Insider Secrets to Successful Freight Brokering

How to Win, One Step at a Time

The freight broker business is very elusive, mysterious and simplistic in many ways. First, there are many, many individuals who dearly want to become freight brokers and, yet, the opportunity to take action just never seems to materialize. So, it remains elusive. Many of these individuals are in trucking or some related, logistics-type of work.

Second, many people have never heard of a freight broker. If you tell someone that you are a freight broker, the quick response will always be, You're a What??? So, there is a good dose of mystery surrounding freight brokering.

Third, the business concept makes freight brokering seem so simple. You find shippers with cargo, you find a truck, you put the two together and you gain your commission. Simple? Well, it's not. There are many details and procedures and they need to be done in sequence or you come across looking like a fool at best or losing your business at worst.

The key is to approach all of this one step at a time. First, get a good grounding in all the details and procedures. Frankly, while studying freight brokering with training or from books, much of it does not sink in very quickly.

It's not that it's difficult; it's just the fact that there is a lot to it. So, much of it does not sink in until you DO IT. But too many people try doing it before they are grounded in the details. They have no framework and every day they are "winging it". You can only wing it for so long. Then reality catches up with some cold, hard consequences.

In our training, the materials are layed out pretty much in sequence of how the day will go. All the details are there. As you progress further along in working with a load, you are always able to return to the materials to get regrounded in the details.You are not winging it.

You eventually take more and more orders and you go one step at a time as you proceed moving cargo from point A to point B. After going through the procedures and refreshing yourself with the details, you get more comfortable and more confident.

Eventually, you start getting repeat business from shippers. They will start calling you instead of you calling them. The same thing with carriers - if you give them good loads, pay them on time, treat them faily, you will have won another cog in the wheel of your success.

And you do all this one step at a time and eventually, you start working proactively. This is where things really start kicking in. Want to read a little more about working proactively? Go here: http://atexfreightbrokertraining.com/proactive.shtml

Trucking Regulations and the Economy

The trucking industry is facing a "double-whammy" - new government mandates and record high fuel costs. What this means is that two things will need to happen: 1) rates have to go higher, and 2) despite higher rates, more trucking companies will be put out of business or will decide to leave.

This capacity shortage will become apparent with everyone in the logistics industries.

Several things to consider are knowing what you can control and what you can't. You can't control oil or fuel prices; but you may be able to control rates.

When we talk about rates, there are different dynamics depending on if you are a trucking company or a freight broker.

I will explain this in a future blog post.

Baby in a barrel, headed for destruction ..... Part I

Our economy is like a baby in a barrel ready to go crashing over Niagra Falls to its certain death. Will someone throw out a life line???

Last night, Congress threw out a small life line but it is fragile and quicker and stronger action will be required. We all now face the bigger wars of dealing with the 2012 budget and the case of raising the debt ceiling.

We simply have to stop the insanity on spending gone amuck and budget deficits.

Many countries around the world have been perplexed, wondering how and why our Congressional leaders have been bungling things as they strive to put together a sensible budget for the rest of this year.

It is not important what other countries think about all of the workings of our budget process. But I will tell you what IS important.

In real terms, what IS important is the economic rating the world gives us on our economy and debt rating. The mushrooming growth of the trillions of dollars of deficit spending has grown as precipitously as the cascading Niagra Falls.

In my next post, I will explain how lurking enemies are ready to destroy us.

Waves, Bubbles and Busts

The economy is a complex organism. In college I had one class in Macro economics; and another class in Micro economics. The first class focused on issues that affect the economy as a whole like economic growth and contractions.

The second class dealt with a look at the more detailed aspects of the economy such as economic behavior of individuals, groups and particular companys as well as industry groups.

You don't have to be an expert economist to understand that sometimes there are "bubbles" that arise. These bubbles are usually the result of placing too much of an emphasis on certain economic transactions that eventually turn around and run counter to what was initially desired.

Take the relatively recent housing crises. This was a bubble that burst big time.

You can contrast these bubbles and busts with "waves" of economic activity where activity flows very nicely. Sometimes there are good times; sometimes things get a bit tough. But, in general, waves are merely a swelling up and down and very different, and less devasting, from bubbles and busts.

One of the most influencial components of our economy is the Federal Reserve - or The Fed. Their power is unprecedented in the way it affects the lives of nearly every individual. This blog post is not meant to explain and discuss the Federal Reserve; rather, it is to draw your attention to a looming battle that will come head-to-head in the halls of Congress just like the current Budget crisis is being played out as I write this.

The Fed's ability to maniuplate the economy was initially intended to manage money and credit issues to help stabilize the economy. However, many observers think that much of their "tinkering" has actually been the cause of the bubbles and busts and crises that we have experienced.

I'm trying to be open-minded on this and will be trying to educate myself. My initial thoughts were that The Fed has been a beacon in the night; more and more, however, I'm thinking that this might not be the case.

Time will tell but watch your news channels or pick up some newsy magazines if you feel inclined.

 

"Gimmie Your Back Haul Rates" - Part II

In Part I, I mentioned that a shipper wanting "back haul" rates is akin to wanting to pay peanuts. They have no intention of paying a competitive rate.

But ask any truck driver or fleet owner, "Is it any cheaper to run back hauls as compared to going out bound?" The answer would certainly be NO. The same costs are with a trucking company regardless of which way they happen to be going.

The shipper's idea is that a truck is more anxious to "get back home" and, therefore, the truck will take less pay. This may be, and probably IS true, for some truckers. Besides urgency, some trucks take loads that are less than their cost because they feel that taking something is better than nothing. Then some don't even know what their true costs are.

So, sometimes a truck is just stuck without a load for several days and he or she is anxious to get moving and make some money. I understand this. But, when a truck takes less than a competitive rate, they hurt themselves and the industry in the long run.

It's a matter of building your own orchestra of shippers where you can go directly to them without all the hassles of working with brokers who tell you, "Take it or leave it".

This whole idea of competitive rates is dealt with in our training in detail. It can get complicated and there is a huge difference between carriers and freight brokers seeking competitive rates.

In Part III, we will take a look at this.