What the Hell is going on????

I know there are 3-4 of you who are going to pick this post apart find a way to dismiss my argument and I am actually looking forward to reading the replies. I have not been on this side of the steering wheel as long as many of you but I have been doing it long enough to have at least a little insight. I am struggling to understand the hows & whys behind whats happening in the industry. I am on the phone all day every day trying to broker deals with shippers and trying to get the best rates possible. I have a very good reputation with most of my shippers because we have provided good service for many years and the O/O's who pull solely for us have always been happy and some have even went so far as to say this is the most they've made driving in years. Part of my job is to deal with many shippers and negotiate the best rate for all parties involved, this being said I have been hearing the same thing from more shippers than I can count, they're telling me they have offers from other carriers/brokers to handle their freight for a fraction of what I had been getting. 1 example would be a lane we handled solely for 6 years, recently I had my monthly conversation with them usually used to discuss how things have been going, and they told me they were being "forced" to consider another broker, when I asked why they simply said they offered to do it for 20% less than I had been doing it for. Now, I'll tell you this lane was 685 miles, my rate to the shipper was $73/tn plus paid washout, unlike most shippers when asked he did tell me who offered the lower rate, at my rate the rate to the driver was $69/tn which was just over $2.50/mi plus the required washout paid, now the "rate cutter" made them an offer of $64/tn without being reimbursed for the washout, now my questuion to you is which math do I need to use to make that make sense for that carrier, they took a hit in the rate to them just so they could say the lane is theirs. Now I know there are those of you who despise brokers because we are evil, we apparently we aren't honest and we pocket to much of the money etc... and I repect your opinions, however I would like ask you this who is it thats out there cutting rates right now? is it me? NO!! I spend hours daily on the phone daily trying to negotiate rates with shippers that are fair to all involved, It is not me that is hauling freight for $1.50/mi, it is being done by those who are taking this freight to pay for their equipment they purchased when rates were decent. I am in no way pointing the blame finger at any one person, group or anything, I understand why people want to buy trucks and start trucking, there used to be good money to be made but there are so many who do not understand what it actually costs to operate the equipment, there's alway a learning curve for anyone breaking into the business and I'd like to think that very soon most of these guys will have figured out that they need to start getting more money for the work they're doing. This should in turn help bring the rates back up closer to what we need. I have nothing but respect for the trucking companies big & small who get the loads directly from the shipper and not use brokers, but there are a large number also who dont want to be on the phone negotiating with shippers, so i do believe there is a place for brokers such as myself. We are not ALL evil people, we do not keep more of the rate from some than others, we fight hard to get rates up when needed and I have always been open in my rates, all of my O/O's know exactly what I get for the loads and what they get from it, I always try to get the base rate seperated from the fuel when dealing with shippers because I believe of course 100% of FSC belongs with the truck. Right now the rates for feight are in the tank and it is hard for everyone, and even though I should be pissed at the independent truckers out there who are cutting my rates I'm not, so why some harbor so much hatred towards brokers baffles me. Although those of you who dislike me have never met nor hauled for me I invite you to call email me about any load I ever have available and ask me about it, I WILL tell you exactly what I get on it, how much of it is fuel, because I depend on you to get the job done and you would expect 100% honesty from me. I don't know who it is that has given brokers a bad rap but I have spoken with some of them who have been "Dissed" on this forum and they have never even heard of the people blaming the worlds problems on them. In closing I really want everyone to understand, I have nothing but respect for those of you doing it by yourself without a broker, but I also wish all would understand we are NOT the reason for the cheap freight and whatever else we are gettijng blames for, if you have a reasonable argument to the contrary I'd love to hear it. My email is [email protected]. I firmly believe there is room for everyone whose willing to work towards the same goal. I am also wanting to hear what everyone is saying about the rates right now and the lack of freight in general, it's getting tougher and tougher to keep my guys rolling even though I would sooner put on 2500 miles at $2/mi rather than only 1500 miles at $2.50/mi because most of my guys cant afford to sit and wait for that magical mystical "BIG MONEY" load.