OOIDA petitions Elaine Chao/Jim Mullen.

Yeah but that works the other way as well... when rates are real good and u would feel comfortable running something at say 2.50 a mile , well u know the market is in ur favor and the broker needs it moved so u tell them 3.25 or 3.50 or even 4.00 or whatever ur number may be. If the broker is desperate then ur gonna get that load.... The truck drivers arent complaining in that situation ... only when the brokers are the ones with the leverage

 

You literally said “no skin off my nose if you want to pay double. In this day and age it ain’t very hard to do some ####### research.” and that means the rates would be what the rates are. He’d do his research and he’d pay what everyone else is paying. The rates wouldn’t go up without brokers. The rates would remain and brokers would make less.

 

When I moved back from Hawaii I was going to be here before my vehicle made it back on the boat. I didn’t want to have to go to Oakland and pick it up so I called a broker. I said here’s the date it will be in Oakland and here’s the date I need it to be in South Dakota. He gave me a rate, I got him to come down $85, I paid him, and my vehicle was in South Dakota the morning that I told him I needed it. I really don’t care what that driver got paid because the broker did what he agreed to on my end.

 

So say I go direct to you, only pay you the 800 dollars you'd take from the broker and save the 1200, are you still going to ##### about the rate?

 

Just because both parties agreed to a price does not mean they were happy,
The trucker needed a back haul and knew it was too cheap but accepted it anyway and the shipper may not have like the quoted rate but needed it done now this is an opportunity for the trucker to land a shipper or to bring a another broker that he works with to land a customer.
Opportunity knocked did anybody answer the door, don’t go away mad leave with a contact

 

So the shipper chose, under their own free will, to pay a rate that they were comfortable with while at the same time a trucker, under their own free will, chose to accept a rate that he wasn’t comfortable with and that makes the guy in the middle the bad guy? To me it sounds like the guy in the middle is a better negotiator than the other two if he’s getting both of them to agree to a deal neither is comfortable with.

 

I would be curious to know the percentage of owner operators who have taken any sales and/or negotiation classes versus the percentage of brokers who have. I know I’ve done nothing in that area. Maybe that would be one avenue to go down. My opinion is that too few people that own trucks treat it as an actual business. I think many see buying a truck as a way to make more money for driving a truck.

 

Your right but he allowed two parties to meet that now have abound that could grow into a business relationship you missed the opportunity knocking
I did not criticize the broker for making all he could good for him but it may not be able to do it with that shipper again

 

I believe you are right again they think there boss is a moron and that if he can do it they can do it but if you are not one of the bosses best employees This is going to be a rude awakening.You are now the only employee of your new business and your short Cummins are what will put you out of business.

it’s important to want to know that you are wrong or have done something wrong, if you are one of the people that can’t identify your own mistakes your in for a short ride on I doing it my way highway

 

I’m the first to admit I’ve had some great mentors, one was a boss that I learned a lot from and the others were guys I met after buying a truck. I seem to step in poop and come out smelling like flowers, some say I’m lucky but I’ve also spent time meeting the right people and building relationships. I’ve always tried to build relationships with people that are doing niche things, get my foot in the door and then don’t let them forget about me. That way I’m on their mind when they want to expand or when they need a truck. That said, as I stand right now I know I don’t have the tools to properly sell myself to a direct customer if I had to. I’d like to learn more and educate myself but that always seems to get pushed aside when there not enough time between the truck and everything else going on.