Question for Brokers " What do brokers consider a fair rate per mile for freight?"

Assuming you got paid what you consider to be a fair rate why do you care what the broker makes? I'm still not sure how this is an important data point for you. If your argument is that brokerage profit margins are too high, I disagree until someone finds a cheaper way of getting the brokerage role filled.

I generally take more than 15% of the load on stuff that requires a ton of arrangement or a ton of risk (or both). My profit margin for last year was 13.8%... A number I really couldn't care less about. That doesn't mean you wouldn't be super offended by my margins on some loads. Read the WTF? thread in the Reefer subforum for my explanations of what high margin freight actually is and why it happens.

 

I'd also like to make sure you realize that the equivalent job title for most successful freight brokers is 'director of transportation' for some mid tier 300+ employee company. It pays 100k a year+ and it has much better benefits and vacation time than my current position. (My boss is a huge ###-hole who hasn't let me take a real vacation in years!)

Because that's what a successful freight broker does. They take freight from the customer and make sure it gets moved. Very similar actually to what in house logistics people do. Big companies cut out the brokerages by hiring their own logistics people like me so that they can use their own in house cost of capital (they don't want to pay the part of my markup that is borrowing the money for 30+ days before they pay), and their own accounting department. The guy who fills my role makes similar money to what I do or he gets a job more like mine. Obviously they mostly gross less than me, but they make up for it with job security, consistency of freight (makes it less work), and benefits like being able to take a vacation and a really purty slave collar.

I'm sure you can tell how I feel about being an employee lol. Yes I have control issues.

 

Good for you. As long as you are paying me what I am looking for then we playing but if not I don't care the F what you take on others or me. I know I will never do business with anyone that is not paying me what I want for a load. I don't take loads and ##### all day about it. Any load I take is fair enough and care less what the broker makes after I have taken the load.

 

That's not what you've been posting this entire thread... Because you blame brokers for you being in markets that don't pay what you want to get paid.

 

Then it's a misunderstanding between us or I might not have expressed myself well at the start.

 

Mike Allah: what's the load?
Bored Social: 70 miles pays $700 delivers tomorrow morning.
Mike Allah: #@&+$&!!! Broker!! I'll take it but I won't like it.
Bored Social (on phone): where are you?
Allah: I just left the shipper why?
Bored Social: delivery is now 500 miles not 70. I'll pay you an extra $300.
Allah: Really? WOW what a great deal!!

LMAO

 

You have to remember my point here is you your whole day and probably more for $700 when you could have been making more by doing a load going 500 miles paying more and don't have to waste your day.. Usually brokers won't usually pay you $700 for a 70 mile run, that would happen once in a blue moon. Usually they would wanna pay you $300 to $500 for such runs which I see as a waste of you time unless they are a straight through runs. If you followed everything I said you will notice I didn't say I wouldn't do such a load if it were a straight through run. Thanks

 

Fair enough. Forums are like this lol. You have to be very careful how you word things or people will tear you apart. I've been posting on sites like this for years, which is why I've got it down to a science

 

Rates depend on season, capacity, and ultimately experience, I know when I make a rate I make the rate at what the truck will move it for, not what is the cheapest I can get the 100th caller on my load to do it for. Because no matter how great my quote is doesn't matter if you A. can't get the load covered or B. have to go back to the customer for more money (they tend to hate that). So for me as a broker of almost 10 years its about getting the strongest quote not worrying about being the cheapest. Now with that being said know your customers if you know a sales person is tight then make that small percentage, if its a new customer make that small percentage, if a sales person that you can make that money make that money, but first make sure you can move that load

 

I actually always equated brokers more with mortgage brokers than realtors or property managers....