Insider Secrets to Successful Freight Brokering

"Inbound Logistics" magazine has a survey .....

Here are a couple of interesting facts from their recent survey.

Q. What are the top three greatest challenges for truckers? Here they are ....

1. Driver-Related Costs,
2. Regulations and Compliance,
3. Price Pressure from Customers/Competition.

Q. What are the top three greatest challenges for shippers? Here they are .....

1. Reducing Transport Costs,
2. Price Pressure from Customers/Competition,
3. Matching Supply to Demand.

And, here are MY thoughts on what are the top three greatest challenges for beginning freight brokers.

1. Attracting Quality Motor Carriers,
2. Being Competitive While Building the Business,
3. Learning How to Work with Shippers.

Can you add to any of these? Make a comment below.

The Curve in Freight Brokering

Your first several years working as a freight broker is like a flat line at first but then it starts to  slope up higher and higher as you learn more and grow the business at the same time. So, you can envision a curve sloping up. These are the learning and building years.

Then at a certain point, your business really kicks in and the slope continues higher. So, at first YOU are working the business; then at some point, the business starts carrying YOU.

In my training, I don't like to focus on getting a jack rabbit start. It can happen; but most likely, you will experience the flat line at first. This is no different than any other service oriented business.

If you have realistic expectations about building and growing the business, you will avoid frustration and burn out. This is important because you have to manage your frustration and point it in a positive direction.

Does this make sense? Leave a comment if it does.

Atex Simplifies Things for You

Getting into business can be a challenge. There are forms, papers and registrations to ensure you have everything for a proper beginning.

For example, many people set up their brokerage as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). This business structure gives you the flexibility of treating your company as a corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship for tax purposes without losing any of the corporate protection that most business owners seek.

If you are a single-owner in an LLC, you are designated as a "disregarded entity" and you would file a Schedule C on your individual tax return as if you were a sole proprietor.

If you are a married couple, you may choose to be taxed as a partnership or you may select to be taxed as a corporation. As a partnership you would file Form 1065 to file your taxes; as a corporation you would file a Form 1120 for taxes.

The same holds true for LLCs that have multiple members - you may be taxed as a partnership or a corporation.

You make your selections while applying for your federal identification number (EIN).

Sound confusing? These are just a couple examples of how I work with you one-on-one while training and getting your proper registrations in place.

You may learn more about getting started by downloading my free eBook called "Introduction to Freight Brokering". Go here now: http://www.atexfbt.com

Are you sitting on top of a gold mine?

Forbes Magazine recently came out with their list of the 10 fastest-growing counties. Do you live in or near one of these?

These counties have an estimated combined population of nearly 3.2 million people. That’s a lot of buying power.

These areas are no doubt experiencing rapid growth in the need for food, housing, beverages, furniture, appliances, lumber, cement, autos, gasoline, oil, road construction, educational facilities, entertainment facilities, etc.

Did I miss anything? Oh yeah – maybe twinkies and chipotle.

Two of the counties are not near larger metro areas – Midland County, TX and Montgomery County, TN. The largest county in the list is Fort Bend County, TX near Houston (about 627,000 pop.). The smallest county is Midland County, TX (about 147,000 pop.).

If you are not brokering freight around these areas, are you not losing out on discovering your goldmine?

In the next message, I will list the top ten fastest growing counties.

Crowdfunding: Is It for You?

You may not know what "crowdfunding" is. So, let's start there.

Crowdfunding is a process where a group of individuals provides money for the benefit of other individuals, usually for business or artistic purposes. It may not be for the smaller type businesses, but it may be something to keep your eye on.

Go here for a great resource from the Small Business Administration (SBA):

http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/community-blogs/small-business-cents/crowdfunding-%E2%80%93-it-right-your-business-where-do-

Freight Broker Resources

Go here to pick up some practical and useful freight broker information:

http://www.atexfreightbrokertraining.com/Kindle.shtml

Go here to learn about a micro loan resource:

http://www.atexfreightbrokertraining.com/GetFinancingHere.html

Freight Brokering: Can You Take a Chance on This?

