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.