Mega brokers:TQL, Landstar,XPO, ETC….

Not sure why you think most O/O say no to mega brokers. I use almost all of em and I know many here that do too. Personally I hate TQL and Landstar but I run spot dry van and there is good money in dealing with mega brokers a lot of the time. Timing, place and knowing one's lanes is a lot more important than worrying about the broker so much. Big brokers have a lot of advantages, cheap quickpays (I don't factor) and automated software are two that make a difference.

YMMV.

 

I think my distribution of bookings amongst the first 4 is pretty equal but if I were to guess, the frequency goes like this.
1. XPO
2. COYOTE
3. CH ROBINSON
4. JB HUNT
5. UBER FREIGHT
6. CONVOY
7. SCHNEIDER
that's the whole set. That's how I've been making a living for the last 2 years. I like the simplified decision making wit the megas because with those smaller brokers I tend to overthink and be under undue stress.
Besides, I relatively quickly gave up on looking for so called relationships, I find them overrated big time, at least with a dry van on the spot market.

 

Smaller brokers can be a better way to go.
Maybe it takes someone with better relationship building skills. I think that a dry van freight is a domain not too fertile for such a growth due to abundance of freight and its random characteristic.

The downside is that you will always feel the heat first when rates are crushing, and be the last to see them going up.
I still take less stress and simplicity over a little bit more money. The very fact that I don't have to go through those carrier broker agreements crazy paragraphs and stipulations any more is quite a reason too.

 

Of course, the biggest question here, is how much money I am leaving on the table by exclusively working with megas...that's something difficult to determine.
Because again, had I had such a good experience with smaller brokers before...I sure would rather have stuck to them up to this day.
The most important thing is, what I do works for me when it stops, I'll make a change.

 

We do some mega broker loads but for the most part we have a good relationship with a few smaller brokers that keep us busy. If your gonna run the same areas hook up with brokers that have freight in the area. If you provide good service they'll be calling you for loads

 

I am thinking that's the way to go if you want find relationships. Shorter runs mean more repetitiveness, so chances are better that you can hook up with the same brokers. I just like 500-700 mile runs because they seem to maximize the revenue per day more efficiently, they come with more randomnes, however.

 

I agree joe. Our operation is completely different running in the same small radius. You have a way bigger area compared to what we cover. I know you've had very good luck staying mostly with the big brokers.

 

The best paying loads, IMO, come from REDACTED. They always pay the best. I mostly stick to my lanes from REDACTED to REDACTED and mostly use the mega broker REDACTED. Sometimes I use smaller brokers like REDACTED. It took me a long time to develop the relationships I have with REDACTED and get them to pay me great rates such as REDACTED bucks a mile.

Hope that helps!