Why

I always delt with agents, not brokers. I'm not 100% sure what the difference is, but....I like the Agents that are honest and nice. I dont like the ones that are lieing every time their lips are moving. I once was detained for 18 hours at a shipper and 16 hours at the receiver (same load). The Agent promosed detention pay but obviously didn't have a relationship with the shipper and no detention was paid. If they can't get me the money I earned, then what am I paying them for?

If aa angentr has ACCURATE info about the load (weight, shipper and receiver info, detention info, etc.) and has a relationship with the shipper, then they earn their money. If they however, just however just parrot a list of loads they got from the shipper with no info, then they don't deserve my money. A good Agent will go to bat for me when things arnt right.

Another Agent booked me on a 30,000 pound load. It turned out to be 45,000 pounds. I was pissed because MPG would plummet at that weight. It was a long cross country haul and I was not going to make a decent profit if my mpg suffered. I calmly called the agent and they went to bat for me with the shipper. They ended up getting me 1.5 times the rate, putting the extra through as "lumper" so I would get 100% instead of 65%. All set and done, I got the extra I needed to make the load work for me. that is an agent that goes the extra mile. Every time I went to houston TX I made sure to haul a load with that agent, since I knew they were honest and would make it right if they, or the shipper made a mistake. Even if their load paid less, I'd rather deal with the good agent i know than another agent that might screw me.


So why do you get a bad wrap? Same reason truckers do. Afew supper truckers that dont shower and drive 20 hours a day make us all look like illegal outlaws. A few aggents/brokers lie just to get freight moved, and all of you get blamed. It sucks, but if you work hard and are honest, drivers will treat you with respect once they get to know you.

 

thats total BS. I always made sure the Agents knew where I was and checked in with them and the customer.

 

I don't see how brokers put up with drivers....and I'm a driver!
I would go postal putting up with others like me

Where I work we are instructed to " just get under the load"...don't worry about the rest.

people are rarely totally honest when it comes to getting their hands on other peeps money

honesty just isn't natural

 

According to the driving profile of MrMatt, he has been driving for 38 years. He has bee "down the road" to say the least.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Then he ought to know better than to claim 85-90% of drivers don't lie LoL

 

Are you serious?! You honestly believe that?! I think everyone out there in this industry (drivers included) would laugh at the comment that 90% of drivers don't lie. Drivers tell white lies and some not so white lies ALL the TIME... "Can't take that load.. my reefer broke down", as that very driver is seen going to the veg shed next door... "I am 30 miles from my delivery point.. but am stuck in hell-a-traffic so I am going to be about 6 hours late.." "This heavy load caused all four tires on one side to blow at the same time.. I am stuck in the middle of no where.. and will be a day late for my delivery appt." I have heard about every excuse under the sun as to why a driver is late, can't show or any other number of lame ### crap. And the craziest of all.. "I am in the hospital.. we were hit by a tornado yesterday and the truck was picked up and blown 50 yards into a field.." Okay.. that was true.. but you get the picture! LOL!! I am not even a broker.. I work closely with these guys but there isn't a 90% honesty ratio in this industry.. period.

 

Broker : somebody that knows where some stuff is. Trucker : somebody that's more than 250 miles from home. Broker needs food, Trucker needs food. Do the Math.

 

IMO..If the ''rate'' is crap then i will give you a ''crap'' job and not take things to serious...If the rate is ''great'',i will bend over backwards for you..

I am working a milk run for a guy and it pays HUGE..I give this guy more than enough...In many ways i kiss his ### for this customer...I am 100%....

If this run paid ''crap''.I would work accordingly....Just saying

 

I'll just cut to the chase. the drivers today. are nothing like drivers were when I was doing it. it's simply a day and night thing. drivers you are working with now. were taught to reply on the computer for everything. they really don't have much paper work to do any more. a trip sheet to scan in. and that's pretty much it. so check calls to todays drivers. is a macro on the trucks computer. they don't call in at major fleets. so when they finally get on there own. they have to learn all over again. and to help with the late load thing. that could be about anything why they are late. from what i have experienced. it's over sleeping. or a bad traffic jam. and they are in a dead spot for there cell phone. sometimes that dead spot. can be an entire state. and pay phones are pretty much gone out of every where. so finding a pay phone now is hard. find one that works is harder. so some good advice. don't let it get to you. it's a little thing that is a whole easier to deal with then you think. when drivers don't make check calls for days. it is because they haven't delivered the load yet. i had trouble with that. and every body does. so your not alone. I came up with a very cheap solution. I found an early gps that look like a radar detector. bought a couple cases of them. as the trucks came in. i had them installed in the truck while the driver was at home. didn't say anything to them. told the brokers not to say anything about knowing where they are. it's not lieing. it's keeping the truck from being taken apart. the other thing i can say. a Phillips screw driver costs a dollar. and can do thousands of dollars in damages to a truck. I did have a policy that saved countless money. it was called the nuts,bolts,screws and wire policy. the driver touch them. they were fired. I didn't let them carry tools. it's cheaper to pay a shop to come out to fix the truck.<--- this is for the guys wanting to put on more trucks and hire drivers.