Load Boards

Just a little input from a dispatcher/broker agent hope it helps.
I dispatched for many years for a large trucking company, thus ended up being required to be a broker agent also. I’m very much the driver advocate always felt you guys work far to hard and deserve so much better than what you’re dealt on rates. I now independently dispatch for just a selected few drivers so by experience I offer this.

Load boards as far as rates posted for loads are insignificant. What is important, is your ability to negotiate and the strength of knowledge about the broker, shipper and the load. Can you shoot from the hip...you need to. If it is posted on internet truck stop by Broker A at $2000 for a load and Broker B has the same load offering it for $2500, it’s not rocket science guys. Knowledge and time are your weaponry, not being afraid to shoot from the hip and know when to walk away straight up can and will bring broker A as well as broker B up on that rate. It is that brokers responsibility to get that shipper to give him more money for “you” Broker A is a jerk and Broker B is trying just a little harder.
It’s your job to make both of them do their job. Their job is taking care of you and if they’re not why bother let the ignorant buck bud take the load and move on.

Load board rates are not written in stone, it’s a control thing a game, the game is called “waste my time” so I can get desperate and play your game”. It’s why you see so many loads posted with no rates on them. I never understood that and when I call to check on a load for one of my drivers and there is no rate posted on the load that broker or shipper is immediately on my sh…t list. I have drivers needing to move and take care of their families, wanting to get home to their world outside of that truck. So show me the money and get over yourself, stop kissing that shippers butt, cuz they are not the only game in town.
Back to the load board dilemma, there are very expensive ones, I have probably used all of them including DAT, Internet Truck Stop, Get Loaded. I also use the free load boards, my own sources and Brokerage company load boards. The only difference from one to the other is information and tools, like regional rates, factoring information, Pintac, mileage calculators, etc. Frankly guys this is stuff you should know already or have access too freely. Sure some have more loads then others, I’d say as far as loads are concerned DAT, Internet Truck Stop and Get loaded are good sources, however those same loads can be found on the cheaper load boards as well as the free ones. You just have to consider how much time you have to search them, make the calls; my calls are over 100 per day that’s only my outgoing calls. Decide that you can and will fight for the rate (don’t be a jerk negotiate) do what you can to increase your knowledge base and find the wisdom to know when it’s time to stop the talk and take the walk on a load. In my years in the field I don’t get it. When will the driver learn that if you look for a crappy rate it’s what you shall find. Know where you’re going or you will never get there. Happy New year and Be Safe out there.

 

Can anyone comment on using shipperspoint.com recently? I've been using CH with fairly good results, but I'm looking to try new directions.

 

Are there brokers for a person that may want to use a cargo van and trailer? I have done some reserch but when I spoke with these so called "brokers" they seemed weird. Like they were a scam. Before I got a CDL I tried using a extended cargo van with a 16' trailer. Sounded promising but then I got spooked. People were saying it's good because you don't have to deal with things commercial trucks deal with such as logs, amount of time you can drive, inspections or weight etc...

 

The carrier business is a marketplace where the prices of freight are like the jagged saw of the Wall Street stock market indices. Bargain for the highest price the broker will give you. Prices get higher in the afternoon as brokers are forced to call carriers to get loads moving. Prices get low when brokers are besieged by carriers looking for a particular type of load.

The only difference in the marketplace is while Wall Street is regulated by the FEC (hard to believe, right? Given the 2007 meltdown), truck brokers are barely regulated at all. Whereas carriers are required to keep a minimum of $750,000 liability insurance, DOT broker Bonds are only $10,000- to get into the game. And, produce loads--some of the highest paying--highest risk loads in the business, are completely exempt from even this pitiful bond coverage because the 1937 laws governing the business gave farmers special status to bring their produce from farm into the city. Considering the huge value of some deliveries, and the coast to coast delivery of produce, this regulation seems a little inadequate, Don't you think?

A lot of brokers come and go, pretending to be carriers to the original broker, double-brokering the load(s) to another carrier(s), getting the BOLs to collect payment, and then leaving behind a multiple of actual carriers empty handed and in debt for the fuel and equipment layout. These scam artists rarely get thrown into jail. The original broker distances himself from his own ineptitude for hiring a scam artist because the actual carrier had no written contract directly with him. And, of course, the customer claims the same, or offers a paltry sum bearing no relationship to the market prices.

Market forces do keep brokers from going hog wild in terms of profit margins because brokers do compete with each other for customers and trucks. But, while bank, insurance, and securities broker commissions and fees are in many cases made transparent BY LAW (even if it's fine print), there is no such transparency whatsoever in the truck brokering business. Brokers are trained in group seminars to lie, failing to tell you of unanticipated carrier expenses--like lumper fees--then claiming they're making not one nickel on the load, when in fact their commission is as high as the carrier who is actually busting his butt to deliver the load load with his own meager equipment.

