Staying Current with the Freight Broker and Transportation Industry
It’s important to stay up-to-date on the freight broker industry and news. Below are a few recent articles and excerpts that highlight the in’s and out’s of freight brokerage and the transportation industry as a whole.
Best Time for the Best
By Jeff Roach
Franchise-like Business
By Jeff Roach
Voice Altering
By Jeff Roach
A New Start
I enjoy articles that recognize trucking as an industry that weathers economic storm. In a modern society we will always produce goods in one part of the country that need to be shipped to another part. It is not feasible economically to have a plant everywhere there are consumers, you can’t grow certain fruits and veggies just anywhere and unless we all go out a buy a chicken we need to get our eggs shipped from farm to market so we can make an omelet every now and then. Here’s a summary of an article I read in KFDA 10 (link no longer available) of a guy in Amarillo, Texas who changed industries in light of the current economy:
Shaky Job Market Drives People to Trucking
After five years at an oilrig, Ben Touchstone was laid off. Leaving him, like many others, looking for a new start.
“I read the newspaper everyday, everyday I’d find four or five places that needed a truck driver,” he said about his job search. “And all of them required a CDL.”
Which led him to Amarillo College’s Truck Driving Academy. The school prepares students to get their commercial driver’s license (CDL).
“Once you have the CDL you can drive a school bus, a greyhound. You will have license to do that,” said Robert Mathews, Truck Driving Academy Director of Operations.
Elen Harding joined the class to become a bus driver when her career in nursing took a wrong turn.
“I decided since that’s not working out, I’d go here and do something different and make a better life for myself,” Harding said.
“People want to go to work. You tell me where you can go for six weeks and come out with a profession,” said Mathews.
Mathews says his classes remain full because of the high demand for truck drivers, especially in our area.
“This is I-40 corridor, everything goes past here from coast to coast,” he added.
For Touchstone, who has been out of work since November, the opportunity of work is something he doesn’t want to pass up.
“I just want a job,” he said, “a job in an industry that won’t run dry.”
In my decades in this industry I’ve seen shortages of trucks and shortages of loads. As a freight broker you work with both sides. Many truck drivers drive for a while then when they want off the road some they train to be freight brokers. No training is ever wasted because it gives you more options and keeps your brain muscle in shape. Now is a great time to learn something new, switch careers and start a new adventure. It may be scary but worth working through the fear.
If you are even considering any job in the transportation industry, give me a call. I’ve worked in most of those jobs and love to talk about my experiences. Have a great week as we reflect on approaching Easter.
Moving Forward,
Jeff Roach
Online Marketing
By Jeff Roach
Freight Broker Dictionary
By Jeff Roach
A Hard Lesson from My Mentor Krish
Of all the advice I have been given over the years this may very well be the hardest one for me.
“Forgive those who hurt you while thanking them for the experience”.
Krish Dhanam, Brooke guest speaker and mentor, says the unwritten part of this statement is that you do not thank the offender in person for the pain they have inflicted on you, you must thank them and forgive mentally. Unforgiveness does not hurt anybody but you because holding grudges fills you with bitterness. Forgiving gives freedom. Pain produces growth and maturity, for that we are thankful.
Forgiveness without gratitude is like a pen without ink. It is a good idea but actually worthless. God himself forgave us with grace and mercy for an eternity filled with promise. Hans Selye, the great stress specialist, said gratitude is the most beneficial of all human emotions and anger and resentment the most destructive. Mahatma Gandhi said ” an eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind.
These words came right out of Krish’s book, The American Dream from an Indian Heart. I can tell you, I do not have this principle down yet. I am trying but not there yet. Thanks Krish for reminding me.
Funny thing about Krish – I have never left a meeting with him feeling bad. Whenever he comes and speaks to the Brooke Training class, all my students tell me the same thing.
Thank you Krish! (krish@krishdhanam.com)
Moving forward,
Jeff
Increase Your Sales in a Few Days
By Jeff Roach
Why Bid High?
