New and wiery?

Are you double brokering?

 

I was researching load boards the other day and dat.com says they publish a weekly newsletter that has the average rates per lane throughout the entire country

 

IMO the reason brokers get a bad rap from carrier's is because they have a primary motive to pay us as little as possible. Buy low, sell high, right ? Not saying you in particular, just speaking generally.

Another thing that is frustrating is from my perspective, feel free to correct me, it seems many brokers go for a cheap rate until that load absulutely must be moved and then give in and pay. I can understand how this can be profitable, but my goal and the shippers goal is to move things in a timely, efficient fashion. I think it's a shame when a truck is in place to haul a load but they have to pass on it because the broker is holding out for some sucker to take it cheap. Case in point, I am delivering a load from Dallas area to near Sioux Falls, SD. I wound up with plenty of extra room. There was a broker with two fork trucks needing moved from same area to about 30 miles from where I am delivering. He just wouldn't quite pay enough to make it worth my while, last I checked the load is still on the board. Those forklifts could be delivered already. That's inefficient and he'll probably wind up paying my price anyways.

I guess it's like the kids say, don't hate the player, hate the game. For us truckers it often feels like our services are reduced to nothing but a tradeable commodity, playing chips if you will. Also, the way I see it brokers have two jobs. To represent the shipper to me, and to represent me to the shipper. Often, they fail to do one or both of these things correctly.

 

Truckers are human beings, but their service is a commodity that these brokers, well, broker... In danny's case, it just wasn't worth it to do a drop 30 miles out of the way. Maybe for that broker it wasn't worth it to go through the hassle, pay a driver within a week and wait for 30-60 days for the shipper to pay him for the move at what they want to pay. now, if he came to you a week later and begged you to take the shipment, would you be a scumbag for wanting more than you did a few days ago?

Everyone's in it for the money. I agree with the statement "dont hate the player" in transportation.

 

I'm not going to post all of my good broker information because someone will undercut me. But I will post bad broker info as a public service announcement. Most people are the same way so that's why you never hear anything good about brokers.

 

Of course, many brokers try to cover freight as cheap as they can. Don't know about the rest of you but I shop around for most everything I buy as well............

 

true, but would you pay someone 15-20% and trust them to find the best value for you ?

 

When trucks ask me, "Is that the best rate you have?" I always say, "Well I could pay you more, but then I don't make as much money!"

You're absolutely right that it is a case of don't hate the player, hate the game. We are not doing this for practice!

Still Danny makes a valid point, and I will say that, Bailey, it sounds like you are doing things the right way, which is to not try and get rich off one load, but rather to develop your relationships with customers and truckers so that everybody's business ifs profitable.

If you were to start low-balling trucks, sure, you'd make a little more for a while but eventually you'll get stuck and then it's your truck's turn to bend you over...The ideal method to growing your business is to gradually increase your margins until you hit that sweet spot. Start low with customers and work them up to a price where you can comfortably cover the carrier costs. Do the opposite with carriers. Start high so they take your freight and do a good job, and gradually get them to accept the load for less because its regular and they can trust you not to screw them over. Once your margin plateaus, stay there as long as you can.

And then, right when you think it's perfect, produce will start back in south Florida again and your market will turn to crap

As far as quoting for large RFQ's and spot bids, the ONLY way to know is to get experience doing it. DAT rate indexes are expensive and very often inacurrate. Call around and find out what other people are getting/paying out. Know that trucks will normally quote you a couple hundred higher than market and customers will downright lie to your face telling you they got a multi-stop load from New Jersey to Illinois covered for $700 just yesterday!

Keep at it Baliey and keep on keeping your trucks happy