Freight Brokers Wanted, Good Freight Brokers are in High Demand!

ATLANTA - Sept. 17, 2014 - PRLog -- Freight Brokers Wanted, Good Freight Brokers are in High Demand!

According to Mr. Milton Collier, no matter what the economy is doing at any given time, goods must be transported. Every day people and businesses buy, sell and consume products! Those products must be shipped; day after day freight brokers control the movement of freight! The Bottom Line, Everything you Touch Must Be Shipped......

Mr. Milton Collier stated the reality is that brokers’ capabilities have surpassed the capabilities of many transportation and logistics professionals. In summary, brokers’ growth can be attributed to four primary factors:

1. Brokers can buy better than some traffic managers
2. Brokers create value for carriers
3. Brokers will cross the “T’s” and dot the “i’s” more than some traffic managers
4. Brokers have legitimized their practices by becoming “logistics companies”

According to Mr. Collier Brokers can buy better than some traffic managers, Brokers have at least one and sometimes two competitive transportation purchasing advantages. First, buying large quantities of transportation enables them to work with the carriers who haul their freight at rates that are often lower than those individual shippers might attain. Payment terms, the cost of sales, and technology interfaces are more favorable for the transportation company in these circumstances when compared to those that might be reached when dealing directly with customers. Second, the broker has the incentive to find the lowest rate, because the spread between the actual freight rate and the customer quote is what puts food on the table for the broker. If a broker is unable to find freight rates less than the quoted rate, they should absorb the cost and move product at a loss. In short, they have ‘skin in the game’. Undoubtedly, traffic managers will work hard to negotiate the best rates, but it is unlikely they have a rate in place for every lane. Therefore, when a new lane arises, there is only so much time that a traffic manager can put into getting the best rate given competing priorities. Brokers fill that gap admirably.

Brokers create value for carriers, historically, carriers resisted dealing with brokers. The common misconception was that with a good sales force, the trucks would never be empty and carriers would never have to relinquish margin to a third party. The reality is operating costs have reached unprecedented highs and the cost of deploying a nationwide sales force continues to rise. Brokers reduce operating and SG&A costs to a point where nearly every carrier is now in the market. A small carrier can now log onto a website or provide their broker with their lane preferences and find freight moving without a sales force and with minimal empty miles.

At the end of the day according to Mr. Milton L. Collier, brokers, or logistics providers, if you prefer, are here to stay and will continue to become an integral part of the transportation landscape. Carriers who once ran empty are now loaded, as a result and SG&A is dropping for carriers. Shippers are also safeguarded to a greater extent against uninsured or underinsured carriers handling their freight without proper operating authority. Irrespective of whether you call these businesses a broker or a logistics provider, traffic managers will continue to enjoy some relief in their work even as business puts an unmatched value on the importance of their time.