Are freight agent broker job opportunities growing or declining?

I'm all for the 100K requirement. The only ones against it are the people running the "let me make you a broker" schools. That is the biggest scam in this business. It will prevent the guys who go into the business for 6 months, run a ton of freight, bill the customer and then disappear only to open up shop under a different name 30 days later. I also disagree that it will lower freight rates. There are still a limited amount of trucks and the demand won't change. It's actually the newbie small brokers who drive down rates. The only way they can get in the door is to offer lower rates and then hope they can find a truck for the lower rate.

This is a huge liability business to go into and there is a huge problem with people going out of business and owing 100's of thousands to people. Also there are people that depend on going into business and taking all the money and closing up and doing it again. We all know of stories like that. There has to be a way to protect the trucks.

I think the #'s are vastly overstated that 17,000 out of 20,000 will go out of business. Are you telling us that 90% of the brokers that are in business are so vastly underfunded that they will go out of business? I don't think so. I know of tons of them that are already gearing up for the new Bond and many of them already have it.

This bill was not "designed" to put people out of business, it was to protect the ones already in it and to protect the trucks that are getting cheated by scum already.

It is like owning a Mcdonalds, you have to have money to do it. Brokerages are the same way. If you don't have the financial resources to start one up, have money in the bank and be able to weather a storm, stay out of it!! You give the rest of us a bad name. And for your info, we are a "little" guy, but we are financially stable and don't run on a shoestring and prayer, we knew this day was coming and prepared for it.

I agree. If you have been in this industry for any amount of time, you knew this day would come sooner or later. Even if your a small company and you have good credit, you can still get a bond without putting up 100k cash. Having more protection will be a huge plus when seeking quality capacity and let's face it - the carriers want fair pay and want to be paid fast and to be protected. I see no reason to panic. Just make sure you understand that the name of the game is cashflow and treating the carriers as customers. The shippers will migrate towards who can provide capacity at a fair market price. The carriers will line up to do business with brokers who take care of them. Congrats on being prepared. Bill Gates writes in his book :the road ahead" that wealth of the future will be created by those who have the information that people need and can get it to the consumer quicker than the competition:. Everyone Have a great freight day! Peace!

I agree with Mark in Penn Yan.....It really doesn't make sense that anybody can come up with a 10K bond and call themselves a truck broker. At that point they can obtain freight from a customer and tender it to a truck with no means whatsoever to pay that carrier. If you are a mildly successful broker, you would need several hundred thousand to finance the operation or you are putting the carrier at risk.

That is the thing, we don't regulate ourselves, fraud is running rampant so the correct thing to do is make it hard to commit the fraud in the first place.

I really see very few brokers complaining. They want the bad apples out of the bunch also. It is only going to keep them out and the good ones that are capitalized correctly in. If you don't have the back up to be here, then you should get out and go start a business that you can afford.

No one is trying "squeeze out the little guy". That is wrong, the law is designed to make sure you are financially able to run a business. If you don't have the resources to be in this business why are we letting them in? It is irresponsible to tell people they can be a broker with a phone, a fax and computer. It is misleading. No franchise would let someone open a business unless they had the training and the money to do it. No one is telling people they can't have the American Dream , they can but they also have to be responsible and able to handle the business. Just because I May want to open a Racetrack, does not mean that I Have any business to do so if I am not trained or have the money to do it. I can ruin countless lives that depend on me by not being prepared.

500 out of 20,000? That is not bad, there are always going to be people that don't like what you do, no matter what.

I was not rude to you, and I expect you to stay civil with me. It is not a power play and I don't need to "man up" to anything.

It is simple, there is fraud, there is a lot of it, I have personally put 2 brokers out of business because they were stealing money by keeping it from the shippers and not paying the trucks. I called the shippers and let them know exactly what was happening. They stopped giving freight to those brokers and they had to shut the doors. Well, you know what? They started right up again under another name. The trucks never got paid and several had to declare bankruptcy. These were established brokerages that decided they wanted the money more.

Yes, there are "accidental" things happening, however, if you were protected against it then the trucks don't suffer, there is millions of dollars owed to them that they will never get. It has put lots of them out of business because they can't collect when are 13th in line and there is no more money on a 10K bond.

And to put it on the carriers to say it is their fault because they did not do due diligence is a cop out. Money owed is money owed, truck did the load in good faith and should be paid in good faith.

Now you are just being silly, We will just agree to disagree, Have a good evening. I am going to go enjoy the rest of my day.

I'm thinking of taking one of those freight agent training programs. Does a new person at this have ANY chance at all of making some income at it? I expect to be persistent and get my face pushed in the mud for a while. I'm honest, respectful and really care as I want it to work for all involved.

Is it worth the effort to try and become a new freight agent at home?

Thanks for any and all replies.

Jeff in Keller, Texas said: So your a Broker?

I am an agent and trainer and a company President of one of those schools. Brokers recruit our graduates, or people open Brokerages.

I believe we can only do so much in a week or two so the more
the broker continues to train the agent, the more likely each will proser. I teach my brokers to treat your agents like customers. These graduates are willing to make 50 calls a day,
wait 6 Months before making any real money and work straight commission. Every students is told the cold hard facts.
The ones that do come in for training get about a 3 year learning curve but only they can put that knowledge to use.

Good Look in your Brokerage and your training program.

Thanks for responding - Sounds like your doing great!

JR

I want in on the fun lol. Email me at beachbum8200@gmail.com thanks any info will be a great help

hi all, I am a new broker agent, and its been 3 weeks already since i got my contract but still cant cover any loads because i have trouble using the " ALJEX " software and seems like everyone in the company i am working for so busy making money. So if anyone knows any useful blogs or can help me with few question please contact me @ silverhiez269@hotmail.com . thanks

hi all, I am a new broker agent, and its been 3 weeks already since i got my contract but still cant cover any loads because i have trouble using the " ALJEX " software and seems like everyone in the company i am working for so busy making money. So if anyone knows any useful blogs or can help me with few question please contact me @ silverhiez269@hotmail.com . thanks