Shippers don't need brokers?

Have benn in the business for 20+ years now. I'm not a business man, I'm a truck driver. I use brokers often so I can find the best loads possible. I find out how much there paying and can figure out how much there charging. Call the shipper directly and negotiate a better price. Can always cover my costs and make a profit. Brokers only add cost to shipping and do nothing else. Like I said I'm not a business man just a stupid old truck driver, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the more people you have to pay to ship your goods the more expensive it will be.

 

Yes and the problem is half the brokers out there bid the rate out and take .20-.50pm off of what they're paying the carriers. Then sit there and get paid from the customer in 15 days and hold the carrier's money for another 15 days and let it collect interest. All because a shipper is to lazy to call a few places to get information. I never have liked brokers. People can say they're necessary, I don't believe so. Brokers can say they keep rates up. Yea because you're billing out $3/mile and paying the truck driver $2.25/mile or less. And then you have the odasity to act like a truck driver is flat out insane when he wants that extra .25/mile because "you've got more into it than that" Yea right. I don't deal with brokers anymore glad I don't. I can think of quite a few of them that I would like to take out behind the woodshed and knock some sense into. I can think of a few that I would like to pull their teeth out with a pair of pliars. I can also think of 1...YES 1 that I owe a thank you card.

 

Some of you seem to think it's a perfect world out there. Not carrying the brokers' water here but it's not uncommon at all for some customers to pay at 90-120 days. If there wasn't a need for brokers there wouldn't be any. The way I see it trucks set the rates. If you can't set a rate to your liking the choice you have is not to move or set your rate lower. Broker or direct that never really changes.

 

Would you care to educate us all Dave or just make comments and leave everybody hanging. Or have we all hit the #### nail on the head and you just don't care to admit it like every other broker under the sun?

 

Ok i will explain to you. Now follow along. The reason brokers are there is because most shippers do not want the phone lines and office tied up trying to get trucks each day. They have not got the time to go back and fourth with price. Checking all the carriers paper work is correct. IE checking safety rating insurance up to date. Go on carrier 411 or carrier watch you will be amazed at some companies having the authority revoked suspend .Now if you do not check all that out because you have the paper work from a load 6 months ago and joe blow trucker goes down the road and kills someone guess where all the liability goes. Right back to the shipper .Brokerage companies take all that away.Next most shippers do not want to be the bank and give advances quick pay. Help when you have a flat tire and no money to fix it. When a reefer breaks down they have no interest in cross docking the load. When the receiver can not take the load the shipper will not get it off your truck and get someone else to finish load. That is just for a start there is so much more you do not see. You all just think they make money for a phone and fax. I have owned trucks had drivers work for me till you see it from all sides you wil never understand. Some brokers are thief's i will agree to that but we all know who they are TQL C H Robison are the two that spring to mind. Moor fool you if you pull for people like that.Most brokers are fair cause they offer you low to start because they know you will want more it is called negotiation. If you get the rate you need to turn a profit then good for you if not leave the load. Beliv it or not more and more shippers are telling the broker the rate which sometimes are just to low to bother with. But guess what some broker will try and cover it and some trucker will take it. So if the trucks just said no then the rate would go up. So relay start looking in the mirror to who relay is to blame for the low rate. When i had my trucks i would dead head rather than lose money on a load.Why take the risk on the load going bad short damaged ect to run for less than you need to make a profit. So there you go any thing else you need answering just let me know.

 

Interesting to me broker's always point to checking insurance as a reason why a shipper should hire a broker. I changed my insurance in July and of the 100 or so brokers I am currently set up with only 6 have requested an updated cert. By in large, they aren't checking. Besides which, a shipper can either trust the broker to be checking insurance or trusting the carrier to check insurance. I don't see the advantage.

Second point, usually it is the broker's percentage that is the difference between being an acceptable rate or not enough. It's no secret if you can offer a slightly above average rate on a board you can get that load covered very quickly without making phone calls all day. That's the brokers choice and standard business to take calls all day until they can dupe someone into hauling cheap. What you are telling us here is that a shipper would not do that. A shipper would not spend all day finding the cheapest truck, they'd probably be forced to pay a fair rate and hire a truck right away. Now, I can't speak for all carriers, but I like that idea.

Davee, no offense bro, but you are not the only broker who used to own trucks. Interesting you could not succeed at that, yet you want to 'splain us how to do it.

 

but,but,but you just have to need us.. Without us the trucking industry would just collapse. And just how many brokers call up shipping companies acting like a trucking company, when they don't own any trucks at all? Because they know that if that shipper knew that they were talking to a broker, good chance the shipper would hang up that phone. Remember when brokers were trying to make truckers sign a contract with them ? So they could tell the shipper.. Well I have a 500 truck fleet? Funny thing. We ran about 70 years without these people. Freight was delivered money was made.. All with out these brokers. So what the real trucking community could do is start a co-op.. And get your own loads straight from the shippers and then you wouldn't need to haul brokered loads. Then you could LEGALLY say ohhh we have X amount of trucks in our fleet. And even get your own broker bond to cover the freight that the Co-op couldn't handle.

 

danny i made very good money with my trucks. The reason i stopped was because i had a young family and i put them before being on the road. Sometimes you have to make a choice. I got off the road to see my kids grow up. As far as brokers checking your insurance and know one has that would throw a red flag for me.

 

All shippers have a list of dependable trucking companies and don't need to check anything out when they call in to haul a load. They already know how dependable their trucking companies are, what cSA scores are, insurance, and everything about them. That shipper will call trucking company XYZ and ask if they have a truck available to haul a load. If the answer is yes. Then they will get a load to be loaded.most won't even ask how much as they already know. But they don't know what they will get with a brokered truck, or how dependable the broker is. They don't know any thing about the CSA scores, if there is insurance enough to cover that load. I've hauled up to 12,000,000 dollar loads.. That's as in needing 12 million in CARGO . And when you haul equipment for CAT everybody knows that you have a million in cargo insurance. They don't even ask.. Because they know.and if I can't cover the load. That other truck that I send in there is just as qualified or more than I am. They just have us load up. No questions, no checking, no running CSA scores. All that they want to know is what day do you think you might be there. I deal straight with the shipper or receiver, and keep in contact with them. I don't need to call the broker so they don't contact the people, most of the time brokers don't even know where exactly it's going, and won't give you the customers phone number, because they are afraid that you might solicit the customer.. Well gee we have a truck to move it.. They have a phone.. I guess I might be a little paranoid too

 

Danny you missed the bit out about the liability when insurance is wrong. What about all the other stuff cross dock breakdowns ect. If i had a one truck o/o on a load and he broke down some how some way i will help get him from under the load. Know you are a one truck o/o and pulling for a shipper and the same happens good luck getting any help. Hope you have some money to pay the claim coming your way. I will tell you now i might not be the best broker but i am very fair.I give the lions share to the truck because that's who deserve it. If i told you what % i take i would get called a liar so i will not bother. But just like anything if it was so easy and you made all the money some drivers think you do everyone would be doing it.