To those who love the free market system as I do, I say that the broker margins should be stated directly on the BOL, so that carriers, company drivers, and anyone else whose eyes really aren't so glued to the load board as they are to the road ahead, have some frame of reference to provide safe delivery.

Brokers do serve a purpose bringing together customers and carriers within the marketplace, but their wages, like the carriers ought to be determined by a transparent market system, not some kind of deceitful, three-card-Charlie, shell game between themselves, the customers, and the carriers.

In addition, to ensure carriers are able to do their business without fear of going broke for loss of payment, actual brokers should be legally be bonded for EVERY load and responsible to absorb whatever fraud is put on the load. They can chase the bad guys better than the carriers, given their computer links inside the brick and mortar office. In reality, these bonds are a type of insurance which even small brokers can certainly calculate the risk, since fraud is indeed a marginal problem that can be controlled by honest professional brokers determined to keep the marketplace under-control.

Meanwhile, for the carrier, the name of the game is to put the truck into a hot zone where there's a shortage of your type of trailer, then bravely demand at the highest price possible to deliver that load into a known dead zone far away where there trailers getting empty. The rationale is clear for the broker why you deserve to get paid so much--he has no other choice. Then when MT, either take the cheap and heavy load to cover fuel expenses, or deadhead the hell out of the dead zone and into a region where freight prices aren't a rip-off. The seasons, the regions, holidays, and many other factors are considerations for the carrier seeking the highest freight price, but much is based upon the carrier's understanding of the marketplace and the broker with whom he is bargaining with.

I'm not a gambler, but there's some excitement in this process. I use both Get Loaded.com and Internet Truckstop, and then keep CHRobinson's free load board handy on my iPhone, laptop in the truck, etc. After dealing with a small broker who gave me a long haul, high priced, load payable in 30 days, I'll P/U a shorter run cheap and heavy ChR load quick payable in 48 hours. I do this to balance out risk and ensure cash flow.

I like Get Loaded.com's iPhone app, which is pretty capable even where the broadband signal is weak, and I like it's user friendly layout at the regular website. ITS's isn't programmed as well for smart phone screen sizes, but it does seem to be a more active load board. ITS refresh rate is more reliable than Get Loaded, which sometimes leaves one looking at loads long assigned to carriers. When in a hot zone, I post my truck on all the load boards, and I wait patiently, like a fisherman with a bobber, waiting for the desperate voice of a broker who really needs me. When I'm in a dead zone, I have to browse the lists and call brokers, which is a real hassle. Sometimes good loads disappear from the load boards so quickly that I need the brick n mortar help of a lady dispatcher who I use occasionally to back up my own browsing efforts.

Now, I know a lot of guys like the drop and hook business, or some kind of predictable monotone of dedicated lane franchises like Landstar doles out. But, keep in mind that though these lists appear to resemble "load boards" or "marketplaces" they really aren't. The load price has long since been determined, and the market forces are very feeble. Any marketplace feeling is really only a feeding frenzy among truckers for the release of known good loads. But the wage rate has been chopped down to size by Landstar brokers determined to make more money than you.

 

The common thread regarding in these posts about brokers: (1) resentment of the "middleman" making a profit that is not within the scope of approval of the carrier and (2) the perception of "late" payment.

There are "bad" customers and from time to time all businesses must fire a customer. We wish we didn't, but that is the reality.

(1) As for what someone else is making - - Stop wasting your energy - focus positive energy on what your business is making and on that which you can control. As a business person, if you agree to deliver a service at a particular price it is your responsibility, no one else's. So, get over what someone else's profit margin may be. You are in a highly competitive market and what you offer is a commodity. Therefore, your service is price driven. The only other thing you have to offer differently from other carriers is yourself and your service attitude. The shipper doesn't care if Werner, JB Hunt, Tommy Trucker, or you delivers the goods so long as the freight gets there in tact and on time. What they care about beyond that is PEACE OF MIND. Deliver peace of mind, not just freight, and you'll succeed. They want to be confident they can turn the load over to the carrier and forget about it knowing it will get there in tact and on time, everytime. They care about the personal relationship (the smile, the positive attitude, the help with difficult situations that may arise.) And the carrier that delivers that added value will get the freight direct from the shipper. Its a relationship business and relationships take time to develop. Brokers fill the void for carriers who can't develop accounts themselves or with staff.

