$100,000 Broker Bond

How many of them do you "prelim"?

I "prelim" the independents....Aka the "Mom & Pop" brokers....
LS and CHR (Yes...Believe it or not..I can get great rates out of old "Cheap and Heavy") I never have any pay problems....

 

Might I suggest this....If anyone gets burned...Post the Broker's name and numbers here on TTR....

The real bad ones will come back under new numbers...But if enough of us pay attention...They'll eventually have no one to use.....Freight works both ways....You can't ship a load if the carriers refuse to haul through a bad broker....

 

SMALL BROKERS AND SMALL CARRIERS, PREPARE TO CLOSE YOUR DOORS

Bottom Line Up Front:

• The bond required for brokers and freight forwarders is about to increase from $10,000 to $100,000.
• S.1813 also known as MAP-21 has already passed the senate and will soon be voted on in the house.
• Your last chance to stop this bill is when it will be considered in the House of Representatives.
• Call, write, fax, email, and meet with your congressman now! Demand they stip the provision from the bill that would increase the bond.

This is not a joke it's reality:

Small Carriers Will Be Affected:

• Your fleet will now be dedicated to the big brokers. Do they pay well? It's only going to get worse?
• Experts predict your rates will fall, as much as 30%!
• You will not be able to service you client’s excess freight.
• All freight you cannot haul will have to be surrendered to your client. Don't worry the big boys will pick your slack.

Small Brokers Will Be Forced Out Of Business & Mid-size Brokers Will Be Next
Unless you have an extra $100,000 lying around you could be forced to close your doors. I hope the job market is strong in your area.
The BIG BROKERS are throwing a party and they may actually have cause to celebrate! With the help of Transportation Intermediaries Association ($2.4 million spent on lobbyist since 2009 – do you really think it was the TIA's money that was collected from dues?), they succeeded in putting their competition as well as many carriers out of business. Tens of thousands of small brokers and small carriers will be forced to close.
The very organization that is supposed to protect brokers, has now, for the benefit of the MEGA-BROKERS lobbied on their behalf to raise the surety bond to $100,000. The Transportation Intermediaries Association knows this will wipe out thousands of brokers. To confirm, read the TIA's article published in Transport Topics or you can read the full article at the bottom of this email. At that time, the TIA predicted that if the bond requirements increased, most brokers would be forced to shut down. What has changed since the time the article was published? Well.....that would be their friends!
Hopefully, you are able to put up the $100,000.00 cash bond, but even if you do, you will be next. The bill allows the bond amount to be raised and raised and raised again without the congressional approval. Initially they will take out the 10,000 - 15,000 small brokers and at a later date, take out the midsize brokers by increasing the bond to $250,000, $500,000 or $1 million. What number will put you out of business?
The United States Senate passed the Highway Bill (S. 1813) on March 14 by a vote of 74-22. This bill has now been sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. We expect they will pass it and the president will sign the bill into law as soon as he gets it. There is therefore a limited time for you to act!
For those of you that are smart enough to see right through this you have two choices:

1. Send the Big Brokers a greeting card congratulating them on eliminating their competition.
2. Fight.

For those of you who choose to fight you need to:

• Contact your representatives: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and tell them to strip out this provision and save jobs in their district.
• Spread the word. Let everyone you know in the industry that things are about to change. Everyones help will be need to stop this.
• Sign the online petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com/100KBOND/petition.html
• Call if you have any questions or for more information visit: http://www.independentpropertybrokers.org/

Act Now!

