Brokers decode this for me please

So - Asset based means they also have trucks. Agent model is basically you're running your book under their MC, with their logistical backing. Some of them let you hire people to support your operations. You give them a percentage for the name, insurance, support, etc.

As far as bottom feeders- it can be hard to weed them out, short of actually talking to them. I'd avoid anything that smells like start up, or has huge promises. It's also worth looking at their pay models. Do they pay percentage in commission, and if so- what does that look like? Is it a fixed salary? Half and half? Ask what their sales/margins look like. You can generally get a pretty good idea of how healthy of a company they are based on that. And if they don't tell you about that, then that's a thing to be concerned with.

Bottom line, it's pretty similar to taking any other job. Google reviews can tell you a lot, and if you've got questions, ping me here.

 

Be very VERY careful about going to a broker!

They ALL are going to want you to have a contact list (or "book of sales") before you come in. That is your value to a brokerage firm, your contacts and relationships already established with a customer base, and your reputation.

HOWEVER!! A shady, or somewhat less than honest brokerage house, is gonna flat out steal that list, destroy YOUR reputation, and leave you on the street to starve if possible. And good luck separating the good from the bad.

My recommendation: Look into being a load planner or dispatcher for a good, well established carrier with their own customers. I did it with Builders Transportation for a while, and boy howdy was it an eye opening experience about how Operations works! Plus, it was nice working as part of a team to keep the trucks moving rather than the cutthroat, dog eat dog world of being a broker.

Besides, working as a broker won't really give you any experience or knowledge for running your own carrier. There's a lot more than just finding loads to being a trucking company. Time in office working with a successful Operations team, however, will give you an unprecedented look at how all the different pieces fit and work together.

 

I don't think that them requiring you to have a book is a scheme.

There are businesses that are like that that for you to be hired you need to have a book. It's not exactly the same but even in hair dressing hairdressers get hired because they have a book of people they bring business into the salon.

And that's really the idea of it is that you have a book of people so you go to work somewhere and you make them money and you make money with them. Your book grows, their clientele grows, and everyone makes money together. Those are your people and only you deal with them. And even if they don't pay their bill for some reason or something like that you go deal with it.

I'm sure that if you were to sign up with someone that there would be agreements and paperwork to sign to make sure that your customers would stay your own customers. If you work anywhere reputable I don't think that is an issue.

Really if you go to work somewhere and you don't have any business to bring with you, they are basically taking a chance on you because you are unproven. You really have no value to them at that point.

No one is stopping you from getting your broker authority if that's what you want. I don't know what the insurance cost is aside from the bond, but you're going to end up doing basically the same thing anyway. Spending 6 months to year chasing down all kinds of people that are probably mostly going to say no to begin to have an income.

It's like trucking. It's not mandatory to work for someone else. It is usually better to watch how someone else runs their business and you can learn the ropes, but it's not mandatory.

 

They want you to bring your customers, but will want you to sign a 1 year non compete agreement so you can’t work as a broker for a year

 

Well you can call it a scheme or not a scheme,but once go to work for them you have your own book you sign a four or five page contract that puts a fence around you and you will not leave there with your book ever. you just become one of the herd after a while. They entice small brokers who may not have enough cash on hand to come to work for them. but when you leave you will leave with nothing.

 

It's pretty common that brokers that are hiring for experience want you to bring your own book. But you can tell how some will treat you, and it, versus others.