Are you tired of freight brokers sign the petition
 

Brokers
 

According to my insurance carrier my company did business with over 400 brokers(this includes carriers brokering thier own frieght) in the 11 years we had contract carrier auth. We were burned only 3 times. I did have to chase a few for late payments and or bill the shipper a few times but over all I found most brokers to be very honest and as far as the cheap rate brokers I would take particular joy in forcing a good rate out of them when they were in a bind or just telling them where to stick it. Evan C.H. Robbers-on will pay a good rate when thier stuck. Like any other business you have your bad apples but for the most part I found most freight brokers to be very honest. Basically anything you agree on, rate,drop pay, lumper pay, detention etc make sure you get a fax confirmation and later you won't have any problem collecting. many times in the middle of a load we would have to get a new confirmation faxed over for one reason or another and we would bill accordingly, but verbal has a short memory.

im not saying that they dont pay what im saying from my experience in the last 14 years there keeping alot of the money that they should be paying us , the shipper may be paying 2000.00 and there only paying you 1300.00 or less for the load is that right you do all the work, they get a phone call from the shipper saying we have this load paying 2000.00 , so then they post it on the board and you call and they offer it for 1300.00 , wow thats 700.00 for about 10 minutes , lets say you get this load at 1300.00 for 738 miles you will use 122 gallons of deisel which comes out to about 330.00 dollars so you really make 970.00 for driving and they make 700.00 thats not right and why because they are not regulated

If I could haul general freight for that rate consistently, I could care less what the broker makes.

wow you sound like a broker or a company driver , and i book freight like this 50% of the time , you dont care that you could make more money and cut cost for every american, i swear you sound just like a broker

Ever heard about "free market"? If you could haul it for more, don't haul it for less. Same applies to brokers...

Your handle sounds kinda familiar...Wasn't that you, calling for a strike? How did it go?

If you know your operating costs and add in a profit and don't haul for anyhting less what difference does it matter? Less government, not more.

I worked for an agent when I was with Landstar and I know for a fact that he skimmed off the top on some loads, I could care less because I made good money and always had a load waiting for me when I got empty, again I know how much it takes to operate my truck, if others don't and want to haul for fuel money(or less) let them, sooner or later they will be out of buisness.

So you'd like to see brokers regulated as to how much they can make off a load.

Let's say you head into an area that has a high freight base, and not a lot of trucks. You know heading into the area that you will be able to charge a premium for your services, because there is a higher demand for them. But nope - some jerkoff has whined enough to the gubberment, and they enacted some law that says you can only charge so much for your services. So you are forced to haul it for a much cheaper rate as a result. "But that's not fair!" you say. So how is it fair for you to tell a person operating their business how much they should make?

The best way to control rates is to not haul freight below the rate you need to turn a profit. If transparency were enacted on the brokerage side, I can guarantee it will be enacted on the trucking side as well. Your entire argument is poorly thought out, and you are no better than the misguided people who call for a trucker's strike every year to protest whatever the flavor of the day is.

And for the record, they are doing more than "posting a load" with about "10 minutes of work." If you think it's that easy, then I suggest you go start a brokerage.

I agree 110%
I have company trucks,O/O's leased on,independents on contracts and brokerage. There is far more to the brokering than having a phone,fax,computer. I have employees and agents that are payed weekly. They certainly don't work on the "when i get paid you get paid" program.
If you don't like brokers get your own customers. Oh you can't do that because you need an advance and shippers won't do that. You need to be payed as soon as you deliver and shippers won't do that.(you can always factor invoices for 30-60 APR) Thats a smart move.
You don't like paying for an advance,go to a bank and borrow for no interest.
You don't like paying for a quick pay,again try the bank for no interest.
Your run on "little or no money" and "work less payed more"business plan is a failure and you're not intelligent enough to understand. It has to be someones elses fault that i'm broke. Surely can't be the way i operated. I bucked every principle of business because i knew more than anyone.
There are many major shippers whose payment policy is no invoice untill 30 days after delivery and then net 30-45 days (60-75 days untill payed) Of course the truck needs to be payed long before that. Again try the bank for no interest.
How about when there is an "un-insured" claim? (insurance doesn't always pay) You the truck walks away and i pay. File a court claim? You have nothing to collect from.
You want more regulation in this? Fine let's go back to the "good old days". You won't have a truck,if you do you will have no say in what/where you go,when you work,regulation will decide that.
You want to raise the broker bond to 100-500,00.00 cash? I'm all for it. I can afford it. Think i won't charge more because of it? Wrong again.

I feel better now. Thank you.

