Question

I understand brother. When I first started booking loads I was like what do I even say? What do I ask about? I think it’ll work maybe?

I went into Microsoft word and made a series of questions that are important to me and my business. Having that in front of me helped to have the organization and confidence to ask the questions and control the situation vs just being talked at and controlled. These guys do this for a living so the good ones can tell right away the best way to get what they want.

Make it to where each 1 page is like 4 quadrants so you can call on 4 loads per page before having to get another piece of paper. After doing this hundreds of times you’ll naturally begin to fall into your comfort zone and you’ll use these set questions less and less.

As far as miles, don’t be afraid to say, ok hold on I need to punch in the miles. Whether you do or don’t this can also be used as a stall tactic to think about the load. If you like it then hem and haw a bit and tell them you’d be willing to do it but not for any less then x. It’s just too many miles, it’s not enough miles, it takes you opposite of where you wanted to go, that area is bfe with no back hauls, I hate going there, whatever! If they want your truck they will better the offer.

Good luck!

 

Midwest, all good info. Basically exactly what I do..

For the most part, the Broker mileage is 99% of the time always short & needs to double checked.. Lately I've been hearing nothing about tarps in the conversation over the phone, but sure enough when that rate con arrives it sure says flatbed with tarps in the equipment section. Call back immediately & they act like they're positive they mentioned it. "Oh yeah, an 8 footer should cover it..?" Pack sand buddy, extra $150 or have a nice day. Normally an extra $100 is what I want, but try & be sneaky you'll pay extra.. Just cancelled one Friday AM for this crap..

I believe the fast talking you speak of is just another one of the "Broker games" they like to play to try & get one by you/us..

 

Good question. I try to be personable. If given a dismissive attitude, usually let them keep it. I’ve learned anyone who has a problem communicating in a simple upfront way is to be avoided. My Wife used to call Brokers from home while I was on road. I coached her through an earpiece as She was intimidated. Basically told her to relax and just talk normal no need to act any certain way. One good thing about Trucking.Fast talking, limited real info. presumptive attitude, usually a cover up for inexperience or double brokering.

 

If I'm calling on a load board, I run the mileage against google maps and make sure to run it along the highways but I've found in general you won't see a significant difference in just running it generally. I always keep it open because They might say "A to B is 500 miles" but in reality it could be 550 miles, plus this lets you factor in your dead head as well. Starting Point - Pick Up Point - Destination Point. Granted you can't expect a broker to cover dead head but it will at least help you negotiate better so you don't come up short.

I keep a legal pad next to my phone/pc and I make sure to right down everything and then transfer it to the PC after the fact. It also lets you have a physical copy of your notes just in case the PC goes down.

Start of call.
"Hey I'm calling on the load going from A to B"
"How much is it paying? " - There is no point in wasting your time on cheap freight. If it isn't paying your worth then just say "I'll have to get back to you on it, sorry" or try to negotiate. Most cases you can get them up another $100 without breaking a sweat. They expect this so they're always going to quote low.
"What is the product?"
"Palletized or floor loaded?" - this kind of gives you an idea how long you'll spend on the dock if the freight is ready. YMMV of course.
"What are the pickup and delivery appointments"
"Is this no touch to the driver? "' - This matters because there is a lot of times they won't be up front with this and you'll get there and end up really sour.
Load Locks / Straps / tarps, etc, anything else you need to be aware of depending on equipment.

Other things to factor in is if it's going to grocery warehouse or some kind of food company as they tend to run into all kinds of weird issues like the load already being late and they don't disclose it. I personally avoid these and maybe take cheaper freight and try to make it up later in the week. but I digress.

Generally if you're happy with the answers to the above questions you can really just entertain any conversation from there. It's always good to maintain a professional relationship with any broker because their garbage today could be your only hope tomorrow.

 

You should know what kind of money you’re looking to get on a certain lane your calling on first .I pull a step so b4 I would call about a load from a broker I already had an idea of rare I wanted.so when I called I knew where I thought rate should be,Like I said I pull a step so other things come in to play what is the load is it a legal or oversized,is it a tarp etc .depending on what was being shipped would also effect rate.Someone said to ask for an extra $100 If a broker quoted a $2800 rate for example I’m sure they would in most cases throw an extra $100 at you but in my opinion you’re leaving a lot of money on the table negotiating like that.I personally try to get 15% more then where we started.

 

He is right. I was using $100 as a generalization. You should always try to get as much as you can.