New Broker wants O/O advise

OK, you all know that I am a little slow. And that I am basically lazy. So when you combine the two what you get is I have no interested in re-reading the thread and what I did read is a little confusing to me.

So let me summarize what my little brain has absorbed and maybe some of the brighter people on her like WStar can fill in the gaps and correct me.

This started with a disagreement on what the FMCSA guidelines say about broker record keeping and who can access what.

Yes they can, No they can't, Wash, rinse, insult, insult, insult, repeat ....

Then we get to what I call a "Clinton". The "No you can't" side is trying to defend a position based on what the definition of transaction is. I guess it is easier to argue what someone in a training told you. Doesn't matter what the FMCSA says.

Then it gets strange (as if arguing over a useless regulation isn't already strange, but hey, this is trucking). The Uniform Bill of Lading gets pulled into the mix. ????? And if I wasn't confused before now my head is really swimming. What does UCC have to do with an FMCSA regulation?

Ok, now we move on to move me from confused to sucking my thumb. Someone is saying the UCC is a Congressional code. Since when did the UCC become a government agency? And when did the Uniform Bill of Lading become law? Actually, most don't even use it. Many use parts of it but it is less common these days.

So maybe you all can see why I am confused.

 

If I could instantly see the rate sheet from the shipper to the broker on a load I was interested in I would be ecstatically happy....

That information would be greatly beneficial to my negotiation.

But it would likely take an act of congress to bring this to pass....

I think, now I could be wrong here, but, I think that a sharp negotiator can determine what the shipper is paying, or is amenable to paying, through past experience and intuition...

And a really sharp negotiator can get the shipper to pay more than they'd like to..... using the broker as his pitch man....

Which makes the aforementioned shipper rate sheet irrelevant.

But, nonetheless, I would like to have access to that shipper rate sheet.....jus' sayin'

I've never actually asked for one, as it never really occurred to me to do so.....

I have negotiated rates such as, $750 on a load going only a few miles. (less than 20)

I doubt the shipper had that rate already printed and laying around on a piece of paper somewhere....

I got $400 for a single pallet going 278 miles, from where I already was, to where the load I already had was delivering.....a nice bit of Jedi mind magic.....the broker can be your ally.

It all depends on you.

Anyway, my advice to the new broker looking for it would be, when you find sharp business minded 0/0's...... treat them right, look at them as being partners with you, and don't play shenanigans with them. Work with shippers who are interested in quality service, not just rock bottom shipping prices, and look for carriers who understand the market and who provide quality service. Your job, as the broker, is to bring two parties together in a way that is mutually beneficial to both of them, and you benefit as a result of this.

Just my 2cents.