Shippers don't need brokers?

Because that would make too much gosh darn sense...

Brokers, they are the epitome of "Middle Man".

 

Because as a Broker for small shippers, you become the shipping department. You coordinate the pickup, track the movement and verify delivery. If they are large enough to have there own shipping department, then they do not need you. It is all about the service you provide.

 

The shipper isn't giving up anything. It comes out of the rate and what the carrier receives. One reason shippers use brokers is to cut payroll. Another is that many are just lazy. They can make 10 or 20 calls to find trucks direct or make a couple of calls to brokers and let them find the trucks.

 

That's right. If a shipper can move loads for $1500 and a broker tells them he can get them covered for $1200 the shipper might say OK. Highly doubt any shipper will agree to paying the broker $1800.....unless the shipper decides to outsource their entire shipping department.

In my experience a load can be covered in minutes just by posting it on DAT.

 

I have had some shippers tell me that they don't want to deal with all the phone calls and paperwork to get so many carriers set up. Basically, they are told me that their people are too lazy to do the job.

 

They hire a broker for the same reason you hire a CPA to do your taxes... it's not a matter of laziness, it's a matter of wanting to concentrate on your core business. And NOT deal with a major hassle that can be better dealt with by someone who specializes in it.

 

That was an excellent answer.

 

You also get the added benefit of having brokers competing with each other to provide you with the cheapest shipping costs, and for general commodity stuff this is just what the shipper is usually looking for...