Mega brokers:TQL, Landstar,XPO, ETC….

No. No. No.

He gets it.

 

Consistancy there you won't find.
They're first to cut rates when they smell blood.
Better to ask which brokers are consistent at all.

 

Can't speak for most, but we prefer having a small fleet or 1 off that will pull a lane dedicated for our customer consistently for eternity.

My company brokers our freight and sometimes will have to take brokered freight to get a driver back into the lane.

Pick lanes you like and watch the spot market rates. They should be consistent. The only time they would spike high is if a driver fell off and its a panic to get the load covered.

Once you have your list of companies, be prepared to negotiate rates as well as how often the rates will be revisited. Also discuss how and the terms of payment will be. Some pay net 30 or even longer, while others will do ACH deposits weekly.

If the megas use McLeod, then they can add you to their PNN list. This would give you a head start to open loads that haven't hit the spot board yet.

 

No. I have not. Most, if not all of those megas had you acknowledged a non solicitation clause.
I personally wouldn't be judgmental of what someone thinks of it but I said it in case you didn't know.

 

fancy pants dispatching software.

 

What type of trailer are you using?
Maybe you are right to try it. Some solo o/o here take honor in cutting the brokers out. But most of them who said something about it here were open deck or reefer operators.
I would also be interested to know experiences of going for direct shippers with a van trailer. I think it works a little different but then why would it have to be different, especially with smaller shippers?