Your right about your expenses, and I have to admit their are alot that do not manage their money as good as they should, but, if the rates did pay better, i.e. some brokers taking up to 60% of the gross, some taking 25% of the gross, then a decent carrier would not need an advance. Now as for the advance, we pay our fair share. Brokers charge a check charge then around 5% of the gross, then do it again for the quick-pay. For a load paying $1,500 and and advace of 40% the 5% fee is $30 bucks and the check fee is $25, now for the quick-pay, the fee is and additional $45 bucks and another $25 fee for the check, so the carrier has now paid the broker $125 in fees and charges for the service... BANKS can't get that kind of return that quick! So a broker is well compensated for that service. Think about that, if your a broker and you do that sort of average transaction 20 times in one day... thats $2500 a day in fees and $12,500 a week just in fees for quick pay and advances... that does not count the 25 - 60% they took off the top of the gross of a load. I know some brokers are honest, but... most are not, and despite all the industries struggling in this economy... I have yet to hear of freight brokers needing a bail-out. Heck, the porn insustry put in for funds, but not brokers?

As far a those that think regulating brokers will cut carriers fee... if a broker is mandated to 10%, for them to keep the lifestyle they are accustomed to, they will have to work twice as hard, and be a little more honest about lumpers, detention, delivery times, and other terms. Brokers are suppose to be an intermediary between a shipper and a carrier, not a stopping point for most of the funds. Personally I call it price fixing which is agianst the sherman act. A broker can tell a Shipper, "the drivers are demanding 2.25 a mile." Then turn around and tell the Carrier, "The customer is cheap and will only pay 1.51 a mile." And that is a clear violation of the sherman act of the 1800's, I just want the sherman act enforced and the only waty to do that is regulate brokers to protect the free market, businesses, carriers, consumers, which is the economy.

That's because you only hear what you want to hear. Brokers are going out of business left and right.

That's because you have no idea what the Sherman Antitrust Act is about. If you don't like brokers, don't use them. There are ways to operate a trucking business without ever dealing with a broker. But if you think that brokers are going to let you limit their earnings without wanting to do the same thing to you, then you are a fool.

So I just looked at your little rant on your "petition" that has garnered a whopping 16 signatures (which is really 11, when you take out the duplicates and the ones who signed every family member's name).

Wrong. Transportation accounts for about 3% of the cost of goods sold, not your 50% that you're trying to claim.

source - Transportation spending relative to the cost of goods sold is on the rise.(Management UPDATE: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY NEWS) | Logistics Management (Highlands Ranch, Co.) | Find Articles at BNET


Wrong. Me eating a taco does not put tens of thousands of dollars into anyone's pocket. That is the dumbest analogy ever.

Wrong. Shippers know exactly where their money is going. And guess what - they don't care. All they care about is that their freight is moved for what they are willing to pay to have it moved.

Wrong. That was great for a laugh though. The "strike" (lol) of 2008 did absolutely nothing to affect prices. If you disagree, provide a legitimate source for this claim.

:rofl:I'm sorry, these are just getting funnier and funnier.

I'm not entirely sure what broker you're referring to, because CH Robinson, which is the largest brokerage in the country, takes in a gross revenue of about $1.9 billion per quarter, which is less than $8 billion per year. So yeah - I'm curious as to where that $26 billion came from.

The funny part is that with a GROSS revenue of $1.9 billion, their NET revenue was about $920 million. That means their operating costs are 50% of their revenue. That "10 minute phone call" must be friggin expensive.

And here we get to the meat and potatoes! You're simply looking for free advertising for your POS book! That's why in the link you posted above, you didn't link to the "petition" (lol) page, but rather you linked to the page that advertised your joke of a book! That's funny how you are whining and complaining that brokers are taking money out of your pocket, yet you're more than willing to take money out of CAD's pocket by trying to sidestep their advertising guidelines!

Again the fee's charged for advances and quick pay if you don't like the cost run on your money not mine. Oh wait no one else will finance you because you have no legitimate business plan.
As far as brokers not needing a "bailout" maybe you should educate yourself on the number of brokers that go out of business every day. You should also have a least a minor knowledge of the sherman act before you qoute it.(and for those that say the rate should be what the price of fuel is,that could be construed as price fixing)
Just so i understand it correctly do you want all business to be limited to a 10% markup or just those that you want?
Again if it is so easy for brokers to get that "high dollar" freight why not do it yourself as a carrier? Sorry i forgot that you don't have the ability to service an account. You have too many "i don't do ??"

I think the best part of all of this is that online petitions are a joke.

I like the mentality of blaming someone else for your own shortcomings and expect everyone else to jump on the bandwagon with you.
I also like his numbers for the advance ect. By those numbers the brokerage would have gross sales of 7,800,000.00 a year. And thats assuming that every carrier on every load took the advances. Minor return for the risk of that amount of money. I mean god forbid the carrier have money for fuel.
Best of all is the advertising of a dispatch sevice that "only" charges 7% of the gross. Well i guess it is under that magical 10%. But if they are making money off a carrier it's all acceptable.

