Share what you know about dealing with brokers

It's simply a matter of ethics. A broker spend hundreds of hours researching leads and making cold calls to potential customers in order to land just one new customer. If you want to haul direct for shippers instead of getting your loads through brokers, then hire your own sales force or put in those hours yourself. If you're willing to do that, then there will be no restrictions on who you can do business with.

 

Probably not. Blind bills are not something the broker wants to make you do. It is the customer paying the broker who instructs them to have you ship it blind. They do this because of competition between suppliers. Say for example: Steel Company A sells raw product to Big Manufacturer. Steel Company A doesn't actually make all of the product that was ordered, but very much wants Big Manufacturers business-all of it. So, Steel Company A buys some from Steel Company B, and calls their freight broker when it is ready to move. They tell the broker to ship it blind so that after you load at Steel Company B, Big Manufacturer only ever thinks the product came from Steel Company A.
There are some flaws with this. Often the product is stamped- and you can't do anything about that. If it is simply marked, the broker needs to remember to tell the driver/carrier to remove all tags. If asked to do this, squeeze another $100 out of the broker - it is a value added service.

 

I was working for a broker for the last decade. The owner did OK, but as an employee, I did average for my area. A few years ago (prior to recession) the owner was doing great. They worked hard and moved hundreds- really hundreds- of loads per month and averaged around $50k per month. They once and only once netted over $100k in one month. We're talking 2005 here. The recession hit and the owner did not do well at all. Their business dried up for a variety of reasons. When I left last month, they had made only five hundred (combined with about $7K from one salesperson and $6K from the other). These are net figures - what they earned in net income for the office. The owner had personal things come up and the business is barely in existence at this time. What goes up must come down.
What you say is : "I can only do this load for this much" and name your price. Stick to your guns. More often than not it will pay off. The ball is in your court at this time. Watch the economy and the industry. Over my decade there, I saw the pendulum swing back and forth a lot. Know when you have the advantage, and act like you do when you do not.
Small brokerages that are family run (depending on the family, of course) will tend to treat you better. Anyone who understands the value of repeat business will be fair to you and their customer. Large brokerages will treat you and their employee like chattel. Some of them are the typical phone room environment and may employ young and unskilled workers. They have high turn over. Some divide their workforce into a sales dept. and a dispatch dept., in my mind this is not the best idea, as it creates friction between the departments. Dispatchers (by this definition: the one that books the carrier on the load) will open up to you and befriend you. They're the bottom of the totem pole in this business model and they actually will sympathize with the truckers, because that is who they talk to all day. Real friendships can develop. These folks are asked by sales persons to move freight for as little as possible. Salespersons talk to customers all day. So, it is a set up for one side to advocate for higher trucker pay and the other to argue for lower. Don't forget what you get out of the deal either. You are paying for their services. they did the credit check on the customer. They're paying you regardless, even if their customer is late or doesn't pay them. Most of them are paying for internet boards and lots of other services too. Some are paying a percentage to a parent company or corporate office. Just talk to the people on the phones. Get to know them a bit. Name your price and don't do it for less. The more you foster a relationship with that broker dispatcher, the better off you will be. The salesperson is on pins and needles all day waiting for the load to move. The longer they sweat over it- especially if it is time sensitive or has special requirements- the more likely you will get exactly what you ask for. Maybe aim a little bit above what you'd really do it for and let them counter offer you. You still might get morethan what you were thinking was the bottom line you would be able to accept.