Broker $10,000 bond petition

Just like liability insurance protects the "public" from damages caused by a truck in the event of a wreck, the bond protects the trucker in the event the broker doesn't pay. Seems pretty similar to me...protecting others from the action of the insured/bonded. Why should a broker be allowed to have a few million in freight bills outstanding, yet only a $10K bond be required? Broker pockets the money he gets from the shippers & doesn't pass it on to the trucks that hauled the freight. The first 3 or 4 trucks to file against the bond get paid...the rest are SOL.

...and I couldn't give a crap what the broker's costs are. I know what MY costs are, and I won't run for less than what I need to be profitable in MY business. If the broker can't pay trucks enough for the truck to be profitable because he has to cover his own higher business expenses, perhaps he should make sure his customers are paying enough to have the freight moved so that EVERYONE involved in moving the shipment can turn a profit?

 

Ok but do you think "The Big Boys" are gonna keep the same percentage they have been or will they now take MORE off the top since they have this higher bond to pay for now.


I happen to agree with the higher bond but it's gonna cost the trucking companies in the long run

 

Higher costs makes it harder for a good one to start up as well.

There are just as many stories of companies not being ripped off. Glass half full or half empty? In the end more government regulation will hurt more than help

 

Most likely,

you'll lose more good brokers from this,

than bad ones.......


Time will tell.

 

You're forgetting. We have to put up hundreds of thousands of dollars for equipment, fuel, insurance, driver pay, maintenance, road taxes, etc. It's not breaking my heart that a broker has to put up $100,000 for a bond. It costs money to make money. And at the end of the day, it's not the broker left holding the bag. It's us.

 

Shippers aren't gonna raise what they are paying the broker because the shippers object is to make the product and have it delivered as cheap as possible. The brokerage is certainly not gonna make less, so your right We are left holding the bag, albeit a now lighter bag............

 

I didn't forget anything. I chose to buy a truck. Taking that risk was my choice. Nobody is making me do that. Nobody is forcing me to spend hundreds of thousands on equipment, it is my choice on how much to spend.My choice again on who I use for insurance or how much fuel I buy based on my driving habits. My choice to go out and hire a driver or not.

My choice on which brokers I use. Right now with the bond at 10k a smart business person will do their due diligence on any broker. I.E. credit checks and the like. A bad business person will do whatever it is that they do. 100k bond the same thing will happen. The smart business person will still do their due diligence on any broker. The bad business person will still do whatever it is they do.

Also, how do you know that the broker isn't left holding the bag at the end of the day?

 

When the broker doesn't pay you, you are holding the bag. All they need is a phone and a computer. Sorry you don't believe that Truckers need to be protected from the people who would rip them off.

 

If you know what it costs you to run your truck profitably, just don't haul any freight for less than that amount. As long as you're happy with the profit you're making by hauling the load, what difference does it make how much (or how little) the broker is making on the deal? If you wanted more, you should have either negotiated for more or refused the load.

If the broker is unwilling to pay a profitable rate to the truck, his freight won't move. His freight doesn't move, his shippers find another broker or start dealing directly with the truck companies. In other words, it is in the broker's best interest to get the freight moved.

Nobody is forcing anyone to become a broker, either. Just like it costs money to buy & run a truck, brokering freight has its costs too. The feds mandate truck insurance at a certain level...and that insurance has a cost. So how is a broker bond different? If you want to be a freight broker, it is one of the costs of doing business that you've got to pay.

As far as the broker holding the bag at the end of the day? I'm not too concerned about that. First of all, he can do his job with a phone line and a fax machine. He doesn't have to worry about truck payments, fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs, or any other cost of actually moving the freight. Second, because he is a middle-man...nothing more, nothing less. If the shippers don't like paying him what he needs to move the freight at a profitable rate for everybody involved, they are free to cut that middle-man out of the loop and work directly with the truck companies. Also, the broker is most likely working out of the same general area as the shipper, so if receiving payment is a problem, the courts are a convenient option for him to use with minimal inconvenience to himself. Like I said, I'm not too concerned about the broker being left holding the bag.

Besides, taking that risk was their choice...