Please Explain This To Me

You really have no idea. Raking it in maybe. Hopefully faster than everyone else from you, to the repair shop, fuel, tires, insurance, every level of government, and so on, rakes it out.

Again, quite telling about your opinion of our job. Maybe you talk with too many company drivers. This audience do that and run a business just like you at the same time.

How about you try running your brokerage from the cab of a truck. When you feel like resting or stretching, mosey on back to the 7,000 square inch bedroom office and relax. But not for too long as you might need to move your office to another city or answer the phone or invoice a customer, or solve a driver's problem, or negotiate with a repair shop by phone or in person, or whatever. 24x7 of course, just like how you do it now. Only your working hours shift daily. It's ok though, you'll get to sleep in between calls and driving, legal hours of course. Need to take a leak? Sorry no broker bathrooms here. Grab another bottle and don't forget a tissue so you don't dribble on the bed. Gotta poop? Ruh-roh scooby. Better eat some crackers to slow that mudslide while you look for the next exit with enough room to park your office and hopefully a place to sit that isn't too disgusting. Don't forget to bring your phone with you too, you don't want to miss any calls. Need to see a doctor or dentist? Good luck with that. Hopefully the ones you use will take walk ins and not make you wait all day while you run your business from their lobby.

For what? Not being ugly here. Just trying to understand what all you have to pay for that is uncollectible. Not including the routine things that ought to be pass-thru stuff like lumpers, pallets, and so on, unless agreed otherwise in the rate confirmation.

^^^ THIS ^^^

Keyword is "capital." We both have cash invested to be in business. We buy trucks and you lease an office and pay for a bond. Both have to hustle for business one load at a time.

On the other hand, how much are you really invested day to day? Again, not being nasty. Enlighten me please. Brokers don't pay until they get paid as a rule. Maybe you float some accessorials, so that's something. I wouldn't count quick pays or advances since you charge for that and it's not really a part of the core deal.

Let's take a $2,000 regional run. You front $300 lumper fee on a bad day at a union warehouse. Meanwhile, I'm paying $500 fuel, $500 driver, along with any and all breakdowns along the way. All of which get paid "right now," without any consideration of when I'll get paid. Might need to go on a toll road, that's on me. Truck stop may charge for parking since I'm in late, that's on me.

When was the last time your $50,000 office chair popped a steer tire, tore off a fender, and needed to be towed into a shop for a week of downtime and repair? Or needed a rebuild on the lift cylinder for $25,000 and three weeks shut down in the shop? Paid on delivery of course - no 30 days to pay terms at any shop I've ever been to. Meanwhile your revenue drops to zero for the duration, so reach for that piggy bank when they call you to the service desk.

Don't forget, you need to pre-trip that chair every time you sit down in it. If you don't, the police could come by and write you a stack of safety violations for that wobbly wheel and threadbare armrest, making you less appealing to carriers since you're an "unsafe operator." For heaven's sake! If you reached for two calls at once you could fall out of that unsafe chair and crush an innocent puppy.

Maybe a little overdramatic. Tell me again what makes running a brokerage such an expensive and difficult daily operation? That raking in the dough impression goes both ways, friend. You shag a lot of calls with difficult people. I do less of that, but while also doing a zillion other things to make crap move from point A to B, while everyone else's hand but mine is in my wallet.

 

Yep the auto fill on my cell got me there, that's supposed to say shipper.

 

No-one is nickel and diming you. The rate was agreed to by both parties based on the info given. Your bonus is getting the POD a day early. You're asking for money back if a carrier manages to get the load delivered a day early and it costs you ZERO if they lose a day on the load? It makes no sense. Is this how you deal with carriers? How much trouble do you have covering loads in a tight market? I know brokers who wouldn't dream of such shenanigans who always have trucks when guys like you are getting bent over a barrel. You have what risks here exactly? You pay for fuel, insurance, and maintinence on equipment? Your life/livelyhood is at risk from clicking a mouse to move that load on down the road? The only risk you really have is losing a customer because you can't find decent carriers to cover some cheap freight. Pretty obvious you've never seen the inside of a truck cab before. I met a broker at a shipper a few days ago, one that I've moved freight for on occasion. He didn't have a driver in one of his trucks and what do you know.... ....he was actually driving the truck himself. Got a little respect from me on that one.

 

I've been doing this for almost 40 years. What hard conversations? I agree on the detention/late truck,less stops,ect issue. And i know about early delivery fines. We won't even try to reset an appointment on those. I just see someone wanting to reduce the rate for making a different delivery appointment rather petty. Do like some and have in the rate confirmation a 150.00 charge to re-schedule. Then there is no argument about it.

For miles/stops,if you have 5 stops around Chicago and it changes to 4,i would expect a 100.00 drop in the rate.

If you had stops in Denver,Des Moines and Chicago and they don't ship Chicago then you eat it. If they wanted to end up in Des Moines that's what they would have looked for,not Chicago. Happens to all of us.(doesn't hurt to ask but i wouldn't argue it)

If you're shipping full loads,exclusive use,then list it at a higher weight.(come on,produce is max volume/weight) Expecting someone to change the rate for less money if it's lighter(exclusive use) is ridiculous. If you're selling it as LTL that's a different story.

You're going to have good and bad ones(carriers and loads) Take it all in stride.

 

rollin, I think what he is saying is if he spends 3 hours getting the appointment moved up a day, he expects a reduction in rate. basically the same thing as if I show up for a no tarp load, that needs tarped one I arrive at shipper. extra work isn't free. if I have to work harder, I expect to be compensated, if he has to put in extra work he wants compensated. I'm not gonna bust my ### for three hours for free, why should we expect the broker to?

 

that pretty much sums it up Redforeman