What do you want in a broker?

Your kidding right? FSC is not in question it is directly related to the price of fuel at the time. What I am talking about is $.80/ mile in the 80's $.90/mi in 2008 Thats $.10/mi increase in 20+ years. 12% increase
Minimum wage? 1983 $3.35 2009 $7.25 46% increase

If I did my math right LOL a little rusty on figuring percentages but you get the point. Hopefully.

Full disclosure is the law. Not my personal request or desire.
FMCSA §371.3 Records to be kept by brokers.

(a) A broker shall keep a record of each transaction. For purposes of this section, brokers may keep master lists of consignors and the address and registration number of the carrier, rather than repeating this information for each transaction. The record shall show:

(a)(1) The name and address of the consignor;

(a)(2) The name, address, and registration number of the originating motor carrier;

(a)(3) The bill of lading or freight bill number;

(a)(4) The amount of compensation received by the broker for the brokerage service performed and the name of the payer;

(a)(5) A description of any non-brokerage service performed in connection with each shipment or other activity, the amount of compensation received for the service, and the name of the payer; and

(a)(6) The amount of any freight charges collected by the broker and the date of payment to the carrier.

(b) Brokers shall keep the records required by this section for a period of three years.

(c) Each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review the record of the transaction required to be kept by these rules.

 

Brokers should get a demerge when truck is on time but has to wait hours to get unloaded and 100% of this should go to the truck.

 

Our experience- if you work with a broker that is part of a smaller company that has trucks, they far better understand the game, and how to play it fairly.

Until O/O are able to arrange their own loads, brokers will be around. If you think that brokers (or shippers for that matter) will ever provide full, accurate breakdowns of rates, you're crazy. Not that it is shady or underhanded, but it's a principle of what you need to know- if the rate is too low, don't haul it. How many of you are still hauling 'return loads' for the same money you did 4-5 years ago even though fuel has gone up?

 

Believe it or not, my operating costs have not changed that much since the 80's. Insurance is actually cheaper since I pay for it myself as opposed to a weekly/monthly deduction when we were leased to a carrier, tires and oil changes are a little higher, but overall repairs are down and mpg is up. We bought our own trailers; leasing them from carriers is a money maker for THEM. The only big variable is the fuel.

Not a fair comparison of minimum wage (employees) to leased rate/mile (O/O). And the % increase for minimum wage is 116% by the way. You have to look at "what you get" for the $.90/mile....are they providing a trailer? tags? insurance? dispatching? fuel advance? IFTA reporting? and on an on and on......those things cost money. There are probably as many variations on lease contracts out there as there are trucks on the road, so can't speak to your particular situation and haven't been in the lease operator market for several years.

 

With this attitude you very well may be buying a mansion and having done so honestly. My Grandpa taught me a long time ago that you will do far better in businness making $1 from 1000 people than to try to make $1000 off of 1 person. Before long that 1000 people you treated right will pass your name on to 1000 more...............