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Home > Forum > $15 PER TON OFF THE TOP BROKERS!!!!!!!

$15 PER TON OFF THE TOP BROKERS!!!!!!!

Jul 31, 2020 at 10:21 AM CST
+ 18 - 8
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Help me to understand something folks......and brokers, feel free to chime in. I recently expierenced a broker take $15 off the top of a given price per ton. YES 15 PER TON AND GAVE ME 16 PER TON!!!!! So I made one dollar more per ton than them to haul SIX loads. Furthermore, I get email updates and notice in various different locations online, new "brokerage" or "logistics" companies being created. Subsequently these new brokerage firms or even the existing firms, broker loads from other brokerage firms. Or worse yet, they 3x broker the load to only give the trcking community even less.

BROKERS, please tell me how I am supposed to trust or earn a rightful living, like you yourselves are, without transparency across the boards about what a load legitimately pays????? Do you not lose sleep knowing that you are taking 4 to 15 dollars off the top per ton when you broker out a load???? YOU make calls just like I do every day in order to secure loads, except you have the luxury of sitting behind a laptop and desk making those calls and emails, versus being on the road trying to do exactly the same for three of my trucks. YES, my decision to do so, but why no transparency????

Do you not feel like a criminal or have a conscious to understand you are stealing from people by lying to them with "oh, thats all I can give up on this load", "I am taking money out of pocket to get you this load".....is that really business. I primarly work directly with customers now, but Godsakes people, be a little more honest. Because you will be responsible for your actions eventually.

YOU PUT PEOPLE OUT OF THE MARKET AND DRIVE PRICES BOTTOM DOLLAR FOR THE TRUCKING SIDE WHEN YOU LIE ABOUT RATES AND TAKE SO MUCH OFF THE TOP!!!! YOU ARE BEING FIGURED OUT!! Feel free to elaborate and explain your side, because I feel completely compelled to call out about 10 brokerage or logistic companies that are routinely lying people on rates. My drivers and I run hard, keep a clean appearance, have custom clean trucks and trailers....is that not what a customer should want from a trucking company???!!! So shouldnt we on the trucking side get the same in return from the brokers???

Dont be sale outs.....you may very well catch the bad end of somebody one day if you keep messing with people's livlihood. America was founded on hard blue collar work with collective action to work together, NOT steal from each other. Show some respect!!
Replied on Fri, Jul 31, 2020 at 01:39 PM CST
+ 11 - 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

I am curious, did you haul those 6 loads or did you tell the broker to shove them where the sun don't shine. From your post is would appear that you did haul them. Who is the dummy, the broker who convinced you to haul for that ridiculous rate and probably had steak for supper that night, or you for hauling those 6 loads and probably ate minced ham sandwiches?
Replied on Sat, Aug 01, 2020 at 11:42 AM CST
+ 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
You see it every day! I can give you names and phone numbers of bottom feeding brokers and carrier who do this all the time! The thing is that it will catch up to them, trucks will move on when they can not make an honest living.

I put a post on here that was removed. I was callled a greedy truck driver and a keyboard bully for asking a broker why he would post loads for 1/mi-1.60/mi loads. So I presume that, we as carriers, should bend over backward and take it in the shorts to make sure a bottom feeding broker can make "an honest living"?! BS I say! We will not haul these bullshit loads and neither should anyone else!

There are plenty of honest brokers out there! The bottom feeders NEED to be called out and exposed! Worst part about it is that they do not even have a clue what they are doing and what it takes to run a truck up and down the road!
Replied on Sat, Aug 01, 2020 at 03:49 PM CST
+ 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
2.97 per mile, not bad too bad for aggregates going 107 miles.....but wait, the load actually paid over 5 dollars a loaded mile. Thats where transparency and honesty comes in. Nonetheless, incompetence would having nothing to do with this scenario. Its about being an honest business or in this case, a major lack of.
Replied on Sun, Aug 02, 2020 at 06:37 AM CST
+ 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

