Freight Broker Blog

Building a business in the trucking world is not for the faint of heart. It takes time, energy and persistence to build a solid base of ongoing customers. It is not only important to market your business to potential customers, but it is also essential to remind your current clients why they should use your services again. Getting new business can be exhausting and results can take weeks, months and even years to show up. That is why it is good to have a full range of marketing efforts that can work together as you approach new and ongoing business from different angles.  So take a break from your cold calls and do these 4 things today: Ask for a review. These days, online ...

Although it is slowly fading away, use of the CB radio and its special language is an important part of our trucking industry and its history. Check out this great guide from Smart Trucking of some popular trucker "old school" lingo translated. Try working it in your next conversation with your favorite career truck driver. Catch you on the flip flop!    

When using an affordable website creator or blog creator such as Wordpress for your trucking company, you are often stuck with a website address such as mycompany.wordpress.com. While it is definitely a good thing to have your own personal site, no one is going to find it at that address by just searching the internet.  You see, search engines such as Google and Bing use very complicated algorithms that dictate which websites get listed first when a customer searches for a phrase or key words. Highest priority is given to well named websites that are rich with the key words of the search phrases. Fortunately, some companies will allow you to use your own custom domain name while you ...

In some parts of the country, it feels like summer is already here. For the rest of the country, it is coming like a runaway train. Whether you are new to moving loads in the heat or you are an experienced trucker who has been through an entire generation of summer seasons, these tips can help you stay cool when everything heats up. #1 – Stay hydrated. Being in an air-conditioned truck for a long period of time can fool your mind into believing that your body is in great condition, however dehydration can sneak up on you especially during the hotter months. Dehydration can cause fogginess, exhaustion and a host of other health issues for truckers. Drink regularly throughout the day ...

If you are an owner-operator, fleet dispatcher or a freight broker / freight agent, then you already know how to get loaded. It isn’t that complicated, right? Subscribe to a load board or two, search for loads, call on the loads you want and then drive to the shipper for the freight.  This usually works pretty well but we are all limited by how many trucks we have and our access to other resources (such as money to expand the fleet).  If you can’t increase the number of loads you have right now, the only other choice to bring more money home is to find high paying freight loads. How to find these loads? The secret is to build relationships with shippers and brokers. ...

Yes.  And here is why. #1 – Improved Company Image.  Nothing can improve your business image better than having an online presence in the form of a website. How do you feel about a company when you look it up on the internet and there is no website? Most likely, you feel like the company may not be reputable or is some fly-by-night operation. This is especially important if you are finding most of your customers by networking and word-of-mouth.  You might get a great referral but if the potential customer can’t find your website, that customer will probably choose your competitor. #2 – 24 Hours a Day. A website for your trucking, freight or logistics ...

Five million miles is one heck of a lot of road. It is the equivalent of driving coast to coast 2,117 times, around the equator 200 times, and all the way to the moon and back over 10 times. Now that you have that frame of reference, imagine doing that much driving accident free - not one road accident ever. Georgia trucker Bobby Elrod has