What's the deal?

If someone qoutes me $1000 on a 1095 mi tarped load ill say ty and hang up, if yourclose enough to my number ill talk and try to make something work

 

Better yet - I am getting wandering phone calls from carriers even when I am posting my loads with rate already.
From Dallas to LA, van or reefer - $1750 month ago. Reefer calling "Is it your best rate?". "I can bump it $50-$100". "Let me ask my driver" or "Too low - I can do it for $2500".
If I would call a carrier on his truck and ask point blank "how much would you charge me for this load/lane" - I would get "you are wasting my time", "@#$%$" Russian or "how much you have in it?".

 

I agree with the person who asked you to give an example of what the load paid and where it went and it might be pretty easy to see why the other party didn't jump on it. From dealing with them for years I tell you it is hard to say what a driver is thinking on any given day. The reason you ask the driver first is it is easier to find out if you can move it before you book thus you don't have to worry about giving it back. That irritates brokers a lot more than being told up front you will have to check first. They remember those kind of people that book things and then don't get it done for a long time. That's just this business. I wouldn't really classify it as "wasting your time" unless you consider that quoting rates that carriers may not like as "wasting their time". We are kind of busy around here to just be calling people on the phone to "waste time". When I waste time through the day it just gets tacked on to the end of the day if you know what I mean.

The reason they ask you the rate is that they don't understand negotiation. If I have a good or service that you desire then I set the number. Do you debate the grocery on the price of milk or do you just see what it costs and go pay it? You as a broker set the rate to your shipper because he desires you to move his goods and I as the carrier set the rate for what it will cost to move your load. What you "have in it" or if that is "all you can pay" is your problem, it has nothing to do with what it costs to run a truck on a certain lane. I rarely call brokers that I don't already know just for this reason.

Consider the following: This business is broken in respect to rates and who sets them. As a truck driver, if you went into a Fortune 500 marketing module, sat down, and began to tell them WHAT TO CHARGE for their products you would be labeled a lunatic and escorted from the property in stocks. The logistics manager of the same company, however, sees nothing wrong with his department telling you WHAT YOU SHOULD RUN FOR, to the point of sending out what he calls "suggested rates" on each lane. His opinion of what I charge to run my business carries no more weight than my opinion on what he charges for his product unless I ALLOW HIM TO INSERT IT into the conversation ( i.e. asking a broker to set rate on a load). I hope that answered your question. Have a good one.

 

You know ,the more details you put in the load posting, the less phone calls you'll take. For example, how hard is it to put "oversize" with the dims. Some do,but others tell you that when you call like they're trying to talk you into taking the load. Although most of their loads can be on the cheap side, freightquote has a good system in place. You can see the details and the price on the load. You can book it online or reply with a comment. Wish the military stuff worked that way.

 

Yes it would, it's likely that what they're doing is getting a rate established and then delaying accepting it while going back in to look around some more.....if after an hour or so they don't find something better they'll get back to you. Brokers do the same thing, "Let me call the shipper and see if they'll agree to that", brokerspeak for, "ok, I know I can move it with you for that much, give me some time so I can see if someone who'll do it cheaper calls..."

You might be pretty close to having a deal, and the dispatcher just has to confirm that all of the terms are acceptable with the driver. Pick up and delivery times, weight, actual rate, etc.. Kind of like when you have to call the shipper and ok an increase in the rate, or make sure that a 48 footer will work, cause the driver has a 48' instead of a 53'.... sometimes the call out is for real, other times it's a stalling tactic.

Just understand, if you're ridiculously low the other party declines discussing it further, cause it seems useless when the rate is way out there.....

You have the pick up and destination already on it when you post it up, it's the first thing they see, it picks up here, and goes over there... the next thing they want to know is where you are with the rate, that's why they'll ask you for the rate you're offering.... They may be trying to avoid wasting their time listening to load details on a load they're never going to haul....when you quote some off the wall lowball rate they decide you're not really interested in moving the load and move on to the next call....what the specifics of the load are doesn't matter if the rate is in the toilet....

You can waste a lot of time listening to the salesman's pitch, and after the sales pitch you get either the, "and this is what we're paying on that", or, "what do you need to make that work for you?".......now if through experience you learn that certain brokerages just aren't worth the time of day, well, you've learned to stop calling them.

 

@BookingYou. A lot of brokers, big or small, leave loads on the board all day that are already booked. So sometimes its a surprise to a carrier that the load is even available or real. I've done both sides of this. So to prepare for every load would be a complete waste of time for carriers. Also it could just be the non salesperson polite way of moving on to the next load if they don't like the rate or amount of time involved in the load. Just work on building steady contacts for your lanes and you will nearly never need to post. It might mean $50 less profit to you, but it might move in one phone call.

 

When your ear gets as sore as my butt then you have the right to start complaining! The reason I don't start being a middleman is I hate talking on the phone. It's your job.

 

I sure wouldn't want to answer that phone all day long giving out info on loads and prices. But isn't that what a broker does? Some of us work as a team, like we have 3 trucks and if one driver is busy or out of cellphone range we try to get a list of reloads for each other. I know CH Robinson will not do it, but if you want to cut down on the phone calls then post the rates on the load board, or send out the rates in an email.