A Freight Broker Success Story

 Joy Lanham is a true Brooke Training success story.  

She took the Freight Broker Training class in 2019 and hit the ground running.  She earned more than she could have inmagined her first year as a broker.  Her background prepared her for this home run.

 

She services a “very niche” customer base, she moves sand…lots and lots of sand.  For years, Joy worked in oilfield services, in fracking and in investor relations in eight locations.  She learned how to juggle a lot of balls without a mishap.

 

After her time in the oil field industry she started several businesses from ladies apparel to virtual assistance for entrepreneurs.  Joy has a ‘can do’ spirit that has served her well.

 

Now her passion is freight brokering.  Her brokerage is Last Mile Logistics.  When an oil well is drilled, frac sand is pumped in the last mile of the drilling hole to help produce oil. Last Mile’s main client stores sand and delivers the sand needed to the drilling locations.  The client has their own fleet of trucks but often need more truckloads of sand for a project.  That is where Joy comes in.  She and her team of brokers starts “dialing for dollars”… calling all her trusted carriers.  She fulfills her client’s carrier needs and everyone benefits.  She listens to her carriers and pays them on time.

 

Joy has developed a great relationship with carrier owners and their dispatch personnel. The mutually beneficial, trusting relationship she builds are the key to her success.  She first and foremost respects the drivers.  They risk their lives every day on the nation’s highways.  Big Rigs operators are professional drivers.  They pay intense attention to the road and the cars around them.  Drivers of cars are often distracted, so the big wheels watch out for them.  

 

Joy has plans to expand into water hauling, chemical hauling, and hauling materials like pipe and construction products.  Have questions?  Call her at 682-300-5767.  

 

Want to learn how to find success like Joy?  Join Brooke in one of live, live remote or online classes.   

 

Moving forward,

 

Jeff Roach

www.brooketraining.com

214-206-1169

Working with Carriers

As a freight broker or freight broker agent, it is wise to develop working relationships with carriers of all kinds.  Some shippers have their own fleet of carriers.  The tendency of new freight brokers is to assume that those shippers don't ever need a broker.  That is simply not the way it works.  Even though they have their own goods that they move across the country all the time, they often need a broker to fill an empty or partially empty truck (LTL/less than truckload) on their return trip.  If a truck can haul a load both ways it is more profitable, more efficient and more environmental.  A full truck both ways saves fuel and the truck drivers' time.

Private and "for hire" motor carriers are companies that provide truck transportation.  The private carriers have cargo to move.  The "For Hire" motor carrier provides transportation of loads belonging to others that don't have a fleet.  During peak seasons of cargo movement (i.e. harvest time for farmers or Christmas stock for retailers, etc.)  a private carrier may need a "for hire" motor carrier to help with their excess loads.   There are two types of "For Hire" motor carriers:   Common and contract.  

As a freight broker establishes his business he should figure out a focus industry.  As a broker focuses on a specific business he will learn who needs his services.  A freight broker or freight broker agent knows he is on the road to great success when he gains repeat business.

Get to know shipper and carriers.  Establish a solid business reputation of integrity.  Work hard and you will find success.

Moving forward,

Jeff Roach
www.transportationtraining.com

Adapted from Entrepreneur's "Start Your Own Freight Broker Business"  Fourth Edition by the staff or Entrepreneur Media and Jacquelyn Lynn

Freight Broker Motivation

In our training we try to load our students up with motivation in becoming an excellent freight broker.  A key to being a success is staying inspired.  I am big fan of Zig Ziglar.  I use his quotes as words to live by.  I encourage my students, my friends, my family, my new acquaintance at Starbucks, well anyone who will listen, to heed Zig's wise advice.  Zig is no longer with us in body but he lives on with his legacy of great motivational quotes and his model of a life well lived.

So what are a few Zig words that are crucial to life and in being a great freight broker?

"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough people get want they want."  Zig Ziglar

The key to finding success as a freight broker or freight broker agent is helping shippers get what they want. As well as helping carriers get what they want.  Shippers want their goods moved when they need, where they need at a price they need.  Carriers want their trucks full both to and from a destination and to be paid fairly in a timely manner.  That is freight brokering in a nutshell. 

A big component of a freight broker's job is listening to both sides and then negotiating a fair deal.  The first deal is the hardest because you haven't built up a reputation.  As you do a good job for one customer you will have confidence to move forward.  Your reputation in the industry is built one job at a time. 

