TQL - "What kind of a rate would you need to make that work?"

just checked on a load to vegas from TQL,about a 1.03 pm,sorry will sit at home for that

 

I could care less what they pay on a load, just that they do business in a respectable fashion. If I book a $1 a mile load, I don't want it to turn into .75 pm when I get the real cities or deadhead 80 miles for them to find someone that will do it for .95 and cancel me 10 miles from the shipper

 

Be honest, you would love to go in the hole.

 

Please do not provide them with the specifics if you want to continue to do business with them, because if you do and try to make yourself heard people are not going to like it and are going to ban you.

 

They call too dang much...I haven't Benin banned, but they did learn after a few cuss session not to call me, I'll call them..

 

We use TQL a lot and I can say that we've had good experiences with some of the kids over there. However, I do agree that they do have some shady practices on a consistant basis. Some even comical and desperate. For example, you'll see a load posted for hours from one "crappy" location going to another "crappy" location that nobody books so it sits on the board all day. After awhile, that load comes down and another goes up with an attractive pick up and delivery city. When you call on it, the broker says "oh, im sorry, that ones been covered, but I do still have one left picking up in crappy place going to crappy place just outside of there. Would you be interested in that one"?

Also, sometimes they will tie your truck up while bidding on freight. I've been burned seriously because of this. most of the stuff has become pretty obvious and can be worked through if you you've learned how some of them operate.
I wonder if these guys, during training, were given certain tools to use when certain situations arise and just aren't experienced enough to use discretion.

Whenever they ask "what would you need to move this load" I always reply with "tell me where you'd like to be and we'll go from there".

Other subtle tactics used by them and other brokers can be subliminal to the unsuspecting :

"ah yes, I believe I do have ONE of those left".

Translation: "you are the lucky 4th caller of the day. Better hurry up and book this C and H crap before its too late"!

".....blah blah blah, and we've been moving these for right about $425.00"

Translation: " some other dummy took it for that rate, and so should you".

Or how about all of the fake phone calls to their customer to try to get a better rate for you. The 12 second phone call. We all know how many variations there are about how that story ends!

Be Safe!

~bridgettAnn

 

Oh ! I almost forgot. I wonder what would happen if we all did this:


Book load with broker on Monday. 1/2 hour later get a call "hey, just got a call from my customer and he says it turns out he's not going to be ready to move this until Wednesday afternoon. Sorry about that bud".

Driver responds: " ah heck, that's okay, I can wait till Wednesday afternoon. Just send me an updated R/C and I'll take it for you. After all, you deserve a break after getting the run around from your customer"!

Outsmartin' 'em 101. We should have an online course.

~BridgettAnn

 

Yeah.. We recently took a load for them on a Friday. The run was under 200 miles and delivering in our home town on Monday. I explained to the broker that we were going home and shutting down for the weekend and that we'd call him Monday morning when we were empty.. They called on Saturday morning and Sunday morning at 8:00 am to get a "status update". Not that big of a deal really. But does show that people who work there are trained to follow instructions. They obviously aren't being paid to discern and think!

As a side note, It's only fair to say that I have worked with plenty of straight shooters over there who are doing a good job as well.

~BridgettAnn

 

We haul for TQL a lot, and I work as a dispatcher and fill-in driver, so I have seen TQL from two different view points. I've always completed the online survey, but I'll summarize my likes/dislikes here:

LIKES:
-Rates are typically fair once the bargaining has been completed.
-24 hour phone support has never let us down, comchecks for unloading, etc.
-Some of the brokers are class acts and have great support teams
-Good load availability

DISLIKES:
-The often large difference between posted and actual cities! For example, there is a big difference between Philadelphia, PA and Camden, NJ. Most notably, the $30+ toll bridges!! I would say the city disagreement affects at least 50% of the loads we call about and is a MAJOR annoyance to carriers trying to get their loads booked and organized - MAJOR waste of time.

-The scripted game of setting price for the load, "we've been getting them pulled for..." doesn't mean that is fair market price, there was just somebody desperate who happened to bite. I really can't knock TQL for this, as all brokers have a "way" to negotiate, TQL's is just way to predictable and some of the new broker helpers don't do a good job reading the script.

-It would be beneficial for TQL to assign a group of individuals to the CARRIER, just as they do with their customers. It is like dealing with a whole new company with every load we book.... This business model does not build any type of loyalty or relationship between TQL and carrier. We have designated agents at other brokers who honestly look out for us, as we look out for them. They know what we are looking for each week, and are proactive in helping us fill their loads. When we are in a jam, we call on them, and often, they call us when they need help... We've got a contact at one broker company that we will run hundreds of deadhead miles to helpout without blinking an eye when she needs help, because we know that the favor is always returned. We look out for each other and consequently we do much, much more work with those agents.

-There recently was a computer system upgrade or something at TQL that defaults the "Unloading Responsibility" to the carrier if not manually unchecked by the broker before the rate confirmation is sent. We have caught this over a dozen times after the agent on the phone said "no touch". Seeing how TQL reps hold to their guns when it comes to unloading charges, we makes sure this gets fixed before we sign and send back the confirmation.


Overall IMHO, TQL is a good broker, we like working for them, and I would recommend them to others. I do believe we would do more with them if the above issues were looked into.

 

I do quite a few loads for TQL and most of the time I get paid the negotiated rate with no problems. TQL's problem is load cancellations, especially during busy seasons. Last year during November/December they cancelled on me several times in a row. They booked loads 3-4 days in advance, which were scheduled to be picked up on Fridays. Then they cancelled at the last minute with no reimbursement of any kind. Meanwhile I said no to several loads and it was rather difficult to find anything else on a Friday afternoon. There should be a law against this.
This year if someone wants to book a load in November/December in advance, I will only do so with a $500 non-refundable deposit.