How are Brokers NOT to blame?

I’d definitely come up there just for the drive. You gonna pay a $8800 TONU if I come up there and don’t haul your stuff?

 

You say the shipper is who pays, so they set the rate? Is that right? How did the shipper come up with their rate? I didn’t know they figured all that out…I thought that was the brokers job. I thought shippers used historical data to budget how much transportation cost would be.

Wait…if shippers set their price and that’s that, what if nobody moves their stuff for the price they want? Did they set the rate? Or did a carrier? Or, was the broker?

Also, I only work with brokers. I don’t run enough to have a customer.

 

One of these days when/if I figure out flatbed rates, I will be sure to share! It took me this #### long to figure out van rates...was hoping I could spare someone else the agony of crunching numbers. I need to take all this data I have and make an Internet Calculator for rates. Then noobs could enter their zip codes and be given a viable rate.

 

This is scary.

I was literally posting a reply to REO about this exact same thing...go read my post right after yours BUT we were typing at the same time. Weird.

To answer all your questions, NO - I have no service that I offer nor have I offered anything for any money. The signature is tongue in cheek because of the crap I keep getting about rate transparency for carriers. I really think the adults owe it to the younger hands an example of how to conduct business professionally. That directly translates into collaboration.

IF I share my rates (that nobody has truly offered constructive criticism yet) I'm doing so to help others. I know that if you do better, and Joe does better, and noobs do better, and newbs do better - we all get to benefit from that. I'm honestly just trying to offer something of value to the conversation.

 

Shippers ask carriers for rates? Is that how they determine what they expect?

Hmmmm...I wonder what would happen IF carriers that shared their rates sent in more "average" rates? It's just a hypothesis.

Would that mean carriers could expect more $$ overall, if the averages went up?

Hmmm...no...because brokers. And they are necessary, and not all, evil.

A shipper could be paying $100 a mile because that's what the RFQ data determined and who's going to advertise it for $1? A broker.

I'm not against brokers... I don't have direct customers. Why put the load out there for $1?

Because they know someone will offer them $2.50 and negotiate down to $2 and they'll feel like they got a deal because they can make their car payment this week as their scrapping turds from a bucket at a rest area at 2 in the afternoon in PA. Seriously...who hasn't peed in their truck before, but geez. They have to get so many miles and stay on the move constantly...I feel bad for drivers.

BUT, what if these low-balling, turd scrapping, (enter whatever your choice of inflammatory rhetoric here), and duct tape embossed drivers had a resource to show what they could be making... I think they would start raising their rates. That would in turn raise my rates. It would keep the shippers satisfied because they would know what carriers would move products for and could keep their budgets more in tune. The only people that would get squeezed by shared rates is the broker. If carriers weren't accepting low rates and shippers knew better what was being paid (hence the rule that brokers are "supposed" to share the rate - but they don't [trying to back door you into thinking you can sign away rights granted by the government {they aren't above the government}]) Did I get all those brackets closed?

Anyways...let them eat cake?