​

Before reading, be forewarned that you need to take caution if you have a weak stomach. This will make you sick. Robert Voltman and his organization, the TIA are both a scam. Am I overreacting? You tell me. The TIA is admitting to putting thousands of brokers and carriers out of business! Thousands of people will become unemployed. These people have families to feed! There is a special place in hell for people like Mr. Voltman, I hope the payoff was good.
Transport Topics article dated 05/13/2004
There has been some debate lately about increasing the broker bond from $10,000 — to as much as $500,000 — in order to protect motor carriers and shippers. Increasing the bond, however, will not achieve the results desired by those seeking the increase.
Risk is a fact of life. In any business where one company extends credit to another for a service that cannot be repossessed, risk exists. Brokers, like most motor carriers, are small businesses. Brokerage, like trucking, looks easy from the outside; but also like trucking, doing it successfully is not easy.
Motor carriers should check out the companies to whom they are extending credit. They can check on a broker’s bond and license at http://.li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov. Carriers can also check to see if a broker is a member of the Transportation Intermediaries Association. TIA is the trade association of ethical brokers and third-party logistics companies.
Brokers assume risk as well. On average, our members report they pay their carriers in 24 days from receipt of documentation, while they report payment from the shippers in 39 days. The result is 15-day faster payment to carriers using brokers than if they billed the same shippers directly.
This also means that the broker is paying the carrier 15 days before it is known whether the shipper will pay its bill to the broker. In 2002 and 2003, our members report that they wrote off more than $65 million in unpaid freight bills from more than 16,000 shippers, yet their carriers still got paid. Who protects the broker? No one.
Fraud exists in both the brokerage and the motor carrier industries, and increasing the bond will have no effect on fraudulent operators. Those advocating raising the bond assume that a company’s intent on fraudulent activity will nonetheless meet the legal requirement of getting a higher bond.
A company starting a new brokerage every Monday, for example, is unlikely to get any bond, let alone one worth $500,000. A company continuing to operate, even though its bond has expired is not suddenly going to get religion and obtain a new $100,000 bond. It goes back to knowing the company to which you are extending credit.
A larger problem occurs when companies take a load as a motor carrier and then re-broker the load without permission, a license or a bond. In this case, the next motor carrier in line does not know that the load is being fraudulently brokered for a second or third time.
We have evidence of loads being re-brokered without permission, and in every case, the first broker — the one hired by the shipper — found out about the unauthorized re-brokering when the carrier that had done the actual transportation called looking to get paid.
We even have documented evidence of individuals who start a new trucking company every week or so, take on loads, and then re-broker them and never pay the performing carrier.
It is simply illegal for a company that is not a licensed broker or freight forwarder to put someone else’s freight on someone else’s truck. Again, if these companies operate illegally, when getting a broker’s license only involves a $300 fee and a $10,000 bond, what makes you think they will get a $100,000 to $500,000 bond? They will not.
So what is the answer? Part of the answer is to check out the company offering the load. Is it a licensed broker or forwarder? What company holds the bond? What is its credit score? How long has it been in business? Is it a member of a recognized trade association? The answer is to do your homework before you take the load. The government is not here to protect businesses from making bad choices.
Another part of the answer is for the Department of Transportation to do its job and enforce the laws. DOT should crack down on fraudulent companies whether they are operating as brokers or carriers.
DOT should make it clear that carriers need a broker’s or forwarder’s license and all that such licensure entails to give freight to another carrier. While the government is not here to protect businesses from making bad choices, it is here to enforce the laws.
Finally, if the answer is to raise the bond, then the bond requirement should be extended to shippers and carriers. As stated earlier, TIA members wrote off more than $65 million in bad debt from more than 16,000 shippers in the last two years. We do not know how much “bad broker debt” reported by motor carriers is really the result of unauthorized re-brokering by motor carriers.
Unfortunately, while extending the bond requirement to shippers and carriers would offer some additional protection, it would offer no protection from companies and individuals intending to commit fraud.
The only way to rid the transportation industry of fraudulent companies and individuals is to report them and try to give business to the legitimate players. That is the answer.
TIA is a national trade association for third-party logistics providers and freight brokers. Its headquarters are in Alexandria, Va.
This article appeared in the May 10 2004 print edition of Transport Topics.

 

I prelim all of them. I have several questions I ask depends on answers on what terms I may extend never over 7 days I'm not a bank.
Theres always someone with quick pay. If not I can go home.

 

I got burned on a quick pay broker last year and he did have reasonable good credit.
I found out one can not go after their bond until not paid for 45 days and a lawyer won't touch it without 1000 up front.

I also am not a bank. I love the quick pay brokers but we do need to have higher bonds. We already are required to have a min. 100,000 liability inusurance to have authouity to run down the road. Imagine if trucking companies had no liabilty insurance, then the driver would get sued.
And sueing a broker, doesn't get your money, it only get you a judgement against their closed up business. Also you can not write this off on taxes.
No doubt posting bad brokers on here, helps but they just change names and the number of brokers and carriers won't keep the loads from being hauled.
I'd like to see how many with their own authority, say not to raise the broker bonds. We with our own authority is the ones that pay.

 

You can file a small claims without a lawyer...

 

I'm not sure where your getting your information, but I had know cargo insurance is required by the feds. As I had my authority get suspened, when I droped mine while off for the winter. Then had to wait almost 30 days after getting insurance before they would regonize it, to reinstate my authority.
I get my information from OOIDA and the FMCSA

 

Sure file all you want. Can't get blood out of a turnipe. Ask many carriers.