The book will not release until sept 15... as for the petition, it has to start somewhere, before one can have 100000 you have to start with 1... that is common sense, so I am past 1 I am at 16, and my publisher will be doing a huge media blitz and press releases, so in short, dispite your little opinion... its going to happen weather you like it or not. I am just trying to help carriers, businesses, and consumers, while you just want to hate on someone, so what does that make you?

So we can be assured that all procedes from the book sales will go to charity and not in your pocket? Or maybe given to carriers that have went out of business due to brokers?
In your defence there are bad brokers just as there are bad carriers. The very idea of limiting anyones income really upsets me and blaming someone else for your own woes does the same. Take some responsibilty for your actions(or in-actions)
Many carriers operate on low or nil use of brokers. How do they do it? They spend lots of money on salespeople to find there own freight. You can spend tens of thousands on salespeople before getting even one account. In the present economy i know this very well. If you just lay back and wait for a customer to come to you well get a second job.

If the "facts" listed on your website are any indication of the content of the book, your publisher is a fool who didn't bother to fact check your drivel.

But your publisher hasn't contacted ClassADrivers.com to purchase advertising, so your attempts to steal free advertising from us are hereby coming to an end. Too bad, so sad.

Blaa, blaa, blaa, what have you done for the industry? I wrote a book, and it was good enough for a publisher to take it. Your just hating on someone that is actually doing something, how about doing something on your own vs. hating on others? It is a feat to put yourself out there open to the public. I can only assume your a broker becaue a REAL trucker with a family and mortgage would not have a problem with ANYONE trying to help them, but if you just so happen to be a trucker... your not a real one.

Oh as for my publisher not contacting you... you must be too small or insignificant to matter.

Then I guess you'll have no problem with the fact that I edited out all the links or mentions to your book out of your posts, and will now be banning your account. Have a nice day!

A REAL trucker would know the he is in charge of his own destiny and would not need a "handout" from someone who is only promoting themselves.

The author's publisher (Rosedog Books) is a "Vanity Publisher" meaning the author pays a fee upfront to have his manuscript printed and distributed, or makes it available online as an E-Book. The contents are not fact-checked by an independent editor, so read at your own risk.

Mod-
You didn't have to ban him. It's been kind of stale around here lately. We could have had some fun for 3 or 4 more days, slappin' him around...

This guy posted the same drivel on another board.

I think brokers should be regulated to have a set fee that they charged. Not just taking however much $$$ they feel off of a load.

If the government regulates broker fees, then what's going to stop them from telling us how much WE can charge per mile? Granted, there are some flaws in the way things are done right now. But it's still workable if you are shrewd and know your market.

I don't think they should regulate all brokers to charge a certain amount. But brokers should atleast have a contract where they set a % for their service

Why?:confused:

i think you should how much your being charged for using their service

Do you ask the shop that sells you parts how much they are charging you for the service with their markup?

NO. but when you buy it you will know how much you paid for it with brokers you never know how much they charged you for a load.

That makes no sense. You don't know how much they made. You agrred to a priced and purchased the item. When you take a load from a broker you agree to a price to haul it.
It's been a long time since i held a gun to someones head and told them they had to take the load at the price i offered.:)

I wasn't aware that a broker "charged" a motor carrier to haul a load. And here I thought the motor carrier agreed to the rate at which they were willing to haul the load. Are you saying that brokers are making you agree to a rate at which you're not willing to haul it? If so, why on earth are you hauling the freight at a rate you're not willing to haul it for?

brokers
 

Although I stated before I used over 400 brokers in 11 years,like anyone in this business I had 4 or 5 brokers I used on a steady basis and became somewhat friendly with. I know for a fact some times they had to pay more to a truck than the load paid gross, not because it was cheap to begin with but truck availabilty was down and the load had to go, so they had to make the difference where and when they could. I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides, some have this illusion that brokers don't earn thier money, personally you couldn't pay me enough for the headaches. In the end they are a great service to the industry, there are a few I wouldn't mind taking a baseball bat to, but then again there are a few truckers I know I wouldn't mind knocking up-side the head either.

Brokers have made it possible for anyone with a truck to get a load. Some are honest and others are not. In defense of brokers, they also have their own problems. Things they have to deal with include owners or carriers who commit on a load and never show up or call. How about the carrier who takes a load and disappears or decides to take a few days at home with a hot load? They may also need to worry about paying the truck before they get paid. There are some brokers who rape the rates, but I know of some that take a flat percentage and make a fair profit while giving the truck a good rate. The broker doesn't usually work for the truck. Some don't work for the shipper, either. They work for themselves. They commit to move a certain number of loads at a fixed price. It is up to them to find a truck and still make a profit. Often, a broker will have a penalty for not having a truck for all loads for which he committed.

