$$$$$$$$$$$ help kill the broker$ $$$$$$$$$$$

a few hundred trucks

 

Not true at all.

 

Go sell yourself - but know what you can haul for. Don't bid the freight too low if it's going to an area that is hard to get out of. If you do get some direct shipper business, PERFORM! Don't ever miss a deadline. If it's a choice between your kid's ball game or getting the load delivered, you know the choice you have to make - every time. You can't earn business on price alone. You have to provide a competitive rate AND excellent service in todays competitive market. As far as needing anything extra other than your own authority, you need nothing. Sometimes shippers demand higher cargo insurance if their load is extremely valuable, but you don't need anything special to solicit loads directly from a shipper.

P.S. - Don't badmouth brokers too bad. They have their purpose in the industry, and their job isn't as easy as you'd think. Also, don't blame the broker for profiting off of a load. Blame the brother trucker who chose to haul that load so cheap in the first place. Nobody holds a gun to your head and makes you pull a load. The broker is just trying to find the cheapest carrier possible - just like you always try to find the cheapest fuel possible.

 

$1000? Seriously? Well hell I'm parking the trucks if I can make $1k per load and never turn a key! Get real dude in reality they make between $50-$200 and I would pay the trucker before I got paid. So you think I should do all the paperwork, phone calls and finance your pay and $100 is out of the ball park on profit? Good luck on hauling direct. Not saying you can't do it, I've bypassed brokers before too. I'm just warning you it's not as awesome as some like to believe. In some cases it's nice to not have to deal with people and let the broker do it for $100.

 

Theres plenty of brokers out there taking 25 to 30% a load i see it every day and there not financing pay most charge for quick pay and the majority get paid in less than 15 days and still take 30 to 45 days to pay. I will deal with paperwork and phone calls any day rarher than give away 25% of my money for a guy that has very little invested a $10k bond roughly $1k, a phone and fax line very little and a computer not much invested in my eyes when i have over $150k invested plus dont know if they will pay. Hauling direct is easy if you know what your doing but you guys keep using brokers and giving your money away and i'll take the 25% and put it in the bank.

 

There are plenty of small businesses that ship their own product who are looking a GOOD dependable TRUCKER to deliver their goods and treat their customers with respect. I have nearly always had my own freight deals, billing the shipper direct.Or even hauling direct for the customer. A buyer's truck. Many companies would rather pay a dependable company to pick up their freight. Stress the personal contact, and be willing to do the "little things" that keep the customer happy. Sometimes a cheap rate is not the most important selling point, while good service/customer respect is. But beware, if a business goes broke owing you big money, you have a problem.