance. Is anyone working in that office, right now? I bet they’re all working from home… So are you still buying their office supplies? Those pencils must be breaking your back…
Call us lazy if you like, but we’re out here day and night, moving your freight. You mae three phone calls, post to a load board, and send out an invoice. Don’t break a sweat, man!
They should be regulated like the rest of us yes let’s see how much they make off our loads
Why all the controversy?
A real estate broker is required to show how much they are making on a property transaction. Why should brokering a freight shipment be any different.
I have said for a long time. The full rate needs to be printed on the contract prior to booking. Then let the carrier and broker negotiate a fair price for their services.
I know what it cost to haul a load from A to B. The broker only considers the cost of fuel and drivers pay, and we all know that there is a lot of other factors to be considered in the rate.
Absolutely, there needs to be clear cut laws that prevent surendering your rights, and unlimited stiff penaltie’s for breaking the rules, including suspension of authority for repeated offenses.
Stop letting the brokers rob you blind just to do them a favor and let them pocket all they can with no accountability. You have to end the break even mentality.
Yes, Brokers should be fully transparent because they are ” middle ” people without Equipment & Employees usually bidding on loads and basically selling them to drivers or smaller companies.
Load Boards at Truck Stops or Online are evidence of this.
Just ask them, If no answer ask a manager.
It ain’t just the brokers making money its also the logistical trucking companies. Loads are double brokered and by the time it gets down to the driver so many have taken from it that it doesn’t leave him anything. Companies always have a way of keeping pay low and are able to do whatever they want to the driver. Drivers have no legal defense.
Hell yes, brokers are taking more than their fair share, and holding loads later to try to get them moved cheaper. Instead of posting a fair rate and booking faster. The other thing, any one sighned onto a large carrier where the carrier also does the brokerage , will low ball their own owner operators and keep the profits, and still want a percentage from the owner operators. Places like J B hunt and others should not be able to operate brokerages beyond their own fleets, leaving freight they don’t have the capacity to move to brokerages that do not have truck fleets.
This is a great idea and it needs to become law and enforce it. We work entirely too hard just to barely make a living .I have been driving over 13 years and mileage pay for the majority is $2 per mile or less. No sustainable pay increase in 13 plus years
Keep government out of it.
We can set the rates, if people would quit taking loads for nothing they would have to pay to move the load. I don’t care what they make if I’m happy with the rate I’m getting
We can set the rates, if people would quit taking loads for nothing they would have to pay to move the load. It’s none of my business what they make. If the load doesn’t pay what you want for it don’t take it
What I dont like is they won’t tell you what company your picking up at.Then when you find out your picking up or delivering at a sorry place,if you try to fall off load they have the right to blackmail your company.We need to blackmail their brokerage firm!!!
blackball dad gum auto correct
Someone correct me if I got this wrong. My understanding is that with transparency I’ll get to know how much the broker charged the customer after I book the load, and deliver it. So how is that going to do any good for me? Unless I do the same load again and ask for more based on what they’ve been charging, it won’t do me any good. I say they need to be upfront, also let the carrier know about the declared value of the shipment, because they load your truck with high value cargo, and buy gap insurance for $50-100 to cover the load in addition to your insurance. I always ask about it, but they play dumb, and say “Oh, I don’t know” Most of the time They won’t even tell what the commodity is, or they tell you “Consumer’s goods”. Good luck with that. Crooks.
100% agreed. You need to know before you agree to haul the load. Their playing against the drivers intelligence. Some drivers got it and some need to park it
You better know we won’t Transparency … who doesn’t want to know when they’re getting screwed
I would think that, one needs to have what it cost to operate . After knowing that, you could make better decision about whether the next load will turn a profit or not. If you can’t make a profit, let someone else do it, I would think it’s better to let the other truck loose money than me. Better yet, tell the broker he needs to buy a truck and do the load himself!
O/O’s need to be damn good at selling their service to a customer or a broker to be profitable. Best way is to get your own clients, sell yourself like a professional. Not like a whining company guy. Be true to yourself about what you can do and how much you WILL do it for
These brokers are everywhere, just like cockroaches. They wanted an enclosed car carrier from Atlanta, Ga to Miami Florida for a cool $500.00. Thanks but dont need the money that bad. Last I checked car was still sitting in Atlanta. Have fun you brokers. Value my time and expertise to help put food on your table.
When we post screenshots of what we have in loads you don’t believe it. And regulation right now would be totally awesome considering how bad drivers are gouging the market.
To be fair, during the big covid shutdown, o had brokers offering me .60 to .80 cents per mile, who told me take it or leave it and laughed about it, so yeah, we’re trying to get out of the hole we were buried in when you thought it was funny.
Regulated freight rates are the only way to keep it honest in trucking this broker rates are out of hand and only made brokers rich off the hard working American driver out here during the China sickness, and blm riots ,making it harder to make a living with drivers wages stagnet over several decades they only want to pay minimum wages ,instead of a salary in place of cents per mile loads and percentage pay rates
To be fair, during the big covid shutdown, I had brokers offering me .60 to .80 cents per mile, who told me take it or leave it and laughed about it, so yeah, we’re trying to get out of the hole we were buried in when you thought it was funny.
Didn’t mean to post that twice…🤓
To prove my point working directly for companies and not brokers. I am loaded right now with 7000 pounds which is less than a half load on my step deck trailer. I’m taking it from North Georgia to Toledo Ohio. The load is paying $2,450.00 One day up and one day back. As mentioned in my earlier post, I am much much cheaper than a broker. That’s why this company uses me as much as they can. Actually they called me in the other day and wanted to see if there was some way I could cover all their loads because they still broker loads I can’t cover. A broker would never come anywhere close to paying that amount. They would consider it an LTL and pay 5 or 6 hundred dollars. That sounds to me like there pocketing more than 10 or 12 percent. More like 2 grand. This is why I don’t haul for brokers, never have, and probably never will.
Oh the games that get played…Trump flooded the market with $19 billion of farmer/ranchers bailout to hand out for free (farmers to family food box program) I’d imagine that’s what’s killing load pay.,. forget about making money in trucking, especially reefer, those days are over
They always take from the top then give you the rate. I have caught them several times, but what can you do. Not all, but a lot of them have no morals and think its ok what there doing. That’s why you have so many truckers struggling, because of simple greed.
A truck is not a business
A truck driver is not a business
All you drivers that can’t make it in the world of business people , go get a government job or a job as an employee and let the pros do business. This is cultural Marxism , I’m not happy so someone else has to take care of me. Grow up people and learn to be responsible.