ITS and DAT Power and the Super Mega Broker

They're probably afraid they'd lose brokers. And to be fair they would. Landstar agents for example has to post rates on it's BCO board since the BCO's cut is a contractually set percentage of the gross. They go to load boards to get better rates from common carriers.

 

Yeah it's from what they report and also what they post. That's why if it's a good rate, they don't want to post it since it will drive the averages up.

 

Guys go shop at Wal Mart if you need a price on everything. This is spot freight and you can't really expect there to always be a price posted with a load. What pays $500 today might be paying $2,500 tomorrow. There's no point in posting a rate on that and besides the fact what if someone volunteers to do your $500 posted load for $400 if you don't post a rate. You just cost yourself $100 for no good reason posting it at $500. Posted rates on a handful of loads are an OK rough guide but I rarely if ever book anything with a posted rate and if I do its seldom ever for their wishful thinking price. More often than not posted rates are marginal anyway. Supply and demand drives rates not posted rates or a lack thereof.

 

Wow wow wow, do you guys really just call and book those loads with posted rates?

 

I had the same thoughts....

 

I would like to know your reasoning that posting a rate magically changes supply and demand? If a carrier accepts a load for 20% less than a broker's target rate then how is that broker contributing to a lowering of rates? If brokers were required to post a rate then why not require carriers also to do the same thing? I NEVER post a rate on my truck posting.

Every load and situation is unique and has to be looked at case by case. So $400 might be what one carrier considers acceptable on a load where the broker has a target pay of $500 but maybe for the next carrier $1,200 is warranted on that load. So what difference does it make if it has a price of $500 on it or not?

I think instead of people looking for some unattainable easy way that putting the actual time in to learn markets is how you figure a rate on something where there is no posted rate.

If anything brokers are guilty of making promises to customers that they can't keep and that, like carriers who routinely leave money on the table, can be detrimental to rates. A broker should be asking rates from carriers, adding a fee on top of that, and taking it to their customer. But since we have a severe OVERAGE of brokers out here (same as trucks) meaning most of them are redundant and useless you have many of then just accepting what a customer offers for a rate and trying to make something happen on that regardless of market conditions.

 

Wow....I thought this thread was interesting until I started reading the post.....let me cut across the field here....if the load board required the rate to be filled in to post a load all the broker has to do is put zero or 1 in the field and post the load. I'm siding with Rollin on this one. It is important that you can identify the market,assess lanes and remain discipline in negotiations. Remember there is a load for every truck and a truck for every load and some days you are neither. But I hate to not offer a solution to your issue but without knowing what it is you actually do I would just be guessing. So to be fair shoot me a pm if you want some advice on this situation.