(2) The "late payment" issue - ALL businesses have a strategy to collect as fast as they can for cash flow while at the same time delaying payment as long as they can. This strategy is even discussed at the college level business and accounting courses and as part of the top CPA exam preparation courses. Recognize that as a business owner who extends credit you will have to carry the debt sometimes for a while longer than that which was agreed upon. 45 days is nothing - after that I'd start invoicing and escalating the urgency of the situation up to the 90 day level (if I wanted to keep the account) After 90 days I'd turn it over to an outside collection ageny and let them do the dirty work for me while I move on down the road and make money. Accept the fact that losses happen in business and have a plan to deal with the losses without having a thermal nuclear corinary over it. At the same time there is tremendous benefit and potential over being an employee.

 

Well this is a spin. When dealing with shippers that because of volume need to work with brokers, for the most part they are looking for brokers that will make sure the load is covered by a responsible carrier. They are willing to pay for that service.

What is happening with some brokers is that because they are taking such a huge cut they are getting poor quality carriers, have trouble getting loads covered until the last minute when they raise the rate and are not providing the service they are being paid for.

So, sure, they want what you are saying but many brokers are not providing that. They are looking for anybody that will take the load as cheap as possible and don’t care about what happens once the load is booked. And that goes against what the shipper is looking for.

I applaud brokers that want my insurance to be at a certain rating, my MC to have been active for a period of time, look at my safety rating, ask for references. They are the ones that are working towards getting a load covered with someone that can and will provide safe and reliable service to the shipper.

But I have never had the low ball broker ask about anything safety or quality related from me. Just a song and dance about what they have been paying, don't have much room, blah, blah, blah.

There are plenty of brokers taking 10-15% for the work they are doing and making good money. I have talked to enough that have been around the business long enough to have learned that the ones taking 50% are chasing fires, always looking to replace accounts they loose and going out of business for one reason or another.

How many of these types of brokers would have the accounts they have if they had to tell the shipper what they are paying to cover the load? One of several things would happen. The shipper that has been at this awhile would move the business because they understand the problems that come with cheap freight. Or they would look to lower the rate they are paying broker. Or they would bring it in house because they could pay someone to do the work.

So don’t come on here and tell us to be happy with what we get, doing our jobs with a positive attitude will solve the problem and brokers aren’t the problem, they are the solution. Brokers are needed but so are ethics. And when a new broker is trained to be unethical you will continue to have these issues.
I for one will continue to tell shippers what the broker is offering me every chance I get. Most are surprised at what the cut is. And I am happy to take the angry call telling me they will never use me again. Fine, hope they lose the account.

 

I would not promote Landstar here because they are very absusive of thier power of being big, and talk to the carriers and drivers as if they are providing you food for free, not because of your services. They have listed loads way below market and looking for the carriers who might be in hurting sittuation so that they can absue the power. I have a recording from Landstar Rep in around Dallas area who is telling me that the rates are $1400 to New Jersey or North East from Tx and that was after the Fuel hike ($3.83/gal). It is about 1550 miles on this run and tolls as well.

 

I have not hauled a load for Landstar for less than $2/mile with the exception of one load to get back to home for a DOT audit. I get emails with load details, including rate, based on area I am looking for load. Sure, I see a lot of rates I will not touch but also have plenty of loads at good rates.

I have dealt with a few bad LS agents but that has been rare. Maybe it is because I am not calling on the load that is posted at $1.50/mile. What is good about LS is that the load gets posted with a fixed percent taken based on the what they are getting.

As far as the LS loads with low rates - that is because the agent is bidding it low. And if the agent is bidding low then they are likely hurting for business. And take it further, the likely reason they are hurting for business is that they are not a good broker (abuse drivers, low rates, poor service to shipper, et.).

But don't think because they have that $1.50 rate that they bid it at $3. No, they bid it at $1.75 and are getting their 15% cut. Just like you have bad business people who drive trucks you can have bad business people that are brokers.

 

No broker has power over any carrier. It doesn't make any difference if the broker is large or small. Just because a broker offers a cheap rate, doesn't mean that they will force you to take it. Whether you have a single truck or 10,000, no broker can force you to take a load. I have found that most brokers are respectful. Some do try to get trucks for a cheap rate. I just don't haul them. I have had a few brokers over the years who may try to get me to haul for a cheaper load to "help them out." My usual response would be that if they can get my rate then I will haul the load. There are some brokers who don't bother to call me because they know my rates. I don't think my rates are unreasonable, but I won't haul a load to buy fuel or just to keep my wheels moving. Before doing that I will either sit for a day or so or deadhead out to a better area. If someone told what you said that this agent told you, my response would be something like "that is below my minimum." If he asked about my rate for a particular area, then I would tell him. He will either accept the rate or go to the next carrier.

 

Amen G/Man, have a great feature on my smart phone that allows me to send a number straight to voicemail. I have 10 numbers on the list. Having low rates does not get you on the list - hey getting loaded as I type with CHR load that is above $2/mile - but being rude will. And depending on the level of rudeness you get one or two stikes.