Interesting article on brokers

May 02, 2016 at 09:41 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. What was everyone's take on the article posted by bulkloads about brokers. Showed where shippers are trying to lock in cheaper rates and the rates they were paying were down first quarter. The rates that trucks were getting paid were also down first quarter. Yet brokers were up and one was up 11.3%. Obviously the brokers are the ones making the most money and have the least overhead. Yet if you explain this to a shipper they don't care. Sad

Replied on Mon, May 02, 2016 at 12:55 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. From what u read of it. It's mostly about retailers and manufacturing companies that are trying to lock in cheaper rates.

Replied on Mon, May 02, 2016 at 11:21 PM CST + 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. I was the one of the first to bash brokers on this forum. My ignorance let me foolishly lump ALL broker's in one pot. Please let us all differentiate between Tql and Duane or a PLS and a Tommy Wilhelm. If we support the good brokers we will all prosper. Anytime we work together we all grow and become better. Art Pfluger

Replied on Mon, May 02, 2016 at 11:38 PM CST + 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "I was the one of the first to bash brokers on this forum. My ignorance let me foolishly lump ALL broker's in one pot. Please let us all differentiate between Tql and Duane or a PLS and a Tommy Wilhelm. If we support the good brokers we will all prosper. Anytime we work together we all grow and become better. Art Pfluger" I agree with Art, not all brokers are out to be dishonorable. There are those that are honorable and work hard to make the proper connections with customers and then in return make a little coin by doing a good service for the shipper and the carrier alike. Then there are the dishonorable that believe in taking everything they can from both the shipper and the carrier. The small shipper just needs to get their product moved and often times is gouged by the dishonorable broker. We all know that the dishonorable broker in turn gouges the Independent Carrier. All you have to do is read the financial reports of these major brokerage houses and you will see which ones are which. It is amazing that one can post increase in profits when there is a lack of freight. The only ways mathmatically you can do that are: A: Stick it to both the shipper and carrier B. Get rid of the more experienced help and hire cheaper kids right out of college C. Go back to step A and repeat it all over again. In the meantime the FMCSA is asking us carriers to rat on the honorable smaller brokers and have us gripe and complain to increase the brokerage bond again. Will and increase on the brokerage bond hurt the Mega broker or will it hurt the honorable smaller broker? Will the battle of the rates between the Mega's shippers and Mega carriers hurt us small independent carriers, well you know the old expression crap rolls down hill. We are already swimming in a pool of crap right now, and here will come a tumbling even more. Looks like the whole thing I have been saying about working together by force is getting ready to happen. Many of us Independent Carriers will start wising up and choose which brokers exactly we are going to ride this storm out with. Heck we may just wise up and form our own that represents us the Independent Carriers exclusively and not co-broker with any other brokers. We Independent Carriers may just decide to sell our trucks and equipment for whatever we can get for them, pack our bags, buy some horses and ride off into the sunset and leave the rest to just make all kinds of fun greedy love to each other. They won't have us to kick aroiund anymore and laugh at, they will be stuck with whatever drivers the Mega's send their way. Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready for what's to come?

Replied on Mon, May 02, 2016 at 11:38 PM CST

+ 1

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Quote: "I was the one of the first to bash brokers on this forum. My ignorance let me foolishly lump ALL broker's in one pot. Please let us all differentiate between Tql and Duane or a PLS and a Tommy Wilhelm. If we support the good brokers we will all prosper. Anytime we work together we all grow and become better. Art Pfluger"

I agree with Art, not all brokers are out to be dishonorable. There are those that are honorable and work hard to make the proper connections with customers and then in return make a little coin by doing a good service for the shipper and the carrier alike.

Then there are the dishonorable that believe in taking everything they can from both the shipper and the carrier. The small shipper just needs to get their product moved and often times is gouged by the dishonorable broker. We all know that the dishonorable broker in turn gouges the Independent Carrier. All you have to do is read the financial reports of these major brokerage houses and you will see which ones are which. It is amazing that one can post increase in profits when there is a lack of freight. The only ways mathmatically you can do that are:

A: Stick it to both the shipper and carrier
B. Get rid of the more experienced help and hire cheaper kids right out of college
C. Go back to step A and repeat it all over again.