Our tendency is to start the day thinking "what do I want today?"  According to Zig we should start the day thinking through who we can help get what they want.  Continue on the path of helping others and you will realize you have what you want. 

Moving forward,

Jeff Roach
www.transportationtraining.com

Do You Need to Be Trained to be a Freight Broker?

I often get asked,"Is training worth the cost?"

I answer by telling my story of why I started a training school.  I have been in the transportation industry since I graduated from college (with lots of help of my girlfriend, now wife).  It is the perfect business for me because I can be salty with the drivers then clean up to meet with the “suits”.  I enjoy the fast paced nature of the business.  I fell into the white glove priority delivery niche of the business.  When a shipment has got to be there on time I dog it til it makes it.  I have always been a great salesman.  I won all the top sales award for all the fundraisers I ever helped with from elementary school on up.  So being a freight broker comes naturally for me.  As a freight broker I sell to shippers and negotiate with carriers.  I like being in the middle.  What I have not liked about the business is there are a few in this business, as in any business, who lack integrity.  That is a main reason I started my school.  I have been highly successful without compromising my principles.  In the short run it sometimes feels like the cheaters are winning but in the long run you get what you give.  Work an honest day and get an honest return.  Trust and be trusted.  Lie and be lied to.  It is a simple concept but few truly grasp the impact of it. 

I read comments on forums that rag on freight broker trainers as shysters, out to get money and give you nothing.  Not all the students who attend Brooke Training have been successful brokers.  But it is not because we don’t teach the right stuff.  Some fail because they don’t work the process.  Others fail because they stop too soon.  And others fail because it simply is not the right fit for their personality.   I teach a successful process.  I know it is successful because I have been successful with it, as have others.

That is why I started a training school to teach how to do this business with integrity and to share the process I honed over decades in the industry.  Each month our students have the opportunity to give us feedback on the class.  I send a blog with those testimonials each month and we post the testimonials on the website.  These are not my words, not made up words but the words of actual students just as they finished the week long course.  

Have any questions?  Give me a call 214-206-1169.  We'd enjoy seeing you in a class real soon.

Moving forward,

Jeff Roach

www.transportationtraining.com

The Value of Training

Is on the job training enough to keep a freight broker honed in his career?  I believe on the job training goes hand in hand with formal training courses.  We developed our freight broker training course to include both instruction from a professional as well as hands on opportunity of working in a brokerage.  We set up a brokerage for each training course.

Training is an excellent way to boost confidence.  When we are in a community of learners we have a greater zest for learning.  Newly learned approaches boost our confidence in our job and our enthusiasm about our job. 

A freight broker may be great at finding shippers but not finding carriers.  Perhaps they have a good network of carriers but are not good at finding shipments both ways.  A training course can give valuable tips on how to fill in the blanks.  A training course may great be a reenforcement of the best processes for freight brokering. 

At Brooke Training we teach a proven process for finding carriers, finding loads and all else involved in freight brokering.

If you own a freight brokerage we would be honored to train your agents.  They can come to one of our scheduled courses or we can come to you.  If you'd like me to come and consult with you on how you can take your brokerage to the next level, give me a call:  214-206-1169.

Moving forward,

Jeff Roach
www.transportationtraining.com

Freight Broker Myth #2

Myth  #2 Non Asset Based Freight Broker Are Not Cost Effective 

  

It makes sense that if you remove the middle man (the broker) from the transaction it will result in lower prices for the shipper.  When actually a broker may very well get you the best price.   There is power in numbers.  As a result of a freight broker's volume in a given lane, within a given market or with a group of carriers, they are able to leverage that volume to negotiate better pricing.  Equally important is the fact that freight brokers routinely re-­position assets resulting in less empty miles and more profit retention for their asset-based carrier partners.  Because no carrier wants to run empty, back hauls are typically done at a discounted rate, which allows brokers to offer competitive rates to the shippers while earning a small profit for these return trips.  

FACT:  Smart freight brokers are able to leverage back hauls and volume to decrease their cost basis, which allows them to make a small profit while maintaining competitive prices.  

We train our freight brokers to negotiate the optimum deals because we know a well serviced customer will keep using that broker.  It is a mutually beneficial relationship.

Moving forward

Jeff Roach

www.transportationtraining.com