So don't talk shit say who they were so no one does business with them, some of us are common carriers and used to have to post rates,until de-regulation came along and that is where things went down hill at 200 mph. .
Replied on Sun, Aug 02, 2020 at 03:31 PM CST
+ 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Maybe i missed something but if u got 2.97 loaded knowing 107 miles u gona deadhead back get next load that's not but 1.48 cent per mile how do you make money teach me cause my expense are to high. problem i see with trying to run 500 to 800 mile trips all brokers want you to haul loaded miles for 2.00 maybe 2.25 if ur lucky. Ain't know money in that even if you don't deadhead but 50 miles for next trip. All loads are loads not backhauls.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 07:09 AM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "2.97 per mile, not bad too bad for aggregates going 107 miles.....but wait, the load actually paid over 5 dollars a loaded mile. Thats where transparency and honesty comes in. Nonetheless, incompetence would having nothing to do with this scenario. Its about being an honest business or in this case, a major lack of. "

"2.97 per mile, not bad". Theres's part of your problem. I don't think you want transparency. That window looks both ways. Price gouging? Who is buying what from who?!

Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 09:15 AM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: ""2.97 per mile, not bad". Theres's part of your problem. I don't think you want transparency. That window looks both ways. Price gouging? Who is buying what from who?! "

The transparency argument don’t hold water, and here is why, most of you are paying your drivers on a percentage of the gross revenue, because your trying to incentivize the drivers to max their tonnage out, however by law those same drivers have the legal right to see your books, weather it’s a ITO, or a company driver. All your competitors have to do is hire your drivers away from you, roll out the red carpet for them, and the driver will tell all your secrets, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 09:15 AM CST
+ 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Why is it the brokers fault. You agreed to the rate. If it is not profitable is that his fault or your own? Was a family member held hostage? Explain why the broker is at fault. You negotiated the rate and agreed to it! The only thing I see is lack of negotiation skills, simply the broker was better than you. Transparency? Why would you even think that will work to the advantage of the truck? All you will accomplish is capping the revenue even more. Transparency will not stop at the broker.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 10:27 AM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

What is a "fair" percentage for the brokers? By fair, I mean what is fair to the trucker?

Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 10:27 AM CST
+ 3
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
I think this problem is catching up to the shady companies. Thanks to the internet , the companies that do this crap are getting caught by the shippers. Over the last year I've had a few calls from shippers that have found out, and decided to go direct. Id like to think that being a decent person will win in the long run.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 10:33 AM CST
+ 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "What is a "fair" percentage for the brokers? By fair, I mean what is fair to the trucker? "

OH BOY! This ought to be good!
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 12:48 PM CST
+ 3
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "What is a "fair" percentage for the brokers? By fair, I mean what is fair to the trucker? "

what is a fair margin for fuel suppliers to charge truckers. what is a fair margin for grocers to charge you for groceries. what is a fair margin for your public utilty to charge you for your electricity. what is a fair margin for a doctor to charge you or an insurance company to charge you. I am guessing there are none of you that are consulted for fair pricing for the aforementioned goods or services. If you accepted the rate as good enough at the moment why come back and gripe about it. chalk it up to experience and don't make the same mistake twice
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 12:48 PM CST
+ 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "2.97 per mile, not bad too bad for aggregates going 107 miles.....but wait, the load actually paid over 5 dollars a loaded mile. Thats where transparency and honesty comes in. Nonetheless, incompetence would having nothing to do with this scenario. Its about being an honest business or in this case, a major lack of. "

So, the load was paying a round trip rate to get the loads moved but the broker is paying a one way rate and pocketing the rest. This shit happens all of the time on the short hauls. I don't do the short stuff if it doesn't pay my truck round trip rates.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 12:49 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "What is a "fair" percentage for the brokers? By fair, I mean what is fair to the trucker? "

Kind of sums up everything that is going wrong with the trucking industry right now. Good grief.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 01:46 PM CST
+ 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

This is just capitalism. He just out traded you. Buy low and sell high. Don't be offended. Get him on the next one. You can not expect them to give you 25 when someone will do it for 15. You can always try and get it direct. Knowing what the rates they are paying, you should have success in out bidding the broker.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 03:44 PM CST
+ 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "This is just capitalism. He just out traded you. Buy low and sell high. Don't be offended. Get him on the next one. You can not expect them to give you 25 when someone will do it for 15. You can always try and get it direct. Knowing what the rates they are paying, you should have success in out bidding the broker."

