Ya know...I just hate brokers

I try not to. I try to see "their side." I do my absolute best to be nice when they are stupid enough to call me rather than my dispatch. But, dang it! I fail at all those things.

WHY do they insist on calling the driver or reserving the right to do so? This is so unnecessary. I'm not the company. THEY can see where I am down to the exact coordinates. Me? When I hear, "Where are you?" I always answer with the state. When they ask for more, I add in the road number and mile marker (if possible). Most times, I have NO IDEA where I am exactly and I just do not have time to pull to the side of the road to find out. If I'm gonna have trouble making an appointment, my company will already know (because I told them or they noticed and already called)!

WHY do they insist on calling at all hours? I have lost count of the brokers who disturb me during my 10 hours break. Usually, they call when I'm sleeping. Sure, they have no idea it was a late night and I'm still asleep at 10 AM. Oh, wait. Had they called my company, they WOULD know. This honks me off every time. It usually ends with a snappy string of profanity.

WHY do they insist on lying? "Sure, you can pick up early! We do it all the time." Show up, rejected. Par for the course, right? Well, when it's a 5 hours wait until appointment and they're calling for an update BEFORE appointment when they already KNOW I cannot return until that time...usually ends up in blocked numbers. Leave a message. Maybe I'll listen to them before deletion, ya know? And, then they wonder why I'm not a nice guy. Really, do they not get it? How dumb are they?

WHY do they bully so much? Receiver closed on the date and at the time already set for delivery? Sorry, bud! We didn't know they were close this Friday. Guess we'll try again Monday. Then they argue about layover and/or detention. TONU? Forget it. Really?????? THEY set the appointment, so they say. Unless the place burned down, taken offline by a weather event, nuked by the Russians, or was raided by the law, how do they NOT know this? Total BS. Although I have had this happena few times, it did actually happen today. I was fortunate enough to be a few hours from home, so I got to go home for Easter weekend. HOWEVER, I was only 1 of 12 trucks told of this error. Almost ALL of them were too far from home just just turn around. So, they get to miss a weekend home over a holiday and do their reset in a dirt lot or nearby mom and pop closed-by-10PM craphole truck stop.

WHY are they so psychotic that any new OO or company is literally threatened with possible blacklisting if they even TRY to seriously negotiate rate? I mean, sheesh! If they're paying .72/mile for 1000 miles on a 40K+ lbs run, do they really expect NOT to be hated? I told my dispatch that if they're stuck with any load that heavy for that amount of mile for less than $2.40/mile, I'd rather sit for the night. Their response? "They won't deal with us anymore if we start doing that." Well, sounds like they already had that discussion! ##### brokers...

WHY do so many demand I install programs like Macropoint on MY PERSONAL devices when I am a COMPANY driver? I never do, but I am nagged through text and email to do it. My company tracks the load. Ya wanna know, call THEM!!

WHY are third party brokerages WITHOUT their own contracts even allowed to exist? Most of the biggest trucking companies have their own brokerages. Why would a brokerage without transportation capability of its own even be allowed to secure those loads only to offer them at reduced prices? With current technology, these fools can secure hundreds of loads of a certain pay range in seconds. If they do not have their own contracts, third party brokers should not even be in the business. BY LAW!

When TQL can pay so little YET enjoy one, possibly two, naming right to big stadiums, it pisses me off. When Uber can just jump into the biz by offering high rates to garner clients then suddenly drop to market levels, it pisses me off.

I get to see my ratecons. The actual ratecon. I drive as a base salary paid employee with 25% kicking in on anything over $5000/week revenue. Some of the things I read on these ratecons are horrific. For example, Landstar likes to set a rule that detention can only be paid if they are notified 30 minutes BEFORE the THREE hour mark. How the hell am I supposed to know the shipper or receiver isn't gonna be done by that time? When I was new at this, I would sometimes ask the dock for an estimate. I don't have to state for y'all that reactions to that, do I? Let's just say I learned NOT to ask (myself). I have also seen that detention will NOT be paid for that load under any circumstances. Actually is worded that way. WHY?

I hate brokers with a passion. They are a blight on this industry and in need of regulation every bit as heavy as ours. They really aren't necessary and should be removed from the equation.

 

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YOU may not be able to focus on more than comic book panels, but smart folks might do otherwise.

 

Oh, that's another story. I told my dispatch I would prefer never to hear from brokers. Dispatch said they have to check a box when booking the load granting permission to call drivers. Otherwise, they cannot book the load. Sent me a screen shot to prove it. Then sent me a screen shot of a text conversation with a broker denying MY request. The gall of these brokerages...

I do block unrecognized numbers if they call more than once. I will never return their calls/messages, and they can stick MacroPoint up their wazoo. Once I did answer a second call, and pretended it was the wrong number. It became fun when they called THREE times afterward to be told the same thing.

 

Try not to be such a victim. Stand up to the brokers. Don't let them push you around.
Brokers cannot do anything to you that you don't allow them to do.
The broker-driver dynamic has never changed. I doubt if it ever will.[/QUOTE]

I'm a company driver. I do stand up when they call and I happen to stupidly answer. That usually ends up with a complaint about my attitude and a dispatcher's shaky voice warning me that the broker could ban ME from any and all of their loads. I say fine. Company thinks otherwise. But, even if I end up fired, I will not change my ways.

And what is this "don't be a victim" crap? Really? What else can I do than what I have already described? Shall I have Hugo, Bruno, and G-a-y Jake visit the offender instead?