How do the stay in business?!?

For those of you who have asked how to get GOOD rates out of brokers, pay attention, THIS is how its done!

 

yes...Trees has it correct,

I must add though.......

Brokers are Over-Confident 90% of the Time..I'll explain

Until Trucks Fall off (Which needs to be done, Their is No Truck/driver shortage), brokers have the CONFIDENCE, (I cant emphasize on it hard enough)

that they will secure a Truck at or near what they are offering..Even in Bad/Slower Lanes

How do we stop that?.....You Must Remove a certain percentage of Capacity from the street.....Yes,Freioght is in our favor Now..but it will swing like it does every year

trees understands perfectly how to Handle freight Brokers...Unfortunately,We have thousands of novice carriers out there just taking whatever they get



GREAT POST TREES!!! The Moral of the story is......To Remove Confidence with Freight Brokers, EVERYBODY must adhere to trees advice


Edit- And If I may add something fairly significant

I get asked Alot by other independents why I Rarely use certain Broker/Carriers....

For instance Mercer transportation or Bennett Motor service Or landstar or E.W.wylie..just to name a few..

Simply Because they are sometimes WORSE than just a 100% freight Broker...

see...No Matter How Bad a Lane is..No matter How tight Their OWN capacity is, Their Mind is already made up what they are going to pay an outside carrier....SIMPLE AS THAT

They would Rather give the freight back to their customer OR Put the Freight on their own truck before an outside carrier Made a significant Profit..

 

Every time I see this I ask why not? Every time i see someone make a comment like this i imagine they'll never ask for a rate like that. I've gotten $4 mile on 500-600 mile runs before. Every day you ask? Of course not. But enough to know they're out there. And enough to build around. The biggest mistake I see a lot of guys shoot themselves in the foot is they think something can't possibly be. So it never is.

 

Last year I was hauling Melons & Taters out the fields for 4.50+ in a comapny van going 500+ Mi. Alot of guys didnt want it for the fact of it was heavy (43K) and going to Food DC's. I ate it up

 

You guys are smack on with $4 and more per mile freight out there.
O/O's know this because they are the ones that negotiate on the loads they haul.
Sure, there are less experienced O/O's out there consistently hauling for a lot less but they will figure it out eventually.
The most damage in the transportation industry as regards rates paid to trucks is done by L/O's.
They are almost all drinking the coolade that the mega carriers are doing a fantastic job supplying.
Really, you are going to become a successful business owner, that is merely a puppet of the real business owner and run at less than factual cost while not in control of who, where or how you haul. How folks are still falling for this dog and pony show I don't know.
Thats why brokers within mega carriers are less lightly to pay good rates than non asset based brokers. Because their real cost is hardly $1.30 PM, thanks to the never ending line of folks lining up to become L/O business owners and haul for $1.20.
Everybody concentrates on how much the mega carriers are paying when really the question is, how much are they charging!
The only ones that get to find out what shippers are truly paying are the mega carriers, independant carriers and O/O's. As a L/O you have nothing to do with this, you just go where and when they tell you at the rate you agreed regardless of how well it pays. It is my belief that until there is no such thing as a L/O or a company driver paid per mile and/or on a 1099, the general freight transport system will not change and stay in the full control of mega carriers and brokers.
I think that depending on circumstances, if not hiring an asset based company, 85 to 95% of what a shipper pays should go to the truck regardless of who in the scenario ownes it. And actually in all honesty 100% should go to the truck while extra services performed by a broker should be paid separate to the transport charge.
This would open up so much more freight to all carriers and in turn open up more carriers to all shippers.
Really, the only thing getting in the way of this actually happening is the seemingly never ending slew of wannabe L/O's and O/O's that don't know what freight really pays and are happy to haul for what the agreement / broker says till they are forced out of their truck or go broke.
Oh, and if you think electronic logbooks are going to make an impact on rates, well not as much as we had hoped. It has already become common practice for L/O's and company (1099 and/or mileage) drivers to use up to 250 miles of personal conveyance hauling freight on any given day. I personally know folks in both situations doing it.
I think the question to this thread should in fact be "Why Do They Do It?" Lol.
Thanks for posting this thread just the same BBB. I do like to hear what you more experienced guys think about our industry.

 

And actually in all honesty 100% should go to the truck while extra services performed by a broker should be paid separate to the transport charge.


agreed 100%........



Your Spot on.....

We,(The kinowledgable) Do Not have strength in numbers.....The Brokers,3pl's,shippers( that shop price constantly) Know this......

Some(Brokers) Dont want us (experienced) Moving their freight, they Want the Novice...They Figure, The odds are in their favor that a Subpar rate to a Par carrier or independent will provide the same level of service as an experienced, No-nonsense Veteran carrier/independent.

the Only way to Get Rates in OUR favor everyday..All Year Long is to Regulate the Industry again.

Yes, STOP any future Motor Carriers and Freight Brokers from Entering the industry WITHOUT a bargained contract with a customer..(Yes,back in the 60's and 70's it was hard to get granted authority without Bargained Contracts for a certain Lane you would travel)

Any and all Carriers/Brokers that Terminate their Authority will be completely Dissolved of ever using that Number again!!..Just my 2 Cents..probably Will Never Happen.

Anyway, Without Knowledge of How to Handle Freight Brokers/Customers etc..This Industry will be all over the Place with Rates..Everyday

 

In my short lived O/O career ( 1 1/2 yrs)the 2 highest paying loads I hauled were a load of bottled water and a load of ice. Both over $4.00/mile.
So I'm sure its out there. The EOBR just a money grab for everyone.

 

Well said Stayinback!

There is one huge thing that can help change how this industry takes the truckers cash, Us more experienced carriers!
Before it wasn't as easy to educate new guys or guys who didn't understand the business they are in, but now we are in the technology age!
Twenty-Thirty years ago most truckers couldn't turn on a computer, now look at us! Posting in forum's like this one and other social media. We didn't have the ability to hear the inside scoop from the comfort of our home or bunkbed when we were starting out, we had to figure it out the hard way!
Now for folks thinking of getting into the industry you can be sure most will have browsed through this very useful and helpful tool we call TTT amongst other things.
Let it be our job to advise and give direction in the industry to newbies and the less well informed as it will help them be better negotiators and help take back our real market rates from the mega carriers and brokers alike.
There has never been a better time in our lives where we as truckers can all communicate so well to and with each other.
Keep up the good work guys!

 

The people in DC fighting the good fight for this are:

1. Companies that manufacture EOBR devices.
2. Large carriers that have already invested in #1 and wish to impose the same cost and loss of capacity on everyone else.

Both have a financial interest they are pushing with this agenda. Safety and forced compliance are the emotional appeals to people that don't know better.

Cheaters will still cheat. Just not on line 3 (most of the time).