is there any Good Books on becoming a Freight Broker(step by step instructions)

Good Question, I hope you don't get eaten up by the trolls! I would like to hear this answered!

 

Step 1: Buzz saw
Step 2: Fire
Step 3: Brokers need to fall into either.

 

There are a few books out you can get. Do a web search. Some good stuff on you tube . Do not be put off by the reply you get from some of the people on here. The best advice i can give you is to think long and hard before you jump in. There is no secret to it but it can be a lot of work for nothing. Getting shippers is not that hard. The big challenge is finding trucks to run your loads. The big problem is most o/o have no idea how to run a trucking business . So no matter what rate you offer them it is still no good because they do not know the cost to run a truck. Some freight i have pays ok. Some pays very good yet some trucks still want more.

 

Unless you have experience in the trucking industry, the money for the $75,000 surety bond and the money for some good business insurance, a book isn't going to help you. There is so much more to being a good broker that you are NOT going to learn in a book. Do you know what questions to ask when booking a refrigerated load? A flatbed load? Do you know when a drop deck, step deck or RGN are needed? Do you understand HOS so you can make sure that you book a load with the proper delivery time? Do you know when you need a team? Do you know what rate to charge for a load? Do you know what freight lanes run best when? Not things that you can learn from a book.

 

Oh, another question, how are you going to pay companies while you wait for the shipper to pay you? Do you have the money for that?

 

I reviewed the training material from loadtraining.com and I think it's worthwhile to spend your time and money on. However, experience in the trucking industry will certainly help. And by experience I mean active learning from your experience in trucking.

 

Thanks for your response!! I have experience, customers, cash in the bank & I'm still scared to death to go out on my own!!! I'm about to take a huge leap of faith & do it. I hope I'm making the right move!!

 

Choose your customers WISELY! It's very easy to find shippers who want to have their freight hauled cheap... find the ones who want it done RIGHT and are willing to pay a fair rate to get professional service and results... leave the stingy/shady shippers to the likes of C.H. Robinson or TQL... having 1000 loads is meaningless if you can't find trucks to haul them... I'm an Owner/Op with a small fleet PLUS I just obtained my broker authority... the reason??? Too many brokers believe they are entitled to 30-50 percent of linehaul... they spend NOTHING on fuel, insurance, tags, HVUT, tolls, IFTA taxes, repairs, tires... the list goes on... the ANNUAL overhead for my first year of broker authority is less than $5k... that's the FUEL bill for one truck, for 2 weeks... there's NO excuse for brokers gouging the way many of them do... our broker side is set at 10% of linehaul.. period. We can still offer a competitive rate for the shipper and find HIGHLY qualified O/O's to haul the freight at a FAIR rate (of course, we load OUR trucks first... DUH!)... We actually print the SHIPPER's rate on the Rate Confirmation, show that we only take 10%... hmmm... amazing how many Ops respond with: "that's refreshing!" None have back-solicited because they feel the value added is worth the 10% (you know, paying before the shipper would pay, and dealing with the paperwork involved)... will someone, eventually, back-stab??? Probably... no big deal... shippers need far more than one truck, so if I lose a load once every 16 weeks to someone who plays that game... who cares?

 

Good deal FairPlay