What Does It Take to Become a Freight Broker?

I was reading through some of the comments left on my blog posts this morning.  One reader asked "what does it take to become a freight broker?".  There are books and courses with much information in answering this question, but here is my quick attempt to explain some of what it takes. 

There are many character qualities and professional skills needed to succeed as a freight broker. 

A freight broker is the middle man between the manufacturers or distributors of goods and the carriers or the vehicles that actually do the hauling.  As the middle man, the freight broker must have good communication skills.  They need the ability to be able to clearly negotiate terms to both sides.  The broker will need to communicate on the phone, via email and text.  The broker will determine their customer's preferred methods of communication.  This is a fast paced industry so being adept at communicate, in the most efficient manner, is key. 

After the negotiation, the broker will then need the organization skills to coordinate the pick up of the goods, movement of the goods then delivery of the goods.  When you are a freight broker agent, your freight brokerage will help with some of the logistics.  A freight broker is always on call as a load is being moved so that if any snags happen they can alert their customer.  A truck may encounter bad weather, traffic accidents, detours, sickness and other slow downs along the way.  When this happens the freight broker will keep all parties informed to the plan of action in getting the load delivered. 

So two key qualities needed to be a good freight broker are communication and organizational skills.  I will talk about other qualities in my next couple of blog entries.

At Brooke Transportation Training Solutions we train a diverse group of students every month.  The skills we teach are key to getting up and running fast, as a freight broker.  And the faster you are up and running the faster you will start turning a profit.  Our students actually start booking loads while in class.

Good luck in whatever adventure you take.  The skies the limit as a freight broker.

Moving on,

Jeff Roach
www.transportationtraining.com