Double brokers?

I was clear of the scenario i was referring to in the post you quoted. But that's besides the point. As for public load boards like dat or internet truckstop, are you sure those are double brokered loads or is it a case of a big shipper giving the same loads to several brokers (i know of more than a few big shippers that use several dozen brokers and carriers). The first one to confirm they got a truck on the way gets the load. I'm not saying double brokering doesn't happen, but it's not nearly as common as many think.

 

Landstar agents do it a lot. It's common as far as I have experienced. Doesn't matter anymore since I learned how to use the system. I have a set rate, figure my percentage and go from there.

I've also worked for shall we say less transparent companies. What they failed to understand is I'm not just starting out and I had an inside person telling me what the real rates were. Sometimes they were right and sometimes trying to gouge.

It's all about relationships with others.

 

If you are leased to landstar, and they broker a load from someone else that you agree to haul, that isn't double brokering. Landstar is not a broker to their leased trucks. It's only when landstar takes that same load and brokers it to john smith trucking that it becomes double brokering.

 

They have approved carriers as well as their contractors compete on the same load board. So if Jonny gives the run to xyz approved carrier, I'd that double brokering?

 

Yeah, if I book your load and tell you that Dune-T truck will pick it up, but send Johny Trucking instead, then its double brokering

 

NFI always calls me about runs. If I want it, I have to go thru a LS agent to get it. Then they take their cut, LS takes their cut, NFI takes their cut. That's the behavior I detest.

 

And that is exactly what some landstar and mercer agents do. They are both huge companies it happens. Do they frown on it? Sure but they can't watch every agent 24/7. Are they bad companies? No. But as big as they are things happen. Even the perfect company will end up with a bad agent/broker whatever term you prefer. It just happens. If you are crooked enough to double broker your more then likely able to snake your way into a company such as mercer or landstar and play your game for awhile before management catches on. And like has been said with enough experience it's easy to weed out the crooks and move on.

 

As i said in another thread, you don't understand how it works here. With few exceptions we don't have a revolving door of agents. Their markets are protected. It basically takes an agent dying for a new agent to come in and be approved. There are a coyote exceptions to this rule of thumb. A couple dead market areas see agent turnover. Denver for example has had 2 different ones since I've been leased here. But the good markets? I'll be retired or dead before they see a new agency. Heck, some of our agents have been here since the company was founded in 1977.

 

Then negotiate a higher rate with nfi. Or get your own authority and leave landstar out of it.
If i deal directly with a broker or direct customer, mercer gets their cut and the agent for the area gets half his normal cut. protected areas.

 

I pulled a load of transformers for Mercer last year and the paperwork had a Coyote load number. I called the Mercer agent right away and she said Coyote is their customer, I said just because Coyote is farming loads out to you doesn't make them your customer, it makes you a double broker. I did the load as it was the best paying load in the area to get me home. It was a lesson learned.

This is by far the worst one yet, I had a lady call me from DAK Tranport (watch out for these guys) to move an oversize excavator out of NYC to upper peninsula of Michigan. I gave her my rate and she said she'd call the customer to see if she can get it. In the meanwhile I did a little background on this broker and it turns out they have a rep for bidding on U-Ship loads and brokering them out, can you believe that! I looked on U-ship (which I think is a total joke) and I found the excavator with the bids down to 2k and I told her $5500. She didn't even have the load yet and she trying to get me to bite, what a waste of time.

I truly believe if you can get access to the paper trail from a lot of high dollar loads you will find that there are many parties involved taking cuts before the end carrier.