$1.03 a mile

Oh they will go out of business, but they will do some damages before they go belly up....that's the sad part of the story.

 

Maybe PSUMoose can chime in here, but I doubt a broker is going to be running $1.03 per mile loads as their bread and butter. They might have customers that will only pay low rates for commodity freight and/or freight originating in dead zones where drivers like me might consider a cheap load to pay fuel as opposed to deadheading back to a high value area.

Their bread and butter will come from select customers that require a high level of service. I'd be willing to wager that broker with the $1.03 load has freight available for well more than double the rate, maybe not in that area.

Also, there's nothing that says you have to accept the freight at that rate. You can, and should, make a counter offer if you have any interest in the load. Make a deal. Sell yourself.

 

I agree. The cheap customers that I have are the ones putting out load lists. They send it out to 30+brokers and carriers and hope for the best. One customer I have starts every load at 80cpm then adds $50 a day until someone takes it. If someone calls in and I quote them the $1/mi rate (I do not post until they reach that amount) I say "looks like they are trying to move this for $1/mi which is a bit low. I can try for X (usually about $50+ my fee less than what I think it will move for) will that work?" Then if they balk at the price they usually hang up. If not I email the shipper. "Hey I have a driver on the line who wants to move the A to B load. He is asking X+$50 + fee, will that work?" Usually they say sure, but some times no.

It usually works. When I started out I was shocked that people were taking the loads for $1.10 or less a mile. Turns out they were doing what I am doing now. But by keeping track of loads you have moved you have a good idea what they are going to move for.

Also no these are not my "bread and butter customers" as we all know this is a cyclical industry and I just use them to help pad the valleys a bit when my regular customers drop off for whatever reason.

 

Some good insight from brokers itt

 

I worked with brokers on the other side of the coin for a few decades before getting back into trucking. Depending on the business model, a customer may need to move freight cheaply and can wait until a sucker... uh, desperate driver... is willing to bend over. They are looking for drivers in need of a backhaul. I once negotiated a ridiculous rate from Seattle to Salt Lake City area hauling paper boxes, because the carrier was a reefer outfit hauling frozen beef from Utah to the Seattle area and just needed a reliable backhaul.

Timing is important. A friend of mine runs reefer out of Sioux City. He waits until Friday to book his loads to NYC. Why? Because that's when the shipper gets nervous he can't cover the Monday morning delivery deadline. The same load that paid $2.00/mile on Thursday is suddenly north of $3.00/mile.

Sometimes patience is a virtue. Better to sit and wait for a load. But that's bit me in the butt at times if no good loads appear. Relationships, salesmanship, and luck of timing all come into play.

 

You can pay $300 to FMCSA for a broker authority application, then pay Pacfic Financial $999 for a bond and whatever freight that you can't make a fair profit off of, you can just broker it without having to use your truck.

 

Why even waste your time calling? agreed it's way to low, but willing to bet your words go in one ear and out the other

 

Or worse. What broker in their right mind will want to put you on the short list of preferred drivers for their cherry loads?

Sadly drivers and businessmen are often their own worst enemy. Complaining or "taking a stand" rarely works as a form of salesmanship.

 

That doesn't work most the time...the brokers have gotten smart so they won't even tell the shippers name address or anything until you ACCEPT that load.
They will tell you what it's paying an that's it...they've gotten hip to us guys with our own authority an they know if they give up too much info you'll only double back an get plugged in with the shipper/customer directly. I've done it several times where a customer asks me directly how much did I get paid on the load...an I reluctantly tell him an he goes "man!, I paid 3 times more than what they paid you to get that load here!" "How bout we just cut that broker out an ill work a rate out with you!"

 

Something to remember with the broker vs shipper direct. The broker will usually have more to offer than the shipper. We offer fuel advances, and offer to pay within 24hrs of receiving the paperwork. Try to get that from the shipper.

Also I had a driver go direct to the shipper then come back 2 months later and ask to run the load again, because the shipper hadn't paid them in 2 months and they had run 4 loads for them.
The broker has more money so they can take a shipper to court and make the shipper hurt. A small independent on the other hand might have to settle for less because they can't be out of the truck to fight for their accounts receivable.

I may be wrong, but a little less on rate for the benifits offered seems like a good deal, but if you don't like brokers, don't use them. That is your right.