Why does it seem everyone hates brokers

Another one with zero experience thinking a quick on-line course will make them the big bucks.

And as soon as you hear the "I am doing it just to help/I will be the honest one, time to run away.

 

I wouldn’t say I hate brokers, but I have a strong dislike toward them. Why, because I’ve only met one that wouldn’t lie to me. Not saying to one wouldn’t lie to me, but he hasn’t yet.

 

Uninformed. The real answer is broker prevalence. I have 15 trucks and Stepdeck Conestoga trailers. It is near impossible to get direct business because shippers would rather deal with a single company. When I used to participate in bid packages, brokers always have the lowest rates because they have no real expenses. They undercut carriers at the source of our revenue. This leaves carriers with a couple of options, go out of business or try to hang on as long as you can.
I hope that you will stop attacking your brother and sisters out here and realize that you are in the TRUCKING industry and not in the brokerage industry.

 

When I was a company driver and worked for my old boss for 10 years he had anywhere from 10 to 16 trucks on the road. The majority of our stuff was loads direct from the mill or customer loads, very little broker freight unless we were hung up somewhere. He also had a contract with Home Depot loading out of the lumber DC delivering to the stores in Montana.

The HD contract was the bread and butter while I was there. It was 90 days to pay and most people can’t float a fleet that long and nobody else had connections to get loads out of MT to get back to Utah. We ran a limited area and stayed in our loop.

The sad reality is that there will always be an influx of new motor carriers entering the market. Part of that reality is that unless you can get direct freight you will need brokers more than they will need your 15 trucks.

 

You need to realize you have the right to say no…..to bounce out of an area. I’m not attacking anyone. Im merely stating a fact……


Now Mr. Informed if brokers make all the money with little expenses involved why are you not in that side of it instead of the trucking side of it?

I don’t use brokers I’m a low dough 1 truck show. I’ve pulled 3 loads the entire month of May. Why cause it takes longer to go broke doing nothing than pulling cheap freight. Take responsibility for your own choices quit blaming others. No matter the corner your painted in you held the brush. When my brothers and sisters stop chopping the rates to #### and undercutting each other in a race to the bottom we will talk about it. That’s not gonna happen in a free market

 

As ever, it's not an all-in-one problem. Rates are what they are on the spot market right now because there's a significant overcapacity of available MCs to set the freight up. It's not simply that there's "too many brokers" or "too many carriers" - it's both. There's plenty of customers who won't deal with brokers, and there's plenty of customers who only want to work through brokers. The issue is that there are too many people still in the market at the business-owner level for the amount of freight available. This trickles back up into the contract bids that price-sensitive shippers use. They're seeing their spot freight go for significantly cheaper than their contract freight, and when it comes time to renegotiate, they're looking for cheaper options. And honestly, you can't even blame them. Everyone always preaches to make hay when the sun is shining. Well, right now, the sun is shining on the shipper side of the equation.

At the end of the day, the market turns. When and how? That's the trickier part.

On the topic of why do people hate brokers, and more specifically this point:

I think it's probably a bit more nuanced than that. Lotta folks lie, or fudge stuff a little. What I think is important is that folks be honest about the tangibly important stuff- IE: what the load conditions are. "There's a crane offloading this piece which, according to the cut sheet is 14'6" W, and weighs 85,000lbs. Customer is telling me that they're going to back charge if the hit time is missed. If there's any issues with permits, routing, or so on, we need to know so we can adjust accordingly." That sort of stuff. Appointment times, weights, dims, any particular quirks with shipper or receiver. That's the kind of stuff that needs to have the i's dotted and t's crossed, and needs to be communicated clearly and effectively.

 

I generally try to start out polite and very professional when dealing with brokers I’m a company driver, but I still have to deal with them on backhaul loads quite frequently. They just get annoying. That’s how I would put it. They do things like not give you the pick up number until you’re at the receiver. A lot of times means you end up waiting hours longer or you could’ve got loaded early and you can’t because they’re withholding the proper numbers. Also calling me during my break and when i’m sleeping. They are nowhere to be found when you need to get a hold of them, but boy when they want to get a hold of you you better respond immediately or they’re gonna blow up your phone with text messages and calls. I recently did a load across the country over four days. Contacted FOURTEEN times…Just a little bit much. I get that this is their protocol, but I’m just trying to drive and do my job. I feel like I need a secretary on board to deal with these broker sometimes. They just overall seem to play these little games that they don’t need to. I’ll tell them things like “I’ve never had a late load yet and I don’t think yours is going to be the first, I’ll get it there on time don’t worry” doesn’t matter, they’ll call you four hours into your sleep break. Also, also, it’s the classic situation so often the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing so you’ll have multiple agents from the same brokerage firm contacting you every day apart sometimes because they don’t know their coworker has already contacted you.

 

You're dealing with the wrong brokers. I don't deal with any of that. And I wouldn't. If there is no give and take from the first minute or two of the call I move on. I have dealt with plenty like you speak of, exactly once, mostly in my earlier days. For instance I don't answer my phone at night. I don't expect them to either. For 99% of brokered freight business is done 8-5. After that it waits til next day. If you don't know enough by 5 to get your job done til 8 the next morning then you aren't holding up your end of the bargain.

There used to be a great thread about how to talk to brokers. I don't remember who started it but he was a shrewd businessman. I learned a few things from the thread but mostly I learned that negotiating loads (with brokers of course, who else) is what makes you or breaks you in this business.

You absolutely have to study every corner of brokered freight if you're going to run it, learn the habits of the big brokerages you'll inevitably run for now and then, learn the weights and the TO and FROM cities on your lanes so you know what to not waste your time on and what to chase. I don't know where every Walmart or Menards DC is but I know the names of those cities when I see them on the boards and I know that means "Run away!". Years of studying the boards is the only way to learn this stuff. Grove City Ohio? PASS! Lumberton NC. PASS!

But mostly, you've got to know how to speak, communicate, negotiate and then hold up your end. You'll still get burned but very infrequently.

This probably will go over like a fart in church but I'd be willing to bet most carriers who hate brokers are intimidated by them.

 

Spartan nash?

 

Welcome to scenic Grove City, the only place crappier than presidential depends.