Planning A Future Career Path...

Absoulutely.

Get your CDL and 2 years experience, then your own DOT numbers - then buy a truck run it for 5 years, and learn to loathe the person you aspire to be.

Good luck.

 

Learn not to care about anyone but yourself. Learn to sleep knowing your screwing hard working people everyday. Get rid of any conscience you may have and you will be absolutely perfect for the job.

 

Not really honestly. Totally different jobs with totally different skill sets. You need sales, customer service, and project management skills to be a good broker.

EDIT: Both jobs do involve a healthy amount of embracing the suck though. As a broker you're going to have a lot of really crappy conversations. You'll have to give people bad news all the time and they will blame you for it. You will also more or less permanently have something hanging over your head. The stress is simply crazy.

Truckers work ####### crazy hours, are away from home for extended (sometimes multi week or even multi month) stretches, and basically endure solitary confinement for money. Add to that it being one of the most dangerous jobs there is (Cops claim to being hero's is based on their willingness to take on risk... Cops die on the job at a MUCH lower rate than truckers.) and being constantly exposed to the elements and you've got one of the last places someone without a college degree can still scrape out a living wage.

None of that is sugar coated in any way. This industry sucks in a lot of ways. I'm not saying it isn't for you, but if you aren't a durable person you should think about doing something a little less abrasive.

 

Most freight brokers are like used car salesman. Just get a commissioned paying job at your local dealership for a couple of mos and you'll be ready to broker freight on the load boards.

 

Being a good car salesman is definitely better preparation for being a broker than being a truck driver. Being a dispatcher is pretty good too. Better than either is probably doing something mildly technical (with a heavy dose of sales) in a call center. If you are in the top 1% of people working the phones at that call center your odds of being a decent broker are pretty good. If you aren't it's probably not going to be a good fit.

 

Or find a few decent customers, take a reasonable cut (mine is averaging around 13% for the year this year) and make a great living on volume by working hard. Whatever works for you I guess.

If that's what you want consider booking more loads with smaller brokerages with old MC numbers and perfect credit like mine. If they won't work with you then you're obviously too new to have paid your dues or have done something that honestly makes me think you deserve whatever you get from whoever is still willing to work with you.

 

I am a former driver who now works in operations/brokerage for a small trucking company. As @boredsocial said, it's a totally different skill set. Both are hard jobs, but in different ways. Really the only advantage I have, being a former driver, is a having a good handle on the practical application of hours of service laws. Working in operations/brokerage is way more stressful than being a driver, the hours are about the same, but I get to go home every night.

 

Wow....the cynicism on this thread is palpable. Having more knowledge is never a bad thing. If that's what you really want to pursue put your head down and go for it. I wish you nothing but the best...

 

Automating brokers is not the same as removing brokers. The people who own the software are the broker in this scenario and the rates paid to the trucks will be very similar. The customers simply are not going to pay more than they absolutely have to... And if you look at the history of Uber and it's drivers I wouldn't count on them siding with the trucking companies against what the customers demand.

The reality is that having a lot of different brokerages competing on reputation, price, and risk management is in the best interests of everyone in the industry. The day that one brokerage puts the rest of us out of business is the day your business stops being profitable. Monopolies do not treat their subcontractors well.