Checking out the carrier, (freight broker training)

Freight broker training should include the importance of checking out the carrier, along with how to do it. But in the art of freight brokering, brokers/agents have a tendency to forget this for whatever reason. NEVER forget to do this no matter what the circumstance. Why?

 Ok, let's look at a little situation here: 

You have just been handed a reefer load that has to be loaded and You have exhausted all of your available trucks with no luck. 
Then all of a sudden a truck calls you wanting the load. You send him your information, he sends you his, you work out the rate, and BAM... you load the truck, mission accomplished. The next morning you call the driver to check on things and he doesn't answer. No big deal, you leave a voicemail  an hours later and you still haven't heard from the truck so you call back and leave another voice mail.n

 and the driver hasn't made his check call yet. You call again and this time you get him. He says he was in the shower and by the way, he needs an advance. You are not in the habit of giving advances, but you do it. 

The next morning you go through the same thing except this time the driver is running 2 hours late, he over slept but he can still make the delivery appointment. Fifteen minutes past delivery time, the consignee is calling you to find out where his freight and your truck are. Forty-five minutes later you are explaining to the consignee how the driver misread the appointment time. YOU should have taken the time to check out the carrier. Late and missed appointments have been documented in his carrier performance comments record. Proper freight broker training should include important scenarios like this. Visit our site 

A Thought from J&S Logistics Consulting:

Shippers are slowly but surely going out of business today. How do I know this? I have been doing some cold calling. Shippers are giving up. Why? Higher prices. Most shippers have a high overhead. Employees to pay, carriers to pay, suppliers to pay, etc. etc. When the minimum wage increased, fuel prices went up, and the customer demand went down, therefore the supply need decreased.

Shippers decided to try cutting back but when that didn't work, they got out. Everybody loses. This holds true in any business and it is true in the freight broker business world also. If shippers don't have customers, they won't need a carrier. If carriers can't find shippers, they won't need their truck. Therefore neither one will need a freight broker. And again, everybody loses. How can freight brokers possibly avoid this? Simple, by having had the proper freight broker training. 

J&S Logistics Consulting will help you with finding the proper training. 

A Note From J&S Logistics Consulting:

When looking for training, look for someone that has been a freight broker, broker agent or even a logistics consultant. But be aware that more expensive does not mean more quality or more knowledge. Some schools and seminars charge in the thousands of dollars but they also leave a thousand unanswered questions in the end. Why? They had no experience to share or relate to. Make sense? It does to me. Wondering what would be considered a qualified person? Call your prospective trainers and ask him/her if they have ever been a freight broker or an agent and if so for how long. Depending mostly on their length of experience, success, and why they quit, should give you an idea of their qualifications to give you the proper training you will need to succeed. Ask them if you can call them back a week or a month or a year down the road if you run into something you don't know or understand. Ask them about honesty and integrity. Then listen to their answers. Proper training is the key to your success. Freight broker training like any other, should be done by a qualified person. Not just someone who can give you the basic outline, but can give you the details that goes along with it. Freight brokers and agents also need to know the tricks of the trade and how to use the tools available. It won't do you any good to know WHAT they are if you don't know HOW to use them. Want more info? Contact J&S Logistics Consulting.Visit us

Just a note from J&S Logistics Consulting:

In the world of freight brokering, emphasis on Always Being Prepared cannot be expressed enough. If your freight broker training did not include being prepared for the unexpected, then you need to keep reading. Freight brokering and/or being an agent is not really a difficult profession but it can have its bad moments. If you are not prepared, things can get a whole lot worse.

What would you do if you couldn't contact a carrier that has signed a carrier contract, or when a carrier has signed a carrier contract and then suddenly falls off of the load 1 hour before pick-up time? What do you do when a load gets 

hi-jacked? What happens if the carrier is late for his appointment or if the truck breaks down? If you can't answer these questions, then maybe you haven't had the proper freight broker training.

These are real life scenarios that do happen in the world of freight brokering.

And yes you should be prepared to deal with these situations. You should know what to do, whom to call, when to call and the different options available that you can use to help resolve the issue. Not only should your freight broker training instructor make you aware of these situations and resolutions, but your brokerage should also. Just knowing the answers to these and your questions will play a most important role in how to always be prepared. Along with learning how to think fast and react even faster, remember to try and stay cool, calm and collected. After all, things like this are out of your control. But having the proper freight broker training will have given you some insight on how to always be prepared in the world of freight brokering.  J&S Logistics Consulting may be able to help you with any concerns you may have.Check us out