Very Little Negotiations

Naw, they appear to double broker because a lot of their agents are double brokering.

Example from a coworker earlier this week. He's got a posted partial load out of Kansas City. He's been taking calls on it, looks like he's got some folks thst are looking to piece it together with something. About an hour into the post, I transfer a call over to him from Landstar. They discuss the details, and Landstar guy says, "I've gotta check with my driver."

That's often code for, "I'm going to call some posted trucks and offer this load to them."

About ten minutes later, coworker gets a call from one of the carriers he'd spoken to right after the load was posted. Sure as ####, Landstar called and offered him an identical load. I hear said coworker (he's a newer guy, been with us a few months now), launch into his "those m'n'fers," tirade. He calls the Landstar dude back, and starts flipping the proverbial table, and then books the load with the guy who gave him a heads up.

I explained to my guy that this is a pretty regular occurance. He learned why it's important to ensure that if Landstar is offering to take one of your loads, that you need to make sure it's a Landstar O/O.

 

What difference does it make?

LS O/O vs. Independent O/O?

 

I'm not in the business of screwing the carrier I'm actually going to be working with over. If I'm paying $2000 on a load, I want that $2000 to go to the carrier I'm working with, not $1500, because I want the carrier to do $2000 work, and not $1500 work. I also want to have a direct line to the guy I'm working with, and not have another layer or two of obfuscation between me and him.

 

@PPDCT that's very noble, but some of these O/O's are not smart to catch LS in the act, or willing to detach from LS titty

 

Sure, no disagreement. Just explaining what the difference between the two is, as you asked. It's why I don't approve of double brokering in general.

 

Some of these broker practices seem so seedy to me.

 

That is exactly how LS works. When I was starting out I had a dispatch service booking loads for me. After about 6 months I was barred from LS. They said I was a high risk for double brokering. Seems that because I did not fill out the paperwork and my guy filled it out. I did not know what double brokering was, much less how to do it. Well I called Jacksonville and spoke to the right lady and explained my situation and then filled out the paperwork again and signed it, I was good to go. Well a couple years later I had called on a broker’s load close to the house. I did not take it, well 15 minutes later LS had it on the board. I remember a year earlier I had moved something out of that shipper and LS had it. After that time it has become a pleasure to take away anything from LS I am able to do ethically. And that may not be what they consider double brokering, however, that is what I consider double brokering. Because, LS is a broker, and they got it from my local broker, and they have their own trucks leased to them, and they then “broker” out to a third party. What are they missing about double brokering, I don’t understand!!

 

Some of them are. As @boredsocial likes to say, that's why there's a tangible benefit to not being shady. Customer and carrier loyalty goes up when you're not actively screwing over either party.

 

Yeah, I've got a cpl of guys I go back to over and over. They treat me fairly and provide excellent service.

Of course, I reciprocate...

 

It's a benevolent cycle. Everybody wins. You, the customer, and the broker. A good broker is absolutely worth their cut. A good broker seems like he's hardly doing anything. Do not be fooled... They are like ducks calmly floating around on the surface of the water and paddling furiously under the water line. We spend a LOT of time fixing problems before they have a chance to happen.