negotiating rates

For me at home TN outbound reefer and van has been very marginal and weaker for about 3 weeks straight now. This past week though I was off duty and out of the game but still had a few look-see's at the boards. I heard through the grapevine other areas that were much better than TN have cooled down somewhat. That said there are still some decent bookable rates out there so it's not tanked completely into the toilet by any stretch. It's cooler but still considerably better than Jan/Feb were.

 

I don't view brokers as the enemy. But just like truck drivers, 90 percent of them make a habit of shady dealings. The other 10% are easy to deal with, upfront and honest, and make a great business partners/associates/ whatever word you use to describe the business relationship.

That said..i don't think you are as good a broker to deal with as you seem to think you are. Comments you've made in this thread and others paint you, in my view at least, in the 90 percent that i don't trust farther than i can throw them. Seriously you said 1.80 from ky to California was a good rate. All the other stuff just sealed the deal.

 

I thought the $1.80 comment was about a load from from Kentucky was to Louisiana. That is an awful rate to Louisiana from Kentucky and well below market. That's what was posted by OP KY to LA.

So he meant Los Angeles? On the loadboards $1.80 from KY to L.A. (Los Angeles) is better than typical by about 50-70 cents a mile. It's still terrible and I don't know why anyone would bother but it is better than average.

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure I paid a VV 2400 to run Louisville-Hammond a couple of weeks ago. That's a 721 mile run. That's a HECK of a lot more than 1.80 lol.

 

Your right. LA stuck in my head as the city, not the state. My mistake. This makes the rate even worse. A lot worse.

 

Coast to coast runs are cheap, because people run solo 1000 miles per day. I know many people who do that. They work Mon-Fr and average 4000-5000 miles per week.

 

You right about the hostility. There is some similarity, I can't help seeing it... the image of the medieval Jews in Europe who were also "generally" despised and depicted as evil. Part of it had obvious religious grounds, part of it the "ultra nova" businesses they were in - notably money lending "Usury" it was called at the time, and banking in general and trade. In reality, however, the vast majority if Jews were living ghettos, on the verge of poverty, handling some poor manufacturing trades; potters,shoemakers, sowers, tailors... . Yet, some most notable Monarchs at the time, needed experts in these trades and money handling, they deliberately invited Jews to their kingdoms to show how to run things. You might say that the market at the time needed them, despite all the negative image. Brokers are never going to be perceived as noble men as it is a normal human reaction to perceive them as someone who takes more than they give...Just like tax collectors at those ancient times. The overall system needed them, but they could not enjoy a high esteem from the populous. Good luck in your mission to change the perception. But that's mission impossible IMO. I just wanted to let you know, I have always enjoyed your broker insights and you contributions here are very educational and keep it up please.

 

We are the sales arm of the entire logistics industry. There is no business you can go into without a bunch of overpaid sales people standing around. Freight brokerage is actually significantly more 'virtuous' than your typical sales leeches because we have to deliver on our promises our own selves rather than just shrugging and handing it (and all the lies we told to get the customer to sign the line that is dotted) off to the operations people to sort out.

If I overpromise and under deliver I lose time (the customer) or money (lost business or straight losses). When I tell a customer a product and a price and a bunch of delivery details I have to go out and find someone to do that at a profit. That's a significantly higher standard than your realtor was held to. Or the guy who sold you your truck. Or the guy who sells you insurance. Lol the guy who sold you insurance probably screwed you insanely hard actually.

You aren't even paying us. For proof see every load you ever ran for some huge shipper with their own in house logistics team. Those shippers pay REALLY bad. Like way, way, way less than 2 bucks a mile bad. They took the money they were going to use to pay me and used it to pay their own in house team. That in house team is made up of the same people who thought it was a good idea to use involuntary rehab patients (people sent to rehab by the courts) as unpaid slave laborers at a chicken plant. Food for thought.

Like I get that we're on the other side of the table haggling with you, but that, and the fact that not every freight broker is ethical, is really the only reason truckers hate brokers. At the same time you guys hating brokers is kind of like me hating my customers. Yeah I have to squeeze them sometimes, and sometimes they do crappy stuff to me, but at the end of the day they are the ones mailing the checks. Probably for the best to try to view brokers in a positive light and find a symbiotic relationship with a few of them that make your life easier.

 

Yeah..And that's a BAD thing........Only people doing that are the Volvo's with 2 in a truck...Or hard up young guns with no direction in life.

Even the old school Largecar guys don't run that STUPID...That's working Too Hard for subpar money from brokers.
- Makin' the Brokers Grin from ear to ear.