Putting a family member through freight brokering class?

In theory, it is easy to book your own loads, but it takes a while to learn the ins and outs. I have done it for years, always had my own deals. Reefer, dry box, van, all at different times. The key is knowing someone, and doing a good job when ever you get the chance. In real life, it can be very hard to get your foot in the door at first, without cutting the rate to near nothing. I have always tried to do something no one else wanted to do to get in with a shipper. Be it many drops, delivering to a place no one else wants to go, making a tight delivery time, working over a holiday, something to get you noticed. Remember,some shippers pay s=l=o=w, and if they go bankrupt, you probably have no re-course.
Lots of folks do it, works well for some.

 

Cannot answer that. I have never heard anything good about them, but that does not mean they are all bad.
Perhaps getting the potential "broker" a job in an office that ships / receives / trucks / or brokers freight would be a step in the right direction.

 

From what ive seen heard and read freight broker school is just another person making money, some schools are good and some are garbage, me i was lucky enough to have my uncle a former O/O become a freight broker, he learned from a company that he worked for once he stopped OTR, forgot the company name but i know they are out of business, you BEST bet is like jbatmick stated a potential broker job with another company first for me hands on personal expierence is my way of learning. once you work for a company for so long as a broker, you can do 3 things. stay with that company, or find a subsadairy company, basically they provide you with almost everything you need, your under there bond, under there insurance etc etc they take care of the pay and you will be paid commision on the loads you move, ive seen some great succusss with that but the hours can be demanding you will be your own boss. you are responsible for finding/ making sales to manufactures to let them trust you with giving you load lists of there items to be moved, usually the company you do independant agent brokering for usually provides you with there fuel surcharge cost. there is alot to learn but once you do it a few times it becomes easy. now your 3rd option is becomming your own broker business 100% in my opinion not good option until you know what you are doing 100% in the business you need a minimum of $10,000 surety bond, plus insurance, office supplies, the programs, and extra money to pay the truckers because the shipper doesnt pay right away and the laws may change were you cant get operate a brokerage anymore under a $10,000 surety they are talking of a required $100,000 bond. there is alot to think about your best bet is to just find a company who is willing to train you in house, work there a few years learn how its done and either stay there or looking into joining another agency who lets you do commission and be you own boss from your house or at a office that you are responsible for, i wont tell you what companies do that, i want to stay within the rules here. this place is full of information, and so is the internet. i hope this helps but in my opinion school cost you money not makes you money, every company runs things different then what the school may teach. look for a already established company to work hands on, i dont think in school they let you personally talk to truckers and move loads or teach all the bad things that can happen. just my thoughts

 

I would advise against spending money on a "brokering school" at this time. The more popular ones cost two to three thousand for a week and really only exist to market additional services to the attendee. Think about it, in this highly competative business, why would anyone want to teach someone else to compete against them? I mean wouldn't you want to learn from the people doing the do? If they were really making a killing why would they want to give up "the secrets"? You'll find that most people offering classes aren't heavily into brokering as their main revenue stream is the class. The mostly advertise to small carriers or people wanting to work from home. They paint it as almost a get rich quick scheme. With the new highway bill including an increase to $75000.00 for the bond, the majority of small brokerages will be closing. You'll either have to put 75k into a truct fund or pay a yearly premium for a bond and depending on your credit it's usually 10% of the face value of the bond. Surety bonds are not rated the same as performance bonds.

 

grumman im not 100% i think ive heard its a 100k bond that they are pushing for which is good and bad good because it will weed out the crooks in the broker area, and bad because some of these small brokers are honest straight forward people not looking to make tons of money.

 

Just a suggestion - before you do any broker school thing- have her go to work for an existing broker for a short time to learn it (this would not be a work at home as an agent thing- they want you to bring your established customers and carriers with you- she would have to go to a brokerage in an office somewhere. She could probably learn it all from one of their entry level positions) , then study for the test and get the license, MC, and put up the bond. If that's possible for her to do in your area it might be better. Seems like a lot of trade schools that offer quick training in any field are a bit of a rip off. The only draw back would be if the broker she went to work for wanted her to sign a non compete. If they did, she should try to negotiate it with them, saying she can't not work in the industry for any length of time, because, should she quit or be fired, you depend on her for dispatch services.