Total Quality Logistics (TQL)

They are probably doing that because they're an LC and not a broker. Their only job is to cover loads. Same with guys in training, you don't deal with customers only carriers in that stage. A common tactic is to call carriers who have simply ran a similar lane in the past and just ask if they have a truck in the pickup area because the market is tight or the customer has given us an awful rate to go to carriers with.

 

I'm simply trying to represent myself as a fair guy at tql. If you ever catch me on the phone, I'm a pleasure to work with. I can't speak for every broker in business but that's the way I do things because I want good relationships with customers as well as carriers so that I can get good loads with a decent rate where I can make a margin and not pull a carriers eyeballs out trying to cover it.

 

Do you ever tell a shipper you can't cover a load at the rate they are offering you?

 

You believe in all this tales about shipper low rate?

 

I do my best to ....either way, I'm not hauling it if I can't make money on it ....doesn't matter to me what the shipper is paying the crook..

 

I get it. Supply and demand. I also get that you buy the load and try to retain as much of the margin as possible. Simple business 101. What I don't get is posting the same load 6 times with different pick and drop locations some of which are up to 250 miles away. Its frustrating when I'm trying to move a truck between 2 specific locations. I'm in the Transportation business... I know how to read a map. Just post where it is and where its going. Let ME decide if it's worth deadheading 250 miles without having to call and play guessing games. Its counter productive and it's a huge waste of time. This is a major bone of contention among carriers and should seriously be addressed by upper management. Other than that my experience with TQL has been fine. I cut through the BS as not to waste each other's time and within a minute or 2 we know if the load works for both of us or not. There are a couple of brokers I won't call because they try to hard sell me when I've already explained that even if he gave me everything he had in the load I would take a considerable loss. (IE 250 miles deadhead to a 600 mile Reefer load that calls for -20 continuous and pays out 1.60 per mile) I don't try to squeeze blood from a rock. I just say no thank you.

 

To answer all these questions:

1. Yes I send back rates but I do so by telling them like hey I'll see what I can find but I can't guarantee anything cause if the customer is right at market value or even under market value, there's no room for a margin AND a profit for the carrier. It's impossible.

2. I personally don't know anyone that posts the same load 6 different ways based on location. The only time I do post the same PO multiple times is if it picks up super early, I'll post it for both days to try and snag someone mt in the evening.
3. I only load carriers 100 mile dh or less because I know shady guys will fall out or show up late regardless of the rate. Some people will try to load guys on huge deadhead but I think it's bad business because too much can go wrong at that point.

4. Sometimes we make HUGE rips on loads but they're usually not because we aren't paying carriers, it's because the customer pays a flat rate year round for a lane. When the market is loose, we pay less to the carriers and when it's tight we pay more for the same exact customer rate. It evens out. I have a colleague that I know is breaking even on every load she does with a certain customer but when summer comes around, she will make a killing. Spread that out over the whole year and she has made a fair and reasonable margin.

5. My advice? Take it from me. If you want to use tql or another broker, find a guy you like who seems personable and honest and stop calling anyone else. Even if he doesn't have a load for you, we have thousands of loads go out every day and there's tools available to all tql employees to connect carriers with other brokers who have freight in a specified area. Call your good guy, have him transfer you, book a load. That's what I'd do if I were a driver considering using a broker.

 

That's the biggest bunch of revisionist crap I've ever heard. You're one of the bad ones or the dumb ones, I can't decide which. As a driver I work my BUTT off making sure my end of the contract is held up. Check calls, p/u and delivery times, correct paperwork...it's what we do. And if you're too bloody STUPID to note in your software who is good and who isn't you DESERVE all that extra work. I've been in your shoes and you can bet that the very first thing I did was make sure I could keep track of the good ones and the bad ones. Cuz the bad ones would get zero love from me but the good ones? I'd bend over backwards for.

And in regards to your next post...you freakin SHOW me the last load you handled where the difference between customer money and truck money was 75 bucks. Come on man you're embarrassing yourself. You got kids? So do we.

All this from a level headed driver who NEVER goes on rants. You, my friend, are the problem in this industry. Because you think you're RIGHT.

 

Here's one right here. This is off my board today, right now. And I know how to spot a bad carrier, we have a great records keeping tool for selecting and booking carriers. Most times it goes just fine but once or twice a day I'll have an issue with a carrier that was previously solid. 99% on time, 0% fallout, no claims. Then they fall out or show up late to my load and act crazy when I tell them there is a late fee.

Again, I understand that most carriers are professional and are good guys. I just make enough calls a day to hear from some bad ones every single day and a lot of guys start holding it against carriers in general. I'm not here to defend myself just to have a conversation.

 

Dude every working broker (someone who actually has freight as opposed to some soon-to-be-in-a-different-industry FNG) has had that conversation with a customer within the last week.

I generally do not continue working with customers who turn down reasonably priced trucks. What they are basically doing when they refuse to pay is telling me that my work isn't worth anything to them and they want me to extract my cut from the truck. That's not a sustainable business model.