I'm not a big golf fan normally. But today Phil Mickelson won the British Open. He was down 5 strokes at the start of today's last round. That's not good.

But he won by 3 strokes at the end of play.

How did he do it? Other than sheer persistence, he took chances. There was one shot where he went through the trees and came out beautifully. On another shot, he powered it to what some say was one of the greatest shots ever.

He did not play it safe.

How many times have you seen football teams punt the ball on 4th down when they only have a half yard to go? Many, many times, no doubt. They normally don't take chances. The crowd hates it.

One economist observed how teams play it safe. His research showed that teams willing to take chances seem to win more than lose.

Too many individuals and teams are afraid of screwing it up. They are afraid to fail. Fear of failure causes failure. Taking chances increases the odds of winning.

Can you relate to this as a business person? Business is like war and sports. People beat their chest and say how they are going to pummel the enemy, etc.

But in the end - they punt on 4th down.

Don't be a loser. Get into a business where you have a fighting chance. Then go for it. Go to: http://www.atexfreightbrokertraining.com

Freight Brokers & Freight Rates

Most beginning brokers will be working with "spot" rates instead of having contracts. This means that each load is negotiated independently. Here are some key considerations when negotiating rates:

It's more than price. If you provide honest, reliable service to your shipping customers, they will often times tell you to ask them for a higher rate if needed. This is "trust" at its best. And why not have some flexibility with the carrier as well if they are providing excellent service for you?

What do you need? If you enjoy working with a customer but find the rates are low, why not talk to your customer and tell him how you enjoy working with him but also tell him you need better rates so you can continue the relationship. Maybe higher rates will not be forth coming; but, if you are reasonable and if you approach the customer in the right way, you might be surprised from time to time.

Know you carriers. Many brokers try to squeeze every penny they can for themselves and tell the trucker "take it or leave it". What a lousy attitude. You don't have to know all about the trucker's costs when tendering loads to them; but if you find that some carriers display extra effort to accomdate your loads and if they work proactively with you, believe me, these guys and gals are your bread and butter. Don't treat them like beggars.

Can you compromise? This relates to the item above and you may want to consider compromising when that is what it takes to move the load. "How can we make this work" should be the underlying thought when working with both customers and your carriers.

Direct pass-through charges. When working with shippers, you should try to get a fuel surcharge for your trucks. You should then pass that on 100% to the truck. Same thing with extra stops or other costs that the truck incurs. Pass them on.

Good faith relationships. Yes, you will find customers and carriers that will work with you as a "team". This is extremely important. Being transparent, honest and reliable will solidify business relationships in ways that are hard to explain in words. But there is sort of a "high" when you experience teamwork that works like a well-oiled machine.

Take a long-term perspective and build a successful business that you can either pass on to family or sell to those who can continue in your tradition.

You Are Not Working for Yourself .......

That's right. Actually, you are working for your customers. If you forget this, it's at your peril.

So, what do I mean by this. It means that you want to fulfill customer needs. So you first have to find out what those needs are. For shippers, it may mean more than just "working with acceptable rates" or providing "good service".

It may mean getting inside your customer's head and learning what it really means to give service above and beyond what your competition can provide.

Once you learn what all your customer desires, you need to put into place procedures and checks to ensure that you do indeed fulfill your customers' desires.

If you can learn to work for your customer, you will find out that it's not necessarily all about you.

Freight Brokers & Truckers - Are They the Same .....?

..... or are they different?

There are a number of freight brokers who come from a trucking background. They actually think that their broker success depends on the fact that they know trucking. This may be misleading. Why?

The two disciplines - freight brokering and trucking have many demands, procedures, skills and requirements that may be as different as night and day.

Now each discipline may have similar business fundamentals on which the business is based; but to think that trucking alone will lead to broker express may not be true at all.

I deal with truckers frequently who say, "John, I have dealt with brokers my entire trucking life and I really don't know how to become one or what they do."

If I were looking to succeed in freight brokering, I would look first and foremost to becoming a good "business person" with in-depth knowledge in creating effective marketing strategies, in knowing how to manage my cash, in knowing how to structure the business and setting up regular planning sessions including cash flow projections.

What do YOU think?