I'm a broker, I joke but I don't play..I'm fair but I lie.

My biggest issue in trucking is HOS. Broker posted a load today. 640 miles. I don't know if that was the actual miles, probably not. Pickup at 1700 hrs deliver next morning at 0900hrs...

It would be great if Shippers, Receivers, and Brokers all understood HOS. Giving a driver an appointment only delivery time, then taking seven plus hours to load/unload, then getting kicked off property... Then you get stiffed on detention and fined for a late delivery. Of course this doesn't happen every day, but every other day come on.

 

I'd love to be a broker, but it seems shady even getting into the business, what with people claiming to be able to train you for X amount of dollars and whatnot. Then you see brokers and brokerages saying that these "broker schools" are not considered credible. Brokering seems to be an industry that rewards intelligence and business sense. I like that.

In regards to your lying, **** that. Make your money dude. You're in business to make money. You're not in business to make drivers or any others rich. Those owner operators you deal with couldn't give a #### about your paycheck either. They're in it for themselves. Capitalism is cutthroat. That's why I love it. Do you put a gun to anyone's head to get them to accept your quoted rate? No? Then sleep easy and enjoy the money.

 

Can we let go of some common broker myths in this thread. I tire of this one when I quote someone $4 or $5 a mile on an overnighter going 400-500 miles and they are aghast that I would think to ask such a rate when apparently most everyone else is happy with $2 a mile. I have been accused of being the reason that bread is going to cost $10 a loaf before, more than once. Sorry but I don't control monetary policy in this country. I wish I did. We'd be on the gold standard and people who had to borrow money to get into business would find it a tall order indeed. In other words, a gallon of milk costing $5 a gallon has zilch to do with trucking or rates. Ironically enough I think the government actually controls the price of milk. That's beside the point. Pacing inflation or keeping up with it by charging fair rates in today's environment is not causing prices to rise. The problem is much deeper than that. And I've wasted too much space on this. But don't ever accuse me of being the reason you pay so much for groceries, it's a bogus claim.

 

Reading my mind & posting my thoughts. Plagiarism!

 

I trust the people in Washington DC more than a freight broker!

 

Yeah that's a tough choice sure enough. I give this one credit at least he's an honest liar lol.

 

I don't know what the answer is for you, but the answer for me is using major load boards as little as possible. When I look for loads on a board I am putting myself in the lowest class pool of carriers there is. When you post a load on a board you are putting yourself in a class of the worst brokers out there. Sorting through all the junk is just too time consuming for me. Many of the brokers have absolutely no idea what I am going to be hauling, they do not negotiate effectively for me, and they are going for the big score on every load until it absolutely has to move. I mean what I'm trying to tell you is there are a lot of brokers who really provide no measurable value to the carrier and very little if any to the shipper. If you're not adding value to the process it just doesn't work.

I'll give you an example, today I messed up. I was in a bad spot, okay ? Best load I was offered all day was $1.50/mile going to South Carolina. In hindsight I should have taken it, now I am deadheading 850 miles. However, I also bid loads direct. I would never bid a load under $2/mile even out of a bad location. There's no need too. I was offered loads at $1.20 mile all day. So which is it ? These brokers trying to charge me $1/mile ? Or they bid the loads too cheap to begin with ? Not to mention all the other games, some of these loads were not real, just feeling out the market. Some of them were cut and paste loads, etc... I got paid well going into this spot, was willing to haul at a discounted rate, spent all afternoon looking and calling and came up with nothing. So who won ? Certainly not the shippers wanting their loads moved most of whom likely were paying plenty to get me there. And certainly not me. (Well I may have won as I was able to determine who a few of the shippers were and contacted them to recieve notifications of future loads) I mean, this is what happens. I'm a pretty good carrier, over 99% on time record, show up with a smile on my face and do my thing. Yet brokers really leave me no choice but to bypass them and go to the customer every chance I get. Because frankly, it is just way easier to get loads directly and they put up very little if any resistance to giving me my rates. Value ! you need to figure out a way to provide value to the carrier, because no, we really don't need you. We needed you back when drivers didn't have cell phones and computers in the truck, now we really, really don't.