By Jeff Roach
Jump the Sales Slump
An edited excerpt from “Now Go Sell Somebody Something” by Bryan Flanagan
Sales professionals have something in common with professional baseball players… slumps. Ball players have batting slumps, sales pros sales slumps.
Let’s look at six methods to shorten the length of theses sales slumps (if you allow a slump to last too long you will walk around your office looking like the picture on your driver’s license! That’s not a pretty sight.)
1. Return to the basics. What activities were you doing when things were going well that you are not doing now?
2. Keep a mental victory list. Remind yourself of your past sales success and victories. Think in terms of persistence, you selling skills and your sensitivity to meeting the needs of your prospects.
3. Visit a satisfied customer. Contact them so you will be reminded of the good service you have provided.
4. Enroll in “Automobile University”. Plug a motivational CD in while you drive. When you are in a slump you need pure, clean, powerful and positive brain food.
5. Develop selective memory. FIDO forget it and drive on. Don’t focus on past problems; focus on your major strengths.
6. Don’t compare your Abilities to Your Experiences. You have no control over most of what happens around you … you only have control over your response to those circumstances. You gotta believe in yourself.
Sales slumps are going to happen. You must shorten their duration and work you way out of the slump. If you follow the above methods, you’ll improve your sales effectiveness and consistency.
Moving Forward,
Jeff Roach
Should a Trucker Be a Freight Broker?
by Jeff Roach
Get the Training That You Need to Work from Home
Do you need to work from home? If you are unable to afford transportation to or from work, if you are unable to afford the cost of childcare, or if you are disabled, you may need to work from home. However, with a recent increase in popularity, finding a legitimate work at home job or business opportunity can seem like a long and complicated task. If you would like to increase your chances of successfully working from home, you are urged to seek additional training. In the end, this training may set you apart from other candidates or business owners.
When it comes to furthering education, there are many individuals who automatically assume that they need to return to college and get a degree. This, simply, is not true. There are a large number of courses that you can take, locally and online, that are not considered college courses. Despite being unable to earn credits towards a degree, there are a number of different reasons why you should consider furthering your education. These reasons and their benefits are outlined below.
One of the many reasons why you should think about seeking additional training is because it is easy to do. As it was mentioned above, many training courses are offered locally and online. For instance, if you are interested in taking a training course that will help you learn how to work at home as a freight broker, but that class is only available in the Dallas area, you can still take the course. Instead of taking it locally, in a classroom setting, you will just need to take it online. This type of course is often referred to as an eCourse.
Another one of the many reasons why you should think about furthering your education, or at least your training, is because there are literally an unlimited number of fields for you to choose from. Above, freight brokering was used as an example. Freight brokers are individuals who pair truck drivers with product manufacturers; manufacturers who need their products moved from one location to another. Although you may make a substantial profit working from home as a freight broker, it is not your only option. In fact, it is possible to find thousands of different training courses, which specialize in a wide variety of different work from home opportunities, in your local community or online. Essentially, all you really need to decide is decide what direction you would like your career to head in and choose a training course from there.
It is also important to note that many work at home training courses are affordable. When you think of all of the information that you will walk away with, they are actually reasonably price. In fact, the amount of education you receive in one training course is often compared to a four year degree at an accredited college or university; the only difference is the cost. Despite being reasonably price, you may be able to seek financial assistance. A large number of training course companies offering financing to qualifying students. Should you successfully complete the training course in question and start working, whether you start your own company or work for an existing one, you may be able to pay for your training in no time at all.
Since a large number of individuals and companies offer careering training courses, both locally and online, you will want to carefully choose your training course. It may be a good idea to use the internet to research similar training courses, to find the one that best fit your needs. If you are in need of financing, it is important that you search for courses that offer financial assistance, which is often in the form of a loan. It is also important that you take a training course where you will receive a certificate of completion at the end. This certificate of completion will be important, particularly when it comes to starting your own business. It may help increase your chances of obtaining new clients.
