What are the issues with brokers?

The service received is a reflection of the price paid. There is no other explanation to this. And yes, whoever is ultimately paying for the transport you are dealing with is accepting the risks involved, including no- shows and delays. Brokers are just middle man, they want the biggest cut, that’s it. They will give your load to the lowest bidder.

 

Ask the driver when they show up what the broker paid them to do the load. No doubt you will blow a gasket. Brokers are usually simple minded, aka stupid. Sometimes they don't even know what the hell they are trying to get moved. TQL had a load posted last week in Georgia, where I was. Said they needed a flatbed and when company called about the load, they said it was 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide. You aren't getting a #### thing 12 foot tall loaded on a flatbed. Stepdeck (maybe), double drop is what he needed. The guy was just dumber than d on a chicken. They're telling you a truck broke down because they are trying to stick it to the driver that you want hauling your load.

 

I don’t think it’s always the broker that’s the problem, I’m sure there’s shippers that read the same article’s we do about dropping rates and expecting to get their product moved for half what they paid last year.

 

I sh-t you not! True story. I needed a trailer moved across country. I was being cheap. I had a broker do it for me. I got my trailer in one piece. If not there would be a claim. I would have never done it for the amount I paid. It was like 1.30 a mile.

This is why some carriers have their own brokerage. Take care of overages and pinches. And if a guy will do it cheaper then they can. Some will gladly take the haul and be out of business. Happens every day. Key words- backhaul-getting home- out of bad area- to a good load. Every day.

 

Find better brokers who actually care about getting things done for their customers and you will solve the problem. Stay away from Landstar and TQL. Ask questions when brokers are prospecting your business. If we as brokers do not service the customer, then we dont deserve to have customers. IF we quote too low, we usually just eat a few hundred here and there to get the job done.

 

Brokers don’t care, i get 10-15 quotes a week wanting you to bid on a load they may even have.
Then if they think it’s to much, they’ll send this.


Was a yearly load, going almost 600 miles at a shipper known to book 20 loads/day with capacity to load maybe 8-10, so you sit 10-24 hours at times.
Oh, and did i mention that’s free?
Then they wanted you exclusive, DH back for another.
I don’t know anyone who’d do that “close to 2000” that could be why their trucks break down, don’t pay enough to cover it so they found a new one.
I’d have gotten a guy that wants to run local and had him load and meet halfway and we’d swap trailers out, just like them “big companies” and kept it going.
But they didn’t want that extra service.
2000 for 1000 mile load with 12 hour + load/unload time.

They think their making money.

 

You are correct. The company I recently deleased from was just taking whatever a broker wanted to pay. They may be cheaper to you, but whatever you are paying you can count they're only paying half of that to the carrier or at a minimum trying to get away with only paying half of it to a carrier. Cheaper isn't always better though, as you said reputable company....not many brokers that really care who they hire to haul.

 

As a team lead for a sales group at a brokerage, I highly encourage my people to NOT dabble in freight they don't understand the nuances of, such as job site deliveries. Crane load or unloads. Oversized/weight/height. Hell, even reefer freight.
I expect them to have a full grasp on what their customer load requires, what the carriers will be asking for/non-selling points of loads (heavy loads, ####ty commodity, etc.), and what kind of liability or exposure we may be opening ourselves up to. With a forwarder MC, we're much more responsible for the freight than a broker MC...that being said, I will walk them through what to ask their customers for on anything outside of dry goods van freight. But at least once a day I just give them a straight up "NOPE. We suck at that." Or "We CAN do that, but not well and we're gonna spend too much time sourcing for it. Or we're gonna let the customer down so yeah...I'd pass on that."

Why do brokers think they have to be fast and cheap and have capacity for every single customer request, no matter how far out of their wheelhouse it is. I DO NOT get it. I love my 3PL career but #### if there shouldn't be an IQ or critical thinking test to enter into leadership at a brokerage...