New Broker

Discussion in 'Freight Broker Forum' started by honestbrokeringa, Sep 16, 2017.

  1. honestbrokeringa

    honestbrokeringa Bobtail Member

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    Sep 16, 2017
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    Hello everyone, I am a new Freight Broker in Ga. I was wondering if ya'll had any tips to help me out, besides working for a brokerage company? My daughter is helping me, her husband has been a O/O for 12 years. She knows a lot about the business but we are both new to Brokering. My background is sales and marketing. Being new to the business, I put an ad out looking for Freight Agents to get me started and help me understand the ins / outs of brokering. After reading some of the terrible things in these forums about brokers/agents, I am a little worried. Yesterday I interviewed a guy that sounded too good to be true and it kinda scares me. Since I have given him all my info, my other question is "Can he take my info, broker loads under my name, and get paid without me? Just need advice, not criticism. Thank you in advance for your comments and help. :)
     
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  3. DUNE-T

    DUNE-T Road Train Member

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    I am confused, do you have any experience? Have you worked for somebody else before doing freight brokering?
     
  4. honestbrokeringa

    honestbrokeringa Bobtail Member

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    No, no experience yet.
     
  5. jbatmick

    jbatmick Road Train Member

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    All I can say is good luck. You are gonna need it.
     
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  6. uncleal13

    uncleal13 Road Train Member

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    I have zero experience in this field.
    One of the drivers that calls into Sirius radio that went out on his own said that he did something like 500 cold calls before he got his first customer and was quite excited to get it.
    On another podcast a large brokerage stated that they had close to fifty people on staff, all they did all day long was make phone calls trying to drum up more freight.
    So basically I'm saying that it is going to take a lot of persistence on your part. But it can be done.
    Good hunting
     
  7. boredsocial

    boredsocial Road Train Member

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    Honestly it's worth the trouble of working for a freight brokerage first. Try to see if you two can get signed up as an agent for an existing freight brokerage. You should go out and look for new customers and she should try to service them. I feel obligated to mention that this entire thing is a terrible idea with no previous experience. This business isn't exactly friendly. At least your instincts when you hear something too good to be true are on point!
     
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  8. whoopNride

    whoopNride Road Train Member

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    And I will offer this, Be Very Careful who you give your information to over the phone. There are Lots of Crooks in this business. More than you would believe.
    Good Luck !!!
     
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  9. PPDCT

    PPDCT Road Train Member

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    Gonna have to second what @boredsocial saod here. This is not an easy road, especially if you're looking to start from scratch. How are you fixed for operating capital? It takes time to build up a customer base- annnnd it takes time for them to pay you after you run your first lpad for them. Most of my customers pay on net 30 terms. That means my company gets paid thirty days, roughly, from the time a load gets run... which means I spend a lot of time potentially over-extended.

    I have, for example, one customer, that is extended roughly 75,000 in credit. On any given week, they have used 25-50k of that; payments for the 2-6 shipments a week I coordinate for them roll in on Fridays, typically speaking. Just managing cashflow to ensure that we have continuous cashflow from that customer is an important thing to consider. And then there's the fine line with a new customer- how much do you extend until you start seeing payments? It's all important stuff to consider- and doing it solo with no experience is a pretty bad idea. You're better served finding a small to mid sized brokerage to help you learn, first.
     
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  10. billcollects

    billcollects Bobtail Member

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    Sep 1, 2011
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    Hi Honest, I am originally from Albany, Ga, grew up in Atlanta. I will just be blunt and scare you, yes, it could happen. Absolutely. I have many carrier clients that call me daily because they can't get paid by a broker, and many times it is a legit broker that has nothing to do with the load.

    But they don't have to meet with you to do that, and more importantly, I assume you have a brand new MC? If there are thousands of brokers posting loads on load boards and the scammer needs to "counterfeit" someones paperwork, they are generally going to go after someone that has been around longer and established credit.

    Brokerages that aren't opened as scams to begin with, the biggest reason they go under is mismanagement of funds, usually robbing the brokerage to pay to have repairs done on their carrier side but sometimes they just blow the money.
     
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  11. Skate-Board

    Skate-Board Road Train Member

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    First thing you should get is a new shirt when you get some money. That one is ripped to #### on your right arm.
     
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