Why ,and How this rate

Just refuse it, don't take those kind of loads.
Let that broker learn a lesson.
Without a sacrifice, we'll not be able to change a system.
There're a trucking companies who's not qualified to take a good paying loads, because they have old and bad equipment, problems with DOT, and late appointments and damaged loads puts them "do not use" in the broker's system.
That's why, they have to take those cheap loads in order to survive.

 

I just pulled this load up on ITS. You'll be happy to know the bid is now $800, which while still low is double the original quote. looks like it needs to sit for one more day to get on par with the average.

 

It's sold at $800 lol

 

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astanbrough said: ↑
Taking the load for that rate isnt directly the broker's fault, no... but offering garbage when you can pay a reasonable rate is a pretty crappy move and definitely won't make a good name for yourself over time. To each his own I suppose..

Then Broker Bob answered with

It's basic negotiation 101... I am going make money on a load. I will try to make the most that I can, but I won't offer an amount that is asinine either. But if the carrier takes my first offer, thats on them.​

Broker Bob, Dec 15, 2015 at 3:48 PM #14

THIS RIGHT HERE IS THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM BETWEEN BROKERS AND DRIVERS IN MY OPINION.
Broker Bob's attitude is that it's just negotiation 101 but that is severely flawed when the two parties are not negotiating on a level playing field. You see, Broker Bob already knows the full amount that the shipper is paying but the Trucker does not. Only Broker Bob knows what is actually being negotiated, the Trucker does not. He just has to guess.
The Broker gets to know how much the Trucker will get paid on any particular job, but the Trucker doesn't get to know what the Broker makes on that same job.
That's not a negotiation, that's a game of who's the better liar. It does nothing but breed dishonesty and distrust.

What should be getting negotiated (in my opinion) is not the rate to the Trucker per se, but the percentage of the shippers load fee that the Broker gets to keep for his part of the delivery service. That would be a fair negotiation on a level playing field. A good Broker making more money than his peers will be the one who can negotiate higher rates from the shippers and can present his case better to the Trucker to earn a higher percentage cut, not the one who is dealing dishonestly due to insider information.
You get caught on Wall Street, trading on insider information, you can go to jail. Similar rules should apply to freight brokers as well. A free and open(information) market is what makes capitalism work. What a lot of these Brokers are doing is fraud. It is NOT free market capitalism. They're basically Main Street insider traders and the Trucker is the sheep to be fleeced (in their eyes).

Oh, and this is not specifically pointed at Broker Bob, I don't even know the guy, so nothing personal Bob, this is about brokers in general.

My question is,
What are the arguments against regulation making it mandatory for the broker to provide the full shippers rate prior to any acceptance or negotiation of a load?

 

But say broker bob has a contract with his customer for a set amount of money. RIGHT now broker bob may be able to manipulate, however what happens when the demand for trucks goes through the roof, and we as carriers, or drivers demand more than the amount of money that broker bob is getting? Only reason were doing it, is cause we know the balls in our hands now. Brokers lose money on loads as well. Big brokers will step in and "lower the price" to a customer when the trucks don't have a high demand, and they'll take those lanes from a smaller more fair broker. Once the demand jumps up for truck, they'll just dump the customer, unless they pay more now. I think it's the customers that are playing a dumb game, where brokers basically sell them a "saving", which is temporary, and then they go to paying a lot again.

However, yeah there should be a regulation that requires all parties involved to know what the shipper is paying before any acceptance, but I think they would find a way around that. "Bonuses" are always nice.

 

So, do "brokers" have a place of business or do they work from home in their pjs?

 

Carriers have the legal right to know what the shipper is paying. It is in the regs, but i am too lazy right now to lookup cite the regulation. A carrier can set an appointment to visit me in my office and I will disclose the rate to the carrier with backing documentation during the office visit. I am not required by law or regulation to disclose it verbally, email, fax or snail mail during the negotiation of a load.

 

Hey you only need a phone, computer and hi-speed internet!!!! I prefer a robe and slippers. At lunch I go to the country club before a round of golf in the afternoon....

 

I know that, even the shipper must say if it came down to it. However would you really want to work with that carrier in the future?

I for one, I have amount I need or want for a specific job. If I need $5,000 on a 2,000 mile load for example, I don't care if the shipper pays me that directly, or a broker got $10,000 from shipper, but gave me my $5,000. You get the service you wanted for the price I wanted. So if you made more than me, I can't be mad. If you had $6,000 but didn't want to give me my $5,000, and tried to pressure me into $3,800, I would politely tell you that I can't. I'll keep looking what fits me, and you'll keep looking for a carrier that might want to do that $3,800 or less, or maybe you throw on another $200-$500. But if that carrier is happy with it, so be it. However, we are both taking a risk at certain times where my truck may wish I accepted that $3,800, or you may wish you accepted that $5,000 because now you got stuck with a guy demanding $6,200 cause another guy might have fell off. That's just a risk however. It doesn't mean that I need to know what the shipper is paying. I think if you're a leased owner operator you should legally always know what the broker is paying to the carrier, since some carriers like to take off the top, before their percentage kicks in just to keep guys driving to get by.

As far as the broker goes, let's say we work together. I might have a direct customer, and I will take your load to that direct customer for 1.60/mile while everyone wants 2.50/mile and you have 2.60/mile. However, tomorrow you need me to take a load somewhere where I don't have anything coming out, I am going to charge you what I would charge a direct customer. You may not agree to it, but it doesn't mean we should hate each other or go digging through financial files. There are a lot of messed up brokers, but I also know from a carrier side, we aren't any better. Soon as markets heat up with produce we demand money, threaten to leave shippers, and so on. That's not very professional or "less greedy" either.

 

I completely agree with you on this. I was on the carrier side of this equation as an independent until very recently. But my lower back and 3 disks had other ideas.....