Double Brokering - Carriers and Brokers, please weigh in

T

thebluffs1

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Jul 18, 2008
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All,
There has been a lot of conversation on this board in the recent past regarding double brokering by load brokers.
I'm interested in hearing best practices from other carriers and load brokers to determine whether loads they are accepting are double brokered or not, or how to avoid them.....
And please, spare me the co-brokering rhetoric..... ;)
 
From a Carrier's perspective;

With any new Third Party set up and/or an established Third Party that we have not done business with for a long time....we call the Shipper and ask them who they booked the load with......PRIOR to dispatching the truck to the pick up.

This way if there are any concerns, you can review them without the expense of dispatching the Driver to the pick up. On occasion, we have deflected putting ourselves in a "double brokering" situation too contacting the original Third Party the shipment was booked with and working with them directly. In other circumstances, we have turned back the load because we do not feel comfortable with what we have found out.
 
So, Traffic Tech double or triple brokers all the time, most of which is Landstar freight.

So, no one here deals with T.T.??

IMHO, and I know I will get shit on for this but, there are times when when its ok to get help moving a load.
 
If the load is through a broker we have not dealt with, its COD, or they better have some damn good references that we know of and deal with so we can check them out. We go over the bills of lading and other docs to see if any other carrier or company is listed on them as hauling this freight, and ask the shipper as well to make sure everything is legit.
 
It's very simple to avoid double brokering. Make sure the shipper knows the MC / US DOT number of the carrier you're sending in and checks it when your truck gates in to load. If the numbers don't mathc you go from there.
 
It's not that black and white

For the most part I agree that double brokering is not a good idea. However, we do have a couple of customers who are US freight brokers who give us their Canada stuff because they don't want to deal with it.

They know we're a broker and that we're brokering it. We pay the carrier a normal rate (not based on what we're being paid), we charge what we need, and their customer is obvoiously willing to pay for it. I don't really see a problem with this. If something happens, and we don't get paid. I'm fully committed to paying the carrier. I have to, otherwise I'd ruin my company's reputation.

On the other side of the coin, looking for frieght from other brokers just to re-broker it and squeeze a few extra bucks out of the carrier and make a profit is completely unacceptable.

I have a hard time justifying what the difference between the two scenarios is, but there is a difference.
 
I agree Pablo we do the same but as long as everyone knows you are helping an American because they do no have the contacts in Canada or the knowledge on customs or other cross border issues. I do not see a problem with that but it is a very thin line on acceptable or not.
 
Well said Pablo. There are instances when "double brokering" can be seen as acceptable. For example, we use a US based carrier for intra US shipments. He does not come to Canada with his own fleet but anytime he has a load bound for Canada, he calls us knowing that we will be brokering it. As you said, at the normal rate and everyone knows what is going on. Another example that happens probably daily, is the exchange of loads between carriers. ABC carrier has a load for one of their own customers, but can't get one of his own trucks close enough to pick it up, so he calls his pal at XYZ carrier to grab it because his truck is close by. As a broker, I expect the carrier we gave the load to will be the one doing the load. If there is a problem, I expect him to let us know about it. If they want to assign my freight to another carrier, I have to know and I will be the one who makes that decision. If I am paying the freight bill, is it not reasonable for me to know who is doing the job?
 
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