At it again - Rockman

I just don't buy the argument that "co-brokering" is a legitimate method of operating one's business. If you are a serious broker, you find your own clients and service the hell out of them. Both of which requires a lot of work and commitment. Sitting in front of a load board watching for other brokers freight to appear and then moving it as if it was your own, just doesn't seem right.
 
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The carrier seems to be on the short end of the stick when loads are co-brokered. The party in the middle tends to turn a blind eye to details regarding the pick up or delivery that may be important for the carrier to know. The rate is quite often, if not almost always several hundred dollars less than what it should be. Waiting time is very difficult to get as the party in the middle seems to give preference to the people that gave him/her the load rather than being fair to the carrier. Customs docs are often missing. It's a tough sell, so we, as carriers are often not told that a load is co-brokered until we are in the middle of the s**t storm or we figure it out ourselves. That's why I always say, deal with the brokers you know and trust.
 
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What is the difference between,

1. Brokering
2. Double brokering
3. Co brokering
4. Interlining

it sounds like the same to me?
 
Accounter, without writing many paragraphs to answer your question, the short answer is #1 & 4 are legitimate and generally accepted within our industry. #3 and especially #2 are most usually frowned upon and should be actively discouraged. If you need more info, PM either myself or any other member of this site.
 
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It is interesting how double brokering, co-brokering, interlining and partnering all are trying to be legitimized by those who do it. If it is a good business model and legitimate, why does the party doing it never say, " by the way, I plan on turning this over another carrier that you have never heard of to move the freight. Do you have a problem with that?
The answer is simple, because no one in their right mind would give you any business!
Try it sometime and see if you get the load.
 
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I agree that most transport companies interline at one time or another. But many will also say interlining is double brokering. For the most part, as long as everyone is paying their bills, i m not sure what the issue is. Everyone is getting something out of it.
 
If the term is used to describe how another carrier performed the entire move from origin to final destination, then yes, it is definitely being misused. I believe most of us can accept that a carrier can use another supplier for a segment of the move, such as pick up or delivery or inter terminal transfer.
 
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Open and honest communication here is what is key. There are many ltl carriers that have furtherance providers pickup/deliver in the US, they linehaul on their own trucks and they pickup/deliver locally in the GTA on their own trucks also (good carriers, good people, thanks Larry!!). There are domestic Canada carriers that handle all the GTA pickups, consolidate with one of the rail providers, then have their own distribution centres set up in the big cities for final delivery (thanks you know who you are). Explaining to your customer (shipper or broker) how you will service them is part of the sales process, tell us what you will do to move our freight and let us decide if it's acceptable for our needs.

I'd say the same applies to other forms of arranging transport. Tell your customer how you will service them and let them decide if it's a fit for their needs/budget/service time/etc...

I'd say open honest communication and transparency is a simple concept, no?

Keep well,
Mike
 
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Interline is OK when moving LTL, but personally I would credit check any carrier partner I'd use if they were known to be interlining. Brokering is obviously OK.

Double-brokering is unethical because it is generally based on misrepresentation of parties. Co-brokering is technically OK if the actual shipper knows what is going on, otherwise no better than double-brokering in my opinion.

The co-brokerage arrangement was valid years ago when the information wasn't flowing so freely and load boards weren't over the net. It's just not valid now.
 
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lowmiler88 said:
Alexander "co-brokerage" occurs when you take a load from another load broker or trucking company and sell it to another trucking company to do the work. They are not your customers to consider them your customer you would need to receive payment directly from the shipper or receiver, otherwise you are just taking another piece of the pie for yourself same as the person who sold it to you. Ultimately it's the delivering trucking company that looses out.
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But that is what we do with our Co Broker( Clients) They are brokers and we do the work for them Because they do not have the time to look or search for a valid carrier. I call them customers because they are the ones that pay us and we do give them the service they need. We do also have direct customers. If we were so sneaky I would not be here to argue with anyone I would not even bother coming here. I would understand if we did our work Unethically but we do not. We always ask Carrier what they need to move their freight and usually I get calls from carriers for our loads because They need to move their truck, I do not go and under cut anyone. In reality it is a bunch of carriers that under cut everyone. Believe me 70% of my clients asks me who the carrier we use and I provide them the info they need such as Company name truck trailer etc... Our clients still gives us their freight because they know very well and trust us. And same for us we trust that they will not solicitate the carrier, Even though some of them do. They still come back and asks our service. I do not like slandering anyone but in our side of the coin SOME CARRIERS ARE JUST PLAIN ASSHOLES.
 
htcollections said:
I agree that most transport companies interline at one time or another. But many will also say interlining is double brokering. For the most part, as long as everyone is paying their bills, i m not sure what the issue is. Everyone is getting something out of it.
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There are still a lot of companies that do not like that , When we interline or transfer our clients freight we always let them know because I have some that seals the trailer.Explain to me how a american broker will find a carrier that will ship from NH to MB LTL ETC... When we do moves like these believe me Our (clients ) appreciate it because do not have the time to.
 
theman said:
Interline is OK when moving LTL, but personally I would credit check any carrier partner I'd use if they were known to be interlining. Brokering is obviously OK.

Double-brokering is unethical because it is generally based on misrepresentation of parties. Co-brokering is technically OK if the actual shipper knows what is going on, otherwise no better than double-brokering in my opinion.

The co-brokerage arrangement was valid years ago when the information wasn't flowing so freely and load boards weren't over the net. It's just not valid now.
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And that is exactly What I am telling everyone Just like BULL said HE tried to report us to the Broker that GAve us the freight and did not care, Our clients know what we do and trust us. Co-Brokerage came in effect 2008 - 2009. I believe we have a pretty OK reputation with the carriers that we use often. And we always pay our Bills Not perfect But we pay our carriers, BEcause we would be out of Buisness without you guys (CARRIERS)
 
Rob said:
LOL glad it wasn't me that started it. The model du business du Quebec. I still call bullshit on the everyone know what's going on part..
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I am sorry to say it But there are so much more sneaky Brokers and carriers in Ontario now a days, I paid So many carriers double last year because I offer Quick pay. When a Broker poses as carrier and asks Quick pay and 3months later The actual carrier is calling My clients or us for payment, I do not even Lookaround I pay the carrier right away, and they were all from Brampton,ON. Lesson Learned
I research my carriers more thoroughly.
 
whatiship said:
It is interesting how double brokering, co-brokering, interlining and partnering all are trying to be legitimized by those who do it. If it is a good business model and legitimate, why does the party doing it never say, " by the way, I plan on turning this over another carrier that you have never heard of to move the freight. Do you have a problem with that?
The answer is simple, because no one in their right mind would give you any business!
Try it sometime and see if you get the load.
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No I do not have a problem with that, That is the reason why I always ask for the carriers I use for their Truck trailer and driver name to make sure my clients have it and advise the Shippers receivers ETC. So that we do not get screwed by Sneaky Brokers. It might be unethical for You guys But I see it as a niche a target to be addressed and that problem is American Brokers that have big clients and they do not have the time to work or move the canadian freight they have in hand. Like someone said relationship and Communication is key.
 
I would like to ask , Would you rather have a direct Client That pays you 60-90Days or would you rather move freight for a company that will pay 30-45days and offer Quick pay ?
 
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