Most of the time, from what I have seen, when you have a good broker who pays a fair rate, someone will go and cut the rate and haul for less than the broker had offered it for. To me, this practice makes no sense!
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 06:14 PM CST
+ 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Wyatt Gaver, you gave yourself up, your the one hauling stuff for nothing. Be mad at yourself, brush off the dust and learn from your mistakes. No one forced you to haul for under 1.50 but you did it anyway and set the new rate for that lane. We the trucking companies set the rates, not the brokers. But as soon as one of y’all haul for that substandard rate you Perpetuate the problem. Let’s be honest, you say you haul for your own customers and that’s great, but are your rates where they need to be or did you cut yourself short again? I see that all to often, a guy is hauling for a broker at a 1.60 a mile and goes to the customer and gets a 1.70. That’s still a substandard rate for most lanes and he just cut the rate the broker was charging the customer. Now the new rate from the customer is 1.70, down from 2 bucks the broker was getting. trucking is a race to the bottom. In order to overcome this race to the bottom you need to provide something the customer will pay for. Generally that is load coverage, accurate billing, and good service all the way around, from the company, the drivers, and the equipment. Those things are hard to do if your not profitable. Remember, the broker is providing a service, If he can’t find trucks to haul the loads for his rate then the customer will move on to someone who will get the job done. DON’T HAUL CHEAP freight!
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 06:14 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "Most of the time, from what I have seen, when you have a good broker who pays a fair rate, someone will go and cut the rate and haul for less than the broker had offered it for. To me, this practice makes no sense! "

When this happens it’s because they assume that the broker was telling the truth to start with about what the rate per mile is in a comparable lane, and so they go just below that to secure the customer. Transparency would minimize that type of damage, but not eliminate it.
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 06:32 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Duane, my only argument is this. If i have a written brokerage agreement that states that the broker will only take a fixed fee or percentage, why should I be happy if the broker takes more than what the written terms are? If someone asked if the terms could be altered so everyone was on the same page i could live with that. I have fought for bulk haulers to only haul for legit proven brokers since you had to pay to be on this site. I have long wasted my time trying to defeat TQL and now King of Freight, the name alone should give everyone a hint. It doesn't matter how long I've done this or how old i am. Every one that buys a truck knows better. Duane just my opinion, no disrespect Art Pfluger
Replied on Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 06:47 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
I had a direct customer one time that was paying me 4.25 a loaded mile, one day a broker come along and started hauling out of the same place, one of his trucks assumed I was going through his broker, well he then said his broker told him it paid 2 bucks a mile, and after the broker got done, he came out at 1.70 a mile, well a short time later his daddy came along and bid at a $1.60 a mile, so they could have a backhual for their load of beans. Dummies
Replied on Tue, Aug 04, 2020 at 07:16 AM CST
+ 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "what is a fair margin for fuel suppliers to charge truckers. what is a fair margin for grocers to charge you for groceries. what is a fair margin for your public utilty to charge you for your electricity. what is a fair margin for a doctor to charge you or an insurance company to charge you. I am guessing there are none of you that are consulted for fair pricing for the aforementioned goods or services. If you accepted the rate as good enough at the moment why come back and gripe about it. chalk it up to experience and don't make the same mistake twice"

