Why do Brokers Play 20 Questions?

heck, some of them at Landstar baby sit us and in case you haven't heard LS ain't easy to get on with !!

 

STOP IT !!!

You are encouraging them to ask invasive questions of the next guy when you allow them the intrusion into YOUR life.

Answer as honsetly .... and vaguely ... as possible.

You "owe them" NOTHING..... NADA.....

It's none of their business what or where you are as long as the load arrives on time and in good condition.

"RIGHT HERE".

"YES" (or "NO")

"A LITTLE WHILE AGO".



Simple HONEST and CONCISE answers to the questions.

Other than that, they have LESS right to question me than the cops would.


Sometimes you gotta hitch up your "set" and tell overcontrolling people to GO POUND SAND.

But we all know there's some guys that "enable" them by answering all their silly questions.
Then they come up on someone who doesn't like being VIOLATED and think there is something wrong with them or something.

 

"Company" asking is WAYYY different than some broker harrassing the driver.

And with Q-comm, I don't expect my DISPATCHER to be asking me all the time where I am either.
They should already know.
(and they WILL know cause I will be telling them 24+ hours in advance that I am going to be delivering and want a load WAITING when I do.)

But he is talking about a "Third Party".
And 3rd party is asking about PRIVATE information that even a regular cop isn't allowed to ask.
(not all LEO's are DOT that are allowed to check logbooks)

2002 I was sitting at a fuel stop, 2 blocks from James River... 15 min before my delivery.
It was drop & hook, and they were backed up (could SEE the scales from store).

My DISPATCHER called me on my brand new (expensive airtime) cellphone and asked what I was doing and why I wasn't down the street.
My answer??
"I'm in the bathroom takin a $h!t. I refuse to use porta-crappers. Wanna know what it smells like too."

He hung up and didn't bother me anymore that day.
Just sent new load info.
Not even any "####-chat" on the Q-comm as usual.

Sure, I hurt his feelings.
But he's a grown man and got over it.

There is a line in life that is established by the 4th and 5th Amendments.
And sometimes the information being asked crosses that line.

And sometimes ...... you gotta just give the "best" answers you can think of.

 

You know how hard it is to make people have any idea how it is to drive a truck? Well, then on that hand do your best to put yourself into a broker's freight agent's place. The one you speak with is seldom the one who is the "broker".

They have the freight posted on an internet board. Many inquire. Many of those have unacceptable safety scores to qualify. Many are looky lous. They have promised someone to get from point A to point B by a certain time. They have a freight rate. Their percentage comes from that. The longer they leave the load on the board, the lower their percentage. By the time you get it (if your load planner booked it for you) it's JIT. They have dealt with every type of driver that has been portrayed here on TTR. They have heard every lie. If you are dealing with broker agent scorned, they are going to do their damndest to get that load delivered on time. They want some sort of assurance.

Your professional attitude when speaking with these folks will go a long way. Be cheerful, and reassuring. Let them know that you are a professional and that you can do the job. If you have a load booked out of your HOS, let them know immediately. They may want to pull the load. Better for you, better for them. I've carried freight that needed a check call every day, none until I was empty and those that wanted to hear from me every six hours. Whatever. Doesn't matter to me.

I've had irritation with brokers agents (bedroom slipper agents with the TV and kids going in the background) and Landstar agents calling me 4 times over 3 days to ask me if I was empty, after I called as soon as I got the bills. Nothing that I, as a professional, couldn't deal with. We all have jobs to do. If I want respect for mine, I have some for the others. It's not that big of a deal. Be glad you got back into your lane. And for those that have their own authority, you have your own issues that this doesn't even touch, I give you props for net 30 if you can get it.

 

Sounds like the perfect job for lupe.

 

What is expected. Good answer. So says Family Feud.

 

Well ever since the judgement against CHR in March of 09 the issue of vicarious liability has a good many brokerage houses worried. It really is a double edged sword. On the one hand, if a broker calls the driver directly and asks too many detailed questions it could be construed that they are trying to control the driver like a motor carrier when in reality they are only a licensed property broker. Requiring check calls, repeated "where ya at?", and definitely trying to exam your logs would find against a broker in civil court. A broker by definition can take no interest in the load and only arranges for transportation for compensation. Many brokers make themselves much more liable than they realize by their actions. The motor carrier is insured against loss and liability in an event. The broker is not and why would they want to take on that liability for a percentage of the load anyways. The old saying "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck..it's a duck" applies here. Honestly their communications should be through your dispatch (unless you are a small or one truck operation) and not to the driver directly. Their check call should be asking about the load status, picked up, delivered, or anticipated delivery time, not "where did you take your break". I've never had one ask me that nor have I ever asked any drivers or carriers those questions when I was brokering.
Now this does not mean that a broker should not perform their due dilligence by ensuring that the motor carrier is:

Authorized as a for hire motor carrier
Has the applicable insurance in effect and correct amounts
Safety Check (SMS) verify score, caution against developing a criteria, be able to support that in court if necessary and apply it evenly to all carriers (i.e. we don't use carriers above 87 in the old safe stat). Brokering can be done wihtout incurring tremendous liability on the broker, just don't act like a motor carrier (cause you aint one). The problem often arises when a motor carrier also having broker license mixes the two and doesn't seperate the liabilities. I could go on and on with the proper way to do things, but I know that isn't how it's done in the real world..mostly.

Now the reasons this broker and others like them operate in that fashion could be:

They don't know any better
That's how they were taught to do it
They've been burned by carriers in the past
and on and on

Some of the cheaper brokers probably tend to do those things more than others possibly because cheaper rates tend to attract cheaper carriers. Not all cheap carriers are bad, but they might be more inclined to skip maintenance, skirt the laws, or just disappear with the freight. That last reason is why a lot of places ask for your driver's license when picking up. I know a lot of people get bent out of shape thinking that someone is gonna steal their identity or something. Most shippers would like to know exactly "who" is picking up their freight. The more expensive, the more they want to know, hence the check calls (two edged sword).

Sorry for the rambling, got nothing to do right now.

But you get the idea...they're ###### if they do bother you and ###### if they don't do a good enough check. In the case of CHR I think it was 23.2 mil if memory serves correctly. Puckerin v. ATI is another good one where the shipper didn't check out the carrier and the carrier brokered the work out to a sister company inturn the driver blew an intersection with 50% working brakes and killed an elderly couple. The second time around the courts found that a shipper (which a broker is considered a shipper) can be held responsible for the actions of a carrier. They never checked the carrier out whatsoever.

Too many details to list, enough for now.

 

Yes they are very controlling. Tell em "why don't yall put this on your own truck", then they'll say "we don't have any trucks", then you say "well than what makes you think you an tell me how to run mine"

Caution:

Use the above reply if desire to no longer haul loads for that broker

 

I've never got the 3rd degree from them, must be you LOLOL