It isn't a perfect system. There are things that I would like to see somewhat differently, but I see no need to bring in the government to regulate things. The government gets in our business enough as it is. I prefer dealing with things myself rather than having big brother interfere.

Brokers exist because of the enormous amount of carriers to choose from. After deregulation in 1981, anyone can apply for and obtain interstate authority. According to ATA figures, something close to 500,000 motor carriers exist (probably less after ths depression). How does a shipper choose anyone best carrier. The vast majority of carriers are comprised of fleets of 6 trucks or less. Look in any truck stop and you'll see the variety of names on doors. This will validate the sea of choices available. Most shippers do not want to keep up with many different carriers. Brokers are making more inroads in this economy as shippers look for choices. The smart broker doesn't have huge margins because eventually someone will talk and if their shipper customer finds that they are taking a huge margin then they may no longer be their customer, not to mention, treating the carrier well will insure that one has carriers available when freight returns.
Often, people that cry for regulation are unable to cope or change with market forces. If you feel you are being taken advantage of then: 1. stop hauling for that broker/shipper. 2. do something about it by finding your own direct customers or a new broker. Opportunity is always present in any economic condition. You may have to tweak your model to survive the downturn and position yourself for the recovery. Regulation prohibits growth and spurns profits for all. Who would start any business knowing their income would be capped. Either we work in a free supply and demand driven system for all, or we will become a socialist society where you may not be allowed to be a truck driver. Regarding transparent transactions, great! If you say a broker cannot take a gross profit of more than 10% meaning they have to cover all their costs, bond, office salaries from that, then could you cover your salary at 10% above what fuel costs and maybe we'll let you slide the truck payment in there.
I've raved long enough. I work on both sides of the fence. I still drive and help market for our brokerage. I've been taken by brokers but look at that as an opportunity and a lesson. Maybe it all doesn't matter since our country is fundamentally changing. Good night comrades!

We seem to have a large group in this country that wants to embrace socialism. They would prefer government control over everything rather than a free market. They would trade their freedoms for what they perceive as security. In reality, it is freedom that provides security. A free market is part of that freedom. Under socialism you may not work in the profession you want. Under socialism the state or government may decide how much you earn. Those who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms we have enjoyed would not believe or understand what has happened to this country.

Under a free market we have the freedom to succeed or fail. It is entirely up to us as to what we do with our lives. If this administration succeeds in bringing in taking over our healthcare we will not have the freedoms that I grew up with. The government has already taken over 2/3 of our car industry and the largest banks and insurance company in the U.S. Now, some of you would prefer that the government take over a segment of the transportation industry. Competition keeps prices in check. When the government runs industry those industries become bloated with beauracrats and party favorites. Just look at how many car dealers were cut loose when it was found that they supported the wrong party. Once the government gets their head in the door, it is a short step to total control. I don't want the government to dictate how much I can make. Nor do I want the government to decide how much a broker or my competitor can earn. If I don't think that I am earning enough from a brokered load then I am free to find another broker or shipper and negotiate a price that works for me.

We are in a depression. People are scared. We will come out of this depression. If government gets involved in this business then we may not survive. It is questionable whether those industries can survive with government control. There have been other socialist countries who have taken their hand at making cars and controling major segments of their economy. Most have tossed away the socialist ideas for capitalism. Doing so has made them prosperous.

Right on the money GMAN! Whatever choices or freedoms we give to the government we will never get back. We are in extremely dangerous territory right now. People that think everything will go along as the status quo are mistaken. The so called "blue dog" democrats are the only check and balance we have in place right now. We have to sweat this one out for two years until the midterm elections take place and maybe we can get some more centerism in Congress. More taxes equals less choices, and less choices brings us further into a slave society. One good thing will come of all this. We will no longer have to worry about illegal immigration. Der fuhrer will mess up this country so bad no one will want to come here. We can call it the United Socialist States of America.

It is my hope that enough people will wake up and start to get involved before it is too late. These politicians are pushing these programs through so quickly that our representatives are voting for them without even reading the bill. They want to pass these bills before the public has time to think about what is really happening and what these massive spending bills entail. These representatives are being paid a lot of money to look after our interests. They have failed miserably. We need to start having recalls on those who are not doing their jobs. I would like to see retirement benefits totally eliminated from ANY elected official. They don't need retirement benefits.

Chris, could we hear the details about the above instance? :rofl: