Starting Out as a Freight Broker & Ethical Co-Brokering | Final Mile 51

So our first one oh , and please support us by checking out the sponsors in the description box . That would be Quickscope , levity , blue Book Services and DAT , and you can also check out the Freight Broker Basics course on our website if you wanted to learn how to get started in this industry and build your company .

Our first question is it worth it to buy a TMS when I am just starting out as a freight broker ? So you can actually get one . Yes , you need to have a TMS .

You can get free versions of a TMS , like a very basic free version of TMSs from at least Rose , rocket and Ascend TMS , and I don't know if there's any others that offer a free one but very , very basic functionality . But it'll let you get the feel of how their system operates before you pay to upgrade for their full version .

And if things don't pan out for you in brokerage . You didn't spend a bunch of money up front . Now you don't need to be going to buy like a quarter million dollar version of McCloud or something like that or pay a million dollars to have someone develop one personalized for you .

But you should really should have a TMS , because this is the single , you know , the main platform you're going to operate out of every single day , which should eventually become like your go-to standalone . Everything's integrated into it dispatching and freight software . What is your take on that , ben ?

I mean because you've worked at companies that have just started up . What did that look like for you ? Could you imagine not having a TMS ? What was the take on when to get a TMS ? What did you guys do ?

So if you're just starting , I always suggest start calling , set up your CRM first , because you're going to spend your first month calling prospects and organizing them . So to me , the first tools you need three a phone line , your email and a CRM .

That's where you'll live the first month or two , but right around the second month , if you've got prospects going , hey , can you help me with this load .

That's when I set up the TMS and I've done it with both Rose Rocket and Ascend , the free versions , like I mean I can get one up and running in under an hour and you can't move a load without it because you need to be able to send a rate coin to a carrier , Right , so , like typically , like that's kind of the timeline .

But for somebody that doesn't have the familiarity with a TMS , right , like I think , somewhere around your first month , set up a send or the free version of Rose Rocket and just spend an hour or two a week just doing dummy loads See what it's like to add a carrier to the system . Spend some time to see what it's like to build a load .

Make sure you can send rate cons right . The thing I do first is I set myself up as both Like I create a dummy customer that is myself . I create a dummy carrier with myself as the dispatcher , and then I like did this yesterday , I built a bunch of loads with . You know , freight 360 is the customer that emails me , or you .

I set myself up I mean , I have a motor carrier email . So , like I set myself up as a motor carrier and I just start running loads to myself to see how it works . I send the tracking to my phone and I just make sure one that it functions .

And , second of all , like I want to see what my carrier sees and that's a step that I don't think most people think of is I'm like I want to know what the rate con looks like when they get it and what I'm asking them to do , because sometimes they have questions , right ?

So I think that's really important to do when you're setting this up and for somebody new to the industry , like it's going to take you more than a handful of hours to get familiar with a new piece of software . Again , I've been using different TMSs for 10 years now .

I am still going and redoing training with Ty , which we're doing now , and we're setting up Like there's a lot to it , like setting up the accounting piece , like it's not too hard for me to send the load out and get that piece set up . But there are other things you're going to need to do . What happens once the load's delivered ?

Where do your PODs get uploaded ? Did it integrate into your accounting system ? How are you going to actually send the invoice ? Where are you going to pay your carrier ? Figure out how to upload these documents back into it so they're saved like , and most of them have really good tutorials now at this point .

So like expect to have to watch the video more than once . You're going to go to try it . You're going to get stuck , you're going to have to go back and that's usually just like familiarity with individual softwares . They just have buttons in the different places . They're different icons , like it's .

I spent an hour trying to figure out how to add a carrier to who tie , like last week . It's just like a little green button right next to where the carrier is . But like I couldn't tell that it was a button Cause , like I just didn't know , that's what you don't know .

It takes about two weeks to get used to it , to get used to how to do it fast , to know where your notes go , where the buttons are located , what takes you to the next screen , what gets you to the last screen . Those are things that I think we drastically underestimate the time it takes to get set up and to get familiar with it .

So if you think it's going to take you an hour ballpark , it'll take you six and it'll probably take you six over two weeks doing it again . That's the one thing I've seen in practice All right .

So well , inspection history is a great way to be able to figure that out , if they've actually been inspected . Now there's a lot of tools out here that will make this easy for you . So , like Highway , it's a trusted service that we recommend . They're a recommended service .

I use it personally at Pierce for carrier vetting , for carrier sourcing and for onboarding , and we can actually see on a map here's where they've been inspected in the last two years . And we can actually see on a map here's where they've been inspected in the last two years .

In addition to that , we can see if they've connected their ELD little red flashing dots of every one of their assets where they currently are live . So that's one way . Another way , if you're in the specific transaction of the load scenario , I want to know hey , I want to make sure this is the actual truck that's showing up .

Quickscope right , one of our recommended products and sponsors . We had them on the show earlier this year . Literally , the driver will have to take a picture in the Quickscope software or on their website on their phone , within two miles of the pickup that you've to , in order for the pickup number or information to be released . That is a like foolproof one .

And um , we've caught some . Even at Pierce we've caught some uh and screw ups carriers trying to get away with it not knowing that it was going to reject them by using a service like quick scope . So , there's a lot of services out there , but what it comes down to is you're you're verifying in two ways .

The preload verification is have they been inspected , you know , is there some data out there that tells me that they have trucks ? And number two is how do I verify it post awarding of the load to that carrier and that could be picture at pickup using a service like quick scope .

It could be you know your customer verifying that the right truck and MC shows up , et cetera . What do you ? Is there anything else that you do that you would add in here ?

They're going to go , huh , be like , yeah , my shippers had some issues over there , so we always send over the color , the make and model so that they can verify that when they go and pick up . That question alone and just saying that usually prevents people trying to defraud you because they'll just go to an easier target .

And the second thing is , no matter what the dispatcher tells me , my first check call to that driver before they pick up . And this is really important how you ask this . Do not say , hey , that truck , jimmy , you got MC blah , blah , blah , truck number 123 and trailer 456 , right , because they're just going to say yes .

What I do is you call the driver and you say , hey , jimmy , can you verify the MC on the side of your truck ? Don't give it to them . See what they give you back . Did it match what the dispatcher said ? Hey , what is the color , make and model of your truck ? Did that match what the dispatcher told me ?

Those two questions asked that way catch a lot of this too , and that's another thing I do , in addition to using the tools that you outlined .

Because you are not showing on this company's insurance and that is part of what we're due to vet a carrier . You need to make sure they have the insurance you think they do .

But still , the lease contract is important to make sure that you get a copy of . If there's any question , all right . Next question here this is a follow up . We talked about reefer LTL previously , but the listener said if I use one of those brokerages to help move a frozen LTL , is that considered co-brokering or double brokering ?

Do I have to tell my customer that I'd be using another broker ? How would this work with liability and claims-wise ? So yeah , if you're going to be in a co-brokerage agreement , whether it's an LTL company or intermodal , whatever it is , a co-brokerage agreement needs to be in place .

It's a legal contract that establishes who's responsible for what and in the event of liability and claims , a lot of that is spelled out in the co-broker's contract typically , and usually if I'm broker A and I'm giving my load to , let's say , the company we talked about , what's expedite off if I give my load to them and they book it on a truck .

If I give my load to them and they book it on a truck , they're typically going to be responsible for facilitating claims . Right , I just become a customer of theirs

in that situation . Co-brokerage agreements I personally am a fan of the transparency with your customer about it . Like for the example of LTL right , we can say something along the lines of hey , we have a partnership with so-and-so for our LTL pricing . We're able to get you a competitive raise that you wouldn't be able to get on your own right .

Boom , I'm transparent about it . So that's my take on co-brokerage . Because , again here , you're not double brokering , you're not illegally doing anything here , and if you're going to co-broker , there should be a value-add reason for it . Otherwise it just appears to be a more expensive way to do business . Any other thoughts on that one ? No , covered it Sweet .

Well , hey , I'll let you go through the last question here that you added . I'll read it .

And is it okay to ask the places I pick up to help them with loads , letting them know that I'm a broker , or will that cause issues between the brokerage and my carrier if the shipper tells the broker about me asking for their business ? First question .

Second also let's just say I'm on the road and someone does give me a load on the spot , will a laptop and cell phone be enough for me to do paperwork , get the load posted and do everything else needed ? Right , is that doable ? So first question right , can you ?

And if the shipper doesn't give you freight , you just lost that broker as a trucking company and again very , very frowned upon in the industry . But what I would say is if your brokerage's customer is the shipper , you can absolutely solicit business from the receivers you deliver to . If those are not customers of your brokerage you deliver to .

If those are not customers of your brokerage , right . And I think that's one Second question right is can you broker freight while you're driving a truck ? Your customer sends you a load . What's your take on that ? Nate , If you got a laptop and a cell phone and you're driving , how would that ?

We've got guys in our company that do that . They're like they're a sub agent for one of our agencies . They still drive truck and their stuff's pretty simple . So they'll handle a load here and there , but it's like a second , it's like a little side hustle . For them it's not a full fledged brokerage .

Um , and then like when it's like a little side hustle , for them it's not a full-fledged brokerage . And then when issues pop up and you've got to search through email and you've got to do this and that , are you going to pull your truck over or are you going to have bad response times ?

I've seen the husband-wife combo where whoever's not driving is handling the operational side of the brokering . I think you're going to be good at what you focus on , and if you're trying to focus on two things rather than just one , I don't think you're going to be an expert at either one of them . That's just my honest take on it .

I think for this person , what I would try to do is to have some kind of hybrid if that's really what you want to do , meaning like work with a brokerage or with , maybe an agency that provides like coverage capacity , so where , if you do solicit customers and you can call when you're not driving right and you get some of them , if you've got a team that

can support you , meaning like your customer gives you that load and you can email to them and they'll cover it for you and you just handle the communication to the shipper . Like I think that could work . I think it'd be very difficult to do all of those things yourself . You also still got to invoice .

You've got to build a customer no-transcript , then maybe decide to stop driving the truck and just go full-time brokerage as opposed to Yep and Steven added in our chat here check your employment terms to make sure it's nothing , nothing in your contract .

If you're a company driver getting paid by the mile , or , let's say , you're a local driver who's getting paid by the hour , they probably don't want you to be focusing on building your own business while you're getting paid from them . Potentially . So good thing to note there . I've seen people succeed at it .

Usually , if you're going to go both the asset and the brokerage side , you're not really driving as much Like we've . I've had small trucking companies that have opened agencies rather than starting their own brokerage from scratch , and the only time they ever succeed is if there is a single person dedicated to the brokerage side of it , meaning that they're not .

They're not just dispatching their trucks , they're not just driving All like literally what they're doing is just brokering , focusing on that . That's their main job . So but you know , hey , I encourage anybody to try and expand what they're doing and try to branch out to something new .

I love what you said about where you're delivering to , you're not back soliciting , you're looking at potentially new business and you have face time with them on a regular basis . So great way to . And even if you're not going to start a brokerage yet , you could still .

You could talk to the shippers and the receivers and just get to understand , like , what it's like in their perspective and what kind of challenges they're dealing with . And then , if you decide to go the brokerage route now you've got all that information and knowledge and understanding that you otherwise wouldn't have had .

So Good stuff , great questions , stephen said , and write everything down so you can recall it . There you go . All right , that's all I got . Hope everyone is enjoying their July , ben . Any final thoughts ?