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More and more shipments, including local delivery, are being controlled by freight brokers or their fancy-named cousins, logistics providers.  There are many considerations for doing business with brokers–but first, you must get the freight offered to you.

How do you successfully solicit shipments from freight brokers?  The first step is to contact a prospective broker.  Most brokers do not have a specific dispatcher assigned to local pickup & delivery.  Each dispatcher generally has a personal local resource list. You can understand a dispatcher sometimes wanting to guard that list against revealing to other dispatchers.  The trick is to gain a beachhead with one dispatcher and then leverage that relationship to get introduced to other dispatchers that may need local services.

Once you have interested a broker in your services, the next step is to fill out an information sheet.  This rarely asks the questions that pertain to local P/U & delivery, such as:  “Do you have straight trucks?” or “Do you have liftgates?”, etc.  Often you are asked to simply list states in which you do business.  It is difficult to define a metropolitan area.  All these questions are barriers to local operations.  The information you provide is usually entered into a spreadsheet format that has no room for “explanations.”  You must consult with your prospect to determine the best way to enter information such that it is visible to other prospective users.

The path is difficult, but the rewards are worth it.  You must “sell” each dispatcher as if s/he were a separate customer.  Keep in mind that dispatchers often change jobs and usually bring their “stable” of customers and resources with them, potentially providing you with fresh dispatchers to solicit.  Resist the urge to get the work thru price reduction.  Brokers use one-truck operators, unregistered carriers, etc. who can all undercut your rate.

Do not try to match rates;  concentrate instead on work that would be profitable for you if you got it.  Accept the fact that 90% of freight is going to the lowest price and you are competing for the remaining 10%, which is often the only work worth doing.

There are many other consideration for doing work with brokers, some of which will be examined in future blog posts.  In the meantime, do not ignore this potential rich source for future business.

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