Pretty much sums it up. You can't have the roses without the thorns.
Replied on Tue, Aug 04, 2020 at 07:16 AM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
now some brokers r taking $5 off/ton And those loads are gone, I noticed some Leased O/O are moving those loads and they getting pay .80cents a mile. I can’t compete with those 4 big companies they have around 1,000 trucks running in FLorida & Georgia I probably going to do UBER in my wife minivan Lol
Replied on Wed, Aug 05, 2020 at 10:04 AM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Another problem is customers getting under standard freight hauled and then when the pressure hits from busy season they expect others to haul for the low rate. I have been involved in this situation a few times 1 way. Or the other and if everyone would stop the backhaul bogus it would make it easier for everyone and the lowball company could have more money!!!!! Do a reality check and check your pulse and investigate your business to see if your set up as nonprofit or a for profit organization before agreeing to haul.
Replied on Wed, Aug 05, 2020 at 10:51 AM CST
+ 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
With out even reading the original post I thought why are you haul it. I don't care what anyone else makes if it's not worth my time I don't haul it. If you're a slave to your truck you are getting what you deserve. Sometimes I think I should grab some of that cheap shit to help the desperate truckers go out of a business they shouldn't be in. All you idiots pulling shit loads are the real problem. If you were a carpenter wouldn't you pay to build someone else's house? If you were a mechanic would you work on trucks for the cost of parts? Of course not but morons will haul freight for cost.
Replied on Wed, Aug 05, 2020 at 12:25 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Another way the brokers are making extra money is when a shipper gets in a tight needing the load moved ASAP. They pay up on the load but the carrier will likely never see any of the increase. I just checked one of those loads from a customer and the broker is offering it for $18/ton less.
Replied on Fri, Aug 07, 2020 at 09:14 AM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
What the broker makes isn’t the issue, it’s the fact that most carriers have a distorted view of where the market is, when the broker is untruthful about the numbers. When carriers go out and find direct customers, they often submit their bid’s based on what the broker would pay them, to do a similar run. That has a lot to do with why truckers need to work 70 plus hours a week to feed their families, while everyone else in the work force does it in 40.
Replied on Fri, Aug 07, 2020 at 10:18 AM CST
+ 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "When this happens it’s because they assume that the broker was telling the truth to start with about what the rate per mile is in a comparable lane, and so they go just below that to secure the customer. Transparency would minimize that type of damage, but not eliminate it."

I have seen with my own 2 eyes, brokers paying an excellent rate and then have the trucks that hauled for them try to go around them and haul for less than what the broker was paying in the first place! In one instance this driver does not haul any loads into this particular receiver. It's good practice to not take a dump where you eat!!!
Replied on Fri, Aug 07, 2020 at 01:19 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "I have seen with my own 2 eyes, brokers paying an excellent rate and then have the trucks that hauled for them try to go around them and haul for less than what the broker was paying in the first place! In one instance this driver does not haul any loads into this particular receiver. It's good practice to not take a dump where you eat!!!"

I don’t disagree with you on that point, that said you have to look at how the market gets screwed up from every angle. How do carriers know where the market is? What are their numbers based on? There seems to be a double standard here, when a carrier underbids a broker he is called a idiot, but when a broker underbids a carrier nothing is ever said? Yet it happens every day. Do you ever see brokers calling other brokers out by name for cutting rates? TQL gets slammed by drivers all the time, but never by other brokers, just a random observation.
Replied on Fri, Aug 07, 2020 at 01:20 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Ed the carriers you speak of had to of signed a no compete clause with the broker, so why didn’t the broker go after them? Did the contract become nullified because the broker got caught violating it?
Replied on Fri, Aug 07, 2020 at 03:12 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Quote: "Ed the carriers you speak of had to of signed a no compete clause with the broker, so why didn’t the broker go after them? Did the contract become nullified because the broker got caught violating it? "

Nope. Old school, hand shake take you at your word broker/carrier. That is how things were done in the old days! It is a new day and no one has any morals anymore! No loyalty, not respect, it's all about me! I am old school! I haul loads for many good brokers that pay me a fair rate and I do not try to go around them! That's just me.
Replied on Fri, Aug 07, 2020 at 03:34 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Interesting way of puttin it. When I started out, when dinosaurs first roamed the earth, a handshake an a person's word were all it took to get things done. The guy that i worked with always told me that if a person's word was no good their signature wasn't going to be any better. Over the years that has proven itself time and time again. Nowadays we are flooded with millions of pages of legal mumbo jumbo that doesn't mean jack if you have to try to enforce it. Most people know that no one is going to take the time to hire a lawyer spend boatloads on money taking some jackass that is hell bent on stealing loads to court and for what. The oversight to watch over that clown is ridiculous.. Who has time to do that unless you are a gigantic company with unlimited resources and a department that does only that. It is too bad that the ethics that were practiced back in the day aren't practiced today. There were still some that were crooked no matter what and those people you didn't work with. Word got around the industry fairly quick and you knew who you could trust and couldn't trust. Not that much different than it is now but the contracts that are supposed to solve that problem are pretty much worthless.