Brokers...are shippers or carriers the more important relationship?

Both are important, but the shipper pays the bills.
Quite frankly, there are far more carriers out there and far easier to get than shippers with good freight.
Not to diminish the value of a good carrier, but think of it this way...a shipper PAYS you money. A carrier COSTS you money.

 

That really depends on who you are mostly working for if you are brokering for shippers then the primary relationship is to the shipper. If you are mostly into working for drivers and your business is finding loads for a group of drivers then you try and work in the best interest of drivers. If you are a large broker and you work for both shippers and carriers the water gets pretty murky and I have seen some evidence at that point that they start working for themselves.

 

That depends on the brokering business also. A freight broker working for shippers gets paid but we have worked with brokers that have been out looking for freight so yes they do get a percentage of the freight they find but if they don't have there carriers behind them to pull the freight both lose. Brokering is a lot like transportation there are a lot of different ways that businesses operate in the freight market and it isn't always clear cut.

 

A sole source contract with a good paying shipper with lots of easy loads to might be worth alot to a broker.
A good carrier capable of moving difficult loads to difficult destinations might be worth alot to a broker.

 

More important relationship….carrier and shipper…...

 

A lot of "if-y" answers in here. First of all, Maverick, I don't know how you broker, but I work for shippers AND carriers, not one or the other... A brokerage house is not the same as a dispatch service.

Now, OP, for me, carriers are WAY more important. The way I look at the industry is simple. My carriers are my bread and butter. My single most valuable asset. Customer are just that: customers. While they play an important part, and I do dedicate a lot of time developing those relationships, at the end of the day, in the great economic battleground, the "war" is between service provider and customer.

I don't need to pull a Roman Empire and fight too many wars on too many fronts. Once I win the "battle" against the shipper, and convince them to use my brokerage house, I turn to my ALLIES (my carrier partners) to help me fulfill.

I take care of my carriers. Accessorials need to be paid as agreed. I don't attempt to micromanage them. And, I pay them competitive rates. If not, I'll lose them as allies, and then I'm stuck using substandard carriers and sacrificing my reputation.

I can't survive without my carriers. That simple.

-Chris

 

When I have worked in a brokerage roll it has varied and it has been dependant on jobs. I originally worked for a straight up brokerage where they dealt with shippers and receivers and both relationships were important to me but taking care of the shippers seemed to be the bigger focus. I move on to work for a Carrier brokering freight for a carrier group and the carriers were the ones I took care of because without their support I would have been out of a job. I worked for a shipper running there third party freight and the interests of the shipper were of paramount concern.

Personally when I worked for Carrier I would fight to get the best rates and additional charges. When I worked mostly for shippers I would try to get the best rates and minimize the extra's. When I worked both I was for the brokerage and that usually was getting the most from the shipper and then trying to get the lowest possible charges from the carriers. I like working for carriers or shippers because I felt I was servicing the interest of someone in a split relationship I felt I was furthering my own interests at the expense of both.

I went back to driving because I got sick of cubicle land and seeing a screen everyday.