The above mentioned reasons are just a few of the many reasons why you should at least look into furthering your education, whether it is with a degree or a career training course. To get you started in your search, you may want to examine the career training courses currently offered at Brooketraining.com.
by Jeff Roach
Price Trends: Pricing Across the Transportation Modes
By Elizabeth Baatz, Thinking Cap Solutions
TRUCK
The U.S. trucking industry pushed through an average 0.7% price hike from March to April. That increase was possible thanks in large part to a 2.2% jump in prices charged by LTL general freight carriers. Truckload operators, in contrast, managed to push up prices just 0.6% over the same one-month period. Looking at tags in April 2006 compared to the same month a year earlier, prices are up 8% and 2.9% for LTL and TL, respectively. After 15 consecutive quarters of price hikes, the trucking industry cut tags by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2006. That’s likely a minor and temporary step back. The forecast now calls for average industry prices to grow 4.4% in 2006 followed by a 3% gain in 2007. Higher interest rates ahead should forestall more inflation surges.
Bryan Flanagan Teaches for BTTS
The evolution of the sales profession has caused great changes in the world of selling. The focus, strategy, and in some cases techniques, have changed to reflect the varying demands of our prospects and customers.
Our customers, economy, and responsibilities are changing. How are we responding to these changes? Are we going to arrive in the future before our customers do?
Bryan Flanagan believes in the sales profession and he respects salespeople. However, he also understands that selling is a challenge. Just think about it: if selling were easy, sales managers would still be doing it!
Check out Bryan’s seminar, CD set and book.
Ask the Expert: What Do You Think about the Petition by OOIDA to Raise the Broker Bond?
I support the proposal to raise the broker bond from $10,000, in order to ensure the financial integrity of freight brokers. The current bond level of $10,000 is not high enough to cover losses incurred in the event a broker is not fiscally responsible. Owner operators need a way to know that they are doing business with reputable brokers, especially since they are the ones assuming the insurance cost and taking on the liability for the shipments.
In our freight broker training school at Brooke Training, many of the students who currently go through the course are former owner operators who desire to get off the road, or carriers who want to open up a brokerage division. The students from these backgrounds understand the owner operator, and communicate their plight to the class daily. This can mean the difference of survival for them, and the owner operator cannot afford to absorb the costs of a broker who does not pay. One of the primary things that we teach prospective brokers in the class is that respect for the driver should be of utmost importance – to treat the driver as they desire to be treated.
One of our goals is to raise the standard of the freight brokerage industry, and this bond petition is a step in that direction. We teach prospective brokers who do not have sufficient funds to pay on a timely basis that they should become an agent for a company rather than setting up their own brokerage. A broker needs to pay fair and in a timely manner – let’s keep the trucks and cash flow rolling as quickly as we can.
There are also other steps that the owner operator should take to protect himself. He should ask for references from the broker (from carriers, owner operators and shippers). He can also run a credit report on the brokerage to determine their level of responsibility.
It’s also a good idea for the carrier to start out with a set credit limit for the brokerage.
I agree with Jim Johnston, President of OOIDA, who states that “Obviously, when brokers run up debts of $100,000 or more with truckers, the $10,000 bond does not come close to providing the type of protection intended by Congress.” There are a lot of variable that determine what the magic number should be for the bond, but $10,000 isn’t enough. I believe that by requiring a substantially larger bond for freight brokers, this will help raise the bar for the industry and help further control unnecessary losses for both the carrier and owner operator. It will also give an advantage to the brokers who pay their carriers and reduce fraud.
(BIO: Jeff Roach is president of Brooke Transportation Services, Inc. Roach, a 17-year veteran of the transportation industry, started Brooke Group a decade ago, and it has built up into one of the leading U.S. transportation firms.)
Email Jeff at jroach@transportationtraining.com or call (214) 206-1169.
For more details about these news items or our Freight Broker Training School, call us at (214) 206-1169.
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