What the
freight brokerage business doesn't want disclosed and why
By: ShippersCarriers.com LLC
Special to the Trucker
First of all, I wish to point out something to any
readers who are new to or unfamiliar with the trucking
industry. Everything we eat, drink, wear and use comes to us
on a truck. These men and women who’ve made driving their
profession make a lot of personal sacrifices to supply us
with products we use and take for granted on a daily basis.
At the same time, they miss out on a lot while their
children are growing up, and a lot of their marriages
eventually end in divorce, due in no small measure to the
fact that they spend way too much time away from their homes
and families.
Now for you drivers and other individuals out there who
have been asking how to get into the freight brokerage
business, I have some important information to share with
you.
In your quest to learn more about the freight brokerage
business, perhaps you have felt like a person in a
wheelchair trying to push that big button on the outer
doorway wall while trying to get inside and out of the
weather on a cold, rainy day. We’ll, I’ve got some good news
for you. The wires and red tape have been cut.
What do I mean by this? It is one of the best-kept
secrets in this industry. You may have been thinking that
the only way to get into this is as a broker, or that you
need to know someone in the business or have the right
password. Well, you are partially right; knowing someone
will help you get in, but there is another way.
You can start off as an “agent” for a broker and still
make plenty of money. Who better to take care of our
nation’s drivers than another driver, one such as yourself?
You do not have to be a licensed broker to be in this
business. You just need to understand how it works and to
sign on with a well-established brokerage firm with
excellent credit.
As a “broker-agent,” you do not have to carry the $10,000
bond and insurance and you don’t have to worry about billing
and collections. The broker does this for his or her cut.
Most brokers pay between 50 percent and 65 percent of the
load you sell. Anyone who pays more than this is usually new
to the business, hasn’t established credit, or their credit
is not good enough. If you go work for one of these
companies it is harder to get freight from the shipper, so
beware.
If you really want to get into the business, educate
yourself as much you can about the industry as a whole. If
you call a broker-agent training program or a brokerage
school, make sure no one gives you the runaround in
answering your questions. If they do this, what else are
they going to try and keep from you and why?
Think things through. Ask yourself: why would I go to a
school that is going to teach me to be a broker and then
offer me placement with their brokerage company? Why would
they want to teach me everything they know if I’m going to
go compete against them in this industry?
Let’s say you start working for a brokerage company and
discover a few months down the road you don’t like doing
business with them. How do you find another brokerage firm
to work for? Did they explain how you should go about this?
I’m not saying that you’re not going to learn anything from
a school such as this. I’m just saying you should ask
yourself these questions before making a decision. In your
quest, you will be continually increasing your knowledge
about the industry.
Another question you will want to ask is why they got
into the business of educating others in the first place. I
got into it for several reasons. One of the main reasons was
because I’ve seen what these large trucking firms are trying
to do. They’re trying to monopolize this industry and if
they do, we as consumers are in for it. Why should we be
concerned? Because, as they expression goes, “everything
runs downhill.” The large firms are moving freight at low
fees and under-cutting other trucking firms to get all the
accounts they can muster.
There is nothing wrong with that except that once they
accomplish their goal, they will raise the rates on the
shipper and the shipper will transfer them on to us. I
suppose you could say that I got into the business of
education in order to give the big dogs a run for their
money.
Please understand that we are not hired by any one broker
to bring agents to their particular company. We teach
individuals to make their decisions as to where to work and
who to work for. We educate drivers, dispatchers, warehouse
employees and individuals in the industry about everything
that’s available to them, what to watch out for, what kind
of questions to ask, what to do before signing on with a
brokerage company, and where to go to continue the learning
process.
We tell them that this business is not an
over-the-night-get-rich-quick scheme. We tell them that they
have to work at it by building up their customer base, which
consists of the shippers, and that with a lot of
determination, it will pay off in the long run. If you’re
timid and do not like talking on the telephone, this type of
work isn’t for you. All a person needs to get started is a
good computer, a fast Internet provider, a couple of
telephone lines, a dedicated fax line, a file cabinet, file
folders and Microsoft Excel. Do not let anyone talk you into
spending too much of your hard-earned money. You’re getting
into this business to make money, not to spend it.
When I used to work for a brokerage company as a
dispatcher I saw with my own eyes how much my broker made on
each load that was moved. I remember thinking how much I
would have loved to be in the freight industry at that time.
But as you know it costs a ton of money to get started.
I later moved to Georgia and went to work in the
Secretary of State’s office. One day I saw an article about
being a freight broker agent. I asked myself, what’s this? I
started inquiring and found out real quick that no one wants
to share their information. But I kept plugging along and
finally got into it. I’ll tell you what: I’m so glad I did.
Everyone thought I was nuts for quitting a government job,
but I knew I wasn’t.
Individuals started asking me questions about the
business and for me to take the time to teach them about the
industry. I readily agreed.
The fact is, everyone in this industry seems afraid of
losing their shippers or drivers to someone else. My
thinking is that if you take good care of your drivers and
shippers, the chances of losing either are very, very slim.
So to me, teaching others is not an issue. Personally, I
love to watch drivers and individuals light up like
Christmas trees when they finally understand what’s going
on. That I personally had something to do with opening up
their minds and watching the light switches go on tickles me
every time.
To read what others have to say about our training go
online to www.shipperscarriers.com/ref.htm. If there are any brokers
out there looking for quality agents, we would love to hear
from them. And please keep in mind that when it comes time
to talk about the profession, they’re interviewing you just
as you’re interviewing them.
ShippersCarriers.com LLC is an independent educational
facility offering the “Freight Broker Agent Training
Program.” They’re located 20 miles west of the Flying J and
TA truck stops at exit 201 off Interstate 75 south of
Atlanta in Barnesville, Ga.
(ShippersCarriers.com LLC.
She may be contacted online at www.shipperscarriers.com
or by calling (770)
872-2639.
