Brokers 101

I deal with brokers daily, from them requesting me to cover a load to me requesting loads. Here is what I've found:

The Good: Will be friendly and treat you with respect. They will sacrifice a dollar or two to ease your suffering and bring you back again - you can count on them charging their customer for the suffering. They will be open and honest with information and realize not only is the shipper/consignee their customer, but the truck and driver pulling the load. They try to make the check calls quick and courteous and inform the shipper/consignee of issues. Above all they pay their bills and pay them quickly.

The Bad: Self-centered, usually decent to deal with. Will remember who went the extra mile and who didn't, but all that will change is the way in which they treat you. Pay their bills but are in no hurry and are more concerned with a bad rating than they are satisfaction of the user. Check calls are something they only have to deal with because they have to. May let customer know how bad the driver is to make them look good on service failures. Don't try to screw the driver but in the end only care about successful completion of the load, no matter what.

The Ugly: Will floor load wood chips or garbage when you are in the bathroom. Verbally offer you a load and never send a rate confirmation (btw get an e-fax) because someone else agreed to a lower rate. May or may not pay their bills. What is one trucker going to do? Refuse check calls but verbally attack you when the load is late after failing to respond to 10 voice mails about a closed shipper after arriving at the first scale overweight. Firmly believe that the driver is a necessary evil that they must deal with, much like a rancher feels about stray cattle. In the end, they care about only themselves. In today's competitive market with increasing numbers of shippers relying on brokers, a dying breed.

Finally, as posted previously, spend the money on broker boards that offer ratings. The popular ones are worth their weight in gold.

 

Hi,
I was thinking of becoming an o/o using a Dodge Sprint van with a GVWR of 9,990 lbs. Because this vehicle is under 10,001 lbs, it is not considered a commercial vehicle and does not require me to keep logs or stop for scales. My question: Do you know of any brokers that deal with small loads, around 2 tons, that need to be transported long distances? Any info or leads would be appreciated.

 

Size doesn't matter, no honest broker or company that I know of will load you. You still have to follow the FMCS rules just like anyone else. You have to have insurance, authority etc or lease to a hot shot company.

 

That's true but as I said " Size doesn't matter, no honest broker or company that I know of will load you. You still have to follow the FMCS rules just like anyone else. You have to have insurance, authority etc or lease to a hot shot company."

 

DEFINITELY get on the boards that rate the brokers. Anywhere you can find to do a credit check on them too is worth it's weight in gold. Remember, someone can be a broker with minimal training, not that much $$$, and a couple computers.

Finding the good ones is key - because some of these small shops don't know ____ from shinola if you know what I mean - and they're just out to make a buck off the driver.

The good ones are the brokers that will work with you. They know if they make you successful, that they will keep getting business.

 

Hey guys, quick question. I dont know if you saw my other post about me going into the broker business but I'm getting off the road and going into brokering. Now having dealt with brokers from running truck load, and reading yall's comments which have been quite interesting, I believe I know what the driver wants and how to balance the fundamentals of the business. My question is being that I'd be a newbie in the business with no credit history and no business history, how would I have to sell myself to O/O out there to move loads? I guess I'm asking is what do you look for when you choose to, or "have to" deal with brokers. But again I understand the dark cloud around them because I have dealt with some of the worst.

 

This is only the opinion of this poster and the practices he uses in running his company;

I would never touch a broker with a brand new ICC/MC authority number unless that broker was willing to pre-pay the frieght bill. There are WAY too many fly-by-night operations nowadays and there is no real way to tell if a "new" broker is on the up and up, or just another of the guys who change ICC number and company name every 90 days.

With that being said, most people in your situation that are new to the frieght brokering biz will start out as an agency for a larger broker. This actually isn't a bad way to go to get your feet wet. Yes, they will take a cut but will also provide you with some valuable tools for that cut. They will provide you with the standard software used in the business and most importantly, they will take care of invoicing and collecting from your customers and paying your carriers.

After you operate as an agent for awhile, you will have a good following of carriers that now know you and trust you(provided you have treated them fairly), and these are the carriers you will rely on once you open your own brokerage.

I'm not saying that it isn't possible to open your own brokerage from day one, but it is a very hard row to hoe.

 

and what broker can you find that is reliable that will be willing to share there secrets and software? What i have bumped into alot is get rich schemes on how they can teach you how to be a broker from 2 week courses even internet courses anyone with answers please feel free to comment thank you.