broker-group-ceo-warns-full-transparency-will-put-3pls-owner-operators-out-of-business

Lol at the first comment after the story .... “Limit the broker to 10 or 15% of the load”. Some people just don’t get it.

Interesting article. Seems to mirror what many of us have been warning about. I’ve said over and over that anyone with direct customers doesn’t want this transparency crap and that it would hurt everyone industry wide. Contracted rates become public knowledge and it will be all downhill from there. Brokers go away and the big guys get bigger.

Also found the statement interesting that maybe the truckers should disclose their costs if they want everything else out in the open. Couple days out of the protest and that’s already coming up. Those guys have no idea what they’re dragging all us into. And it’s not going to end well unless you’re a mega carrier. But hey, when we’re all driving company trucks for someone at least we will know what the shipper paid to have the load moved.

 

Thier biggest argument is that shippers require non-disclosure agreements. Ok, thats fine and dandy... Pass the non-disclosure on to the Carrier. Then the carrier can be informed of all the money that changed hands, and how much the broker made... And thereby knows if he's getting screwed or not. But he can't tell anyone else, under penalty of law. Sounds like a pretty easy fix to me.

 

Because when there are multimillion dollar contracts at stake all a competitor would need is one trucker to get the info they need.

What if your carrier’s contracts were suddenly all out in the open? And everyone knew what you guys were hauling for? What a lot of us are warning against is that this will spread. If rates have to be disclosed it will affect all of us.

 

And what I gathered from the article is that if this becomes too big of a headache because of o/o’s and brokers the big shippers will just contract with the megas and cut everyone out. Which means a lot more trucks fighting for a lot less loads on the spot market, which will also drive rates down. Then who will they blame?

 

I completely understand... But people already know what shippers are paying... Every broker out there knows. So what the hell difference does it make if carriers know???

Whether carriers AND broker know, or just brokers know... The risk of that information getting out is still there. Put a very harsh punishment behind that non-disclosure agreement (like forfeiting your MC number, and thereby your business) and no one is going to disclose that info.

 

Broker:
-Thats all I got in it
Carrier:

 

Broker: this is gonna be bad for TRUCKERS, not us.

Truckers: he must be telling the truth. We have to stop this, and continue being blind in negotiations. He seems like an honest guy I can negotiate with.

 

"Specifically, she mentioned Werner, US Xpress, and J.B. Hunt as some of the likely winners in such a scenario."

This is the last line, and most importantly line (in my mind) in the article. The big companies are just going to sit back and wait. Do companies tell company drivers what they get for each load?

 

And once your MC is forfeited for that reason then make it so you’re not eligible to ever file for a new one. I can get behind that idea.

 

It seems like the big shippers are already starting on that path of dealing with bigger companies for a multitude or reasons, even outside of this sudden desire for transparency