ASK ME ANYTHING

Discussion in 'Freight Broker Forum' started by brokerguy, Feb 7, 2018.

  1. Steel Dragon

    Steel Dragon Road Train Member

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    Everyone using dat board most likely looks at the 15 day average,and knows the rates.
    First thing Monday morning,why waste drivers time and try to low ball everyone.
    Offer a good rate first thing Monday morning and get everyone moving...make your profit on the extra loads you dish out later in the week...:dontknow:
     
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  3. brokerguy

    brokerguy Bobtail Member

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    1. You hate brokers because we’re ########. You might get your tarps ripped on a load that we promised wouldn’t rip your tarps and without pictures of the load ‘ripping’ your tarps or before/after pics of the tarps; you probably won’t get reimbursed for them.

    You’ve probably DH’d 200 miles to pick up a load that wasn’t ready or available and gotten a cheap TONU or possibly not gotten one at all.

    You’ve probably sat on site for 8 hours to get loaded and since “you didn’t get your in/out times signed” we can’t pay you any detention.

    I could go on and on.
    There are a lot of shady brokers out there. You just need to identify the ones who seem to always have your back and stick with them.

    2. I love owner/ops for the most part. There are some real bad eggs out there but generally, independent owner/ops are more experienced and you rarely have to babysit them. You talk freely with them, they’ll update you with delays, they’ll precall the receiver and most importantly they are on-time.

    3. I hate e-logs. Absolutely hate them. Ruining the industry and suffocating small carriers.

    4. Trust me, E-logs are a major topic of discussion in the meetings I’ve been in so far this year. We don’t know how it’s going to affect rates/capacity yet. Too early to tell. We’ve started telling our customers to be prepared to pay detention or improve their loading process. Rate increases are on hold until we see statistical proof that e-logs are having a major impact on capacity.
     
  4. brokerguy

    brokerguy Bobtail Member

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    If you’ve ever worked with a broker before and had any curiousity about what it’s like behind the curtain, this is your chance. I’m not lookin for fight or argue with anybody. Just offering whoever a chance to ask why we (I can’t speak for all brokers but in my experience) do the things that we do.
     
  5. brokerguy

    brokerguy Bobtail Member

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    This is a great question. I get a days notice on the freight I’m trying to move. Maybe two days if I’m lucky. For example, I might leave the office Friday with no freight for Monday.

    I get in Monday and I have 15 loads on my board that all have to move on Monday/Tuesday.

    Load A: Milwaukee, Wi to Athens, Ga
    It can load Monday or tuesday, all legal no tarp but the rate on it is only $2 a mile from the customer. 871 miles for $1742 is my all in rate.

    So I’m gonna post it out for $1.8 to try and make a little something something on it. Let’s say I get 3 or 4 calls right when I post it out and everyone is interested but we can’t come to an agreement on the money.

    At this point, I know it’s a solid lane and I shouldn’t bite on the $2 a mile requests, after all, I’ve got until 3pm Tuesday to get someone in there. So we wait until Tuesday.

    I hate playing that game though. It’s way too risky. Sometimes you turn down a bunch of the $2 a mile requests, those drivers all find other loads and then the leverage has completely shifted. Now your taking money out of your own pocket, begging people to take it for $2.15 a mile, $2.25 a mile, etc etc.

    We offer the freight when we get it, there’s not a certain day of the week that we get all of our big money loads or anything like that.
     
  6. 6wheeler

    6wheeler Road Train Member

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    Let's see.

    How often do you have to file an insurance claim?

    Do you hold out on posting freight to the loadboards? My shippers send me freight week or two in advance.

    Who pays the mileage on blind shipments? Shipper or receiver?
     
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  7. brokerguy

    brokerguy Bobtail Member

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    I’ve had to file claims on 5 or 6 loads out 600-700 l’ve helped move over the last 6 months. If a receiver signs off on the BOL and even says there’s minor damage, they’ve got 9 months to file a claim. If the customer pays in full, we don’t have a problem. In this situation, if they hold pay for us over it, don’t expect to get paid for the load until we get paid.

    If it’s a particularly well paying load or great lane, I’ll offer it to carriers I work with frequently rather than post it to the loadboard. It helps develop those relationships and hopefully they’ll help you on a not so attractive load (rarely happens).
     
  8. boredsocial

    boredsocial Road Train Member

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    Louisville, KY
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    What are your exact responsibilities in your specific role and how are you compensated?
     
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  9. brokerguy

    brokerguy Bobtail Member

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    I’ve got to get to work. Hopefully everyone has a great day out there! I’ll be back around 5pm-ish to answer any other questions if there are any.
     
    Steel Dragon and 6wheeler Thank this.
  10. brokerguy

    brokerguy Bobtail Member

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    I broker freight for our largest customers. From the moment that the load hits my board to the moment it delivers, everything in between is my responsibility.

    1. Find a reliable/qualified carrier to move the freight
    2. Make sure they have all the necessary equipment and that they can make pick-up and delivery on-time.
    3. Make money on the load
    4. Provide location updates and ETAs to the customer

    I get paid a pretty small base salary and then small incentives based on how much margin I make on the load. Definitely not making money hand over fist ha. In my position, I’m more worried about getting the freight moved from point A to point B safely and on time than making high margins. I’ve got a handful of friends that work for other brokers who are much more profit based which have lower base salaries and higher incentives. That’s where you see the shadiness really come into play — not paying for detention, TONUs and that sort of thing.
     
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