In the meantime the FMCSA is asking us carriers to rat on the honorable smaller brokers and have us gripe and complain to increase the brokerage bond again. Will and increase on the brokerage bond hurt the Mega broker or will it hurt the honorable smaller broker?

Will the battle of the rates between the Mega's shippers and Mega carriers hurt us small independent carriers, well you know the old expression crap rolls down hill. We are already swimming in a pool of crap right now, and here will come a tumbling even more.

Looks like the whole thing I have been saying about working together by force is getting ready to happen. Many of us Independent Carriers will start wising up and choose which brokers exactly we are going to ride this storm out with. Heck we may just wise up and form our own that represents us the Independent Carriers exclusively and not co-broker with any other brokers. We Independent Carriers may just decide to sell our trucks and equipment for whatever we can get for them, pack our bags, buy some horses and ride off into the sunset and leave the rest to just make all kinds of fun greedy love to each other. They won't have us to kick aroiund anymore and laugh at, they will be stuck with whatever drivers the Mega's send their way.

Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready for what's to come?

Replied on Tue, May 03, 2016 at 07:05 PM CST + 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. I felt that if you read between the lines there was a BIG point that I caught: There is very little freight moving and the railroad is having to LOWER their prices to compete with trucks- on what planet are we living on?? The railroad should always be cheaper, they are more efficient in that they can move a lot more freight in one pull. The trucks have their edge by typically getting their load to the destination faster. We are in fact in a race to the bottom. Guess who wins this race? The truck? Trains? Shippers? Brokers? There will be lots of blood on the streets by the time this cycle is over for sure.

Replied on Tue, May 03, 2016 at 07:05 PM CST

+ 1

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

I felt that if you read between the lines there was a BIG point that I caught: There is very little freight moving and the railroad is having to LOWER their prices to compete with trucks- on what planet are we living on?? The railroad should always be cheaper, they are more efficient in that they can move a lot more freight in one pull. The trucks have their edge by typically getting their load to the destination faster.

We are in fact in a race to the bottom. Guess who wins this race? The truck? Trains? Shippers? Brokers?

There will be lots of blood on the streets by the time this cycle is over for sure.

Replied on Thu, May 05, 2016 at 09:58 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Good points Josh, when the blood starts oozing, then and only then will we Independent Carriers realize what I have been saying about working together. My phone has been ringing so much this week with shippers and carriers that are tired of the crap that has been going on. You would not believe the stories that I have heard from bot side. It looks like the oozing is occuring as we speak, now we will be forced to work together for just survival. Pretty sad when you think about it, that if people were not so greedy that the pain would have been far less. We now have the Mega's fighting against the Mega's for cheaper rates, they are squeezing the smaller shippers to make up the difference for their proftis. We have brokers slashing brokers, everybody is in a rush to the bottom. Momentum will carry us all the way to the bottom until we get a reset. Then we will slowly and I mean slowly climb towards the top. It will take many years to gain back where we have been, there will be many truckers and brokers go out of business during this cycle. Why? Not just because of weak market, but because there are too many out there that are overextended and they are desperate, then there are the others that know this and will take advantage of them. Once this cycle starts it will not end until the desparodo's are gone. There needs to be a purging in our industry of those that don't want to work together.

Replied on Thu, May 05, 2016 at 09:58 AM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Good points Josh, when the blood starts oozing, then and only then will we Independent Carriers realize what I have been saying about working together. My phone has been ringing so much this week with shippers and carriers that are tired of the crap that has been going on. You would not believe the stories that I have heard from bot side. It looks like the oozing is occuring as we speak, now we will be forced to work together for just survival. Pretty sad when you think about it, that if people were not so greedy that the pain would have been far less. We now have the Mega's fighting against the Mega's for cheaper rates, they are squeezing the smaller shippers to make up the difference for their proftis. We have brokers slashing brokers, everybody is in a rush to the bottom. Momentum will carry us all the way to the bottom until we get a reset. Then we will slowly and I mean slowly climb towards the top. It will take many years to gain back where we have been, there will be many truckers and brokers go out of business during this cycle. Why? Not just because of weak market, but because there are too many out there that are overextended and they are desperate, then there are the others that know this and will take advantage of them. Once this cycle starts it will not end until the desparodo's are gone. There needs to be a purging in our industry of those that don't want to work together.