I am a Freight Broker at TQL - looking for conversation and dialogue

As much as they put on a show about changing and getting rid of bad apples it seems the memo didn't get out to all of the agents. Be leary of one agent named Rico, we laughingly called him "Rico Suave". Rico will tell you anything to cover the load. They will hire anyone off the street to cover loads apparently. This character said there was no lumper fee on the load which was either a stupid omission (what broker does not know full details on their loads?) or a strange lie (why lie about such a thing?). And of course the apt time turned out to be a we'll get to you when we feel like it. And Rico says detention starts after 3 hours unlike the industry standard of 2 hours. 7 hours later the load was finished. These are loads of papercups out of Clarksville, TN. Make sure you charge accordingly if you get solicited to haul one of these, or just pass up entirely, because there'll be headaches and they'll try to shortchange you one way or another.

 

Brings up an interesting thought.....how many loads out there are actually in competition with one another? Shipper calls Broker A and Broker B and says to each of them to see who can cover it and for when and how much, so the one who finds a decently priced truck fastest wins? Is this something that happens often in the industry? And if so, do brokers ever feel pressured to raise what they're willing to pay the Carrier just in order to secure the bid first before Broker B? And then call the shipper back and tell them your price after the carrier has been found and hope the shipper agrees?

Or does the broker and shipper agree on a price before a carrier is even called, or before its put on a load board?

And does a carrier ever recognize a situation like this and tries to exploit it by quoting a higher price than normal?

 

Shipper usually tells brokers how much they are willing to pay to move a load. It's up to the broker to try and move it and make as much as they can. If the load isn't moving they have to up the price before the other broker ups the price and moves it. Many large companies like steel mills who ship 120 loads a day pay very well. They usually tell the broker how much they must pay the trucker. They can't have loads waiting to be picked up, they must be moved every day.

If a load is handled by only one broker and the load doesn't move the shipper will up the price or get rid of the broker because they aren't paying enough. Shippers aren't stupid. They know how much lanes should pay and if the broker is greedy they dump them.

 

Big utility companies will have multiple brokers who bid on the loads to be moved. Brokers have said it is who ever hits the tender button first gets the load. Then some brokers will cut the rate ( I have seen as much as 60 percent, same load ) most of these loads are posted on load board. The other brokers once they are awarded the load they will call carriers they work with everyday ( pass more dollars to the carrier and do more volume, these loads never see the load board )l

 

no such thing as a backhaul; Backhaul is for a dedicated contract, where you consistently loading from a shipper @one location. then, reload to return to dedicated shipping location. (that contract better pay)

 

I commonly do this, especially if I have a load I need to move quickly. I'll put it out to a few brokers and tell them I've got it out to a couple other people. They scurry to find a truck and report back with a rate, at which point I'll give them the load.

I also will sometimes "bid" them a price and ask them to see if they can move it at that price. I usually do this if I commonly run the lane with a carrier but for whatever reason they don't have a truck available the day I need it moved.

I most regularly ask them for a quote and they check the lane in their system to see what they've been paying usually. They tend to aim really high with me (especially if I'm dealing with a new broker). I check my records and know what I've paid in the past to both brokers and carriers and know where I want to be.

They usually give me the "I'm not getting any money off this move, you need to give me more freight" blah blah. In the times that I've asked the carriers directly what they've been paid, it's usually around 10-15% of the "all-in" rate, after I've brought them down from (generally) more than 40%.

Of course, once you develop relationships with these guys they know where they need to be to move freight for you.

The worst part about TQL is (aside from all the usual broker annoyances), since all you smart drivers don't bother dealing with them, the drivers you get to haul your freight are less than desirable!

 

Oh my, You just made my day!!!! Buhahahhahaha.

 

"Less than desirable", guess the old adage "You get what you pay for" still holds true.

 

I'll probably get another E-mail from TQL over this but whatever. It's not the rates TQL pays, generally they have pretty fair to above average rates for reefer freight anyway, it's their business practices. I would rather haul for Coyote or CH Robinson for a little less than deal with TQL BS. Everyone who's been at this a while knows stuff happens and loads change but it's a constant thing with them to the point I don't trust a word they say. If I can't trust you (broker) to give me the straight info on a load then I don't haul for you. I'm sure they could care less what I think but TQL COULD be great broker if they'd just add a couple drops of ethics to their recipe.

 

Of the 3 you mentioned, I would rate them
Coyote
Tql
Chr
Chr 3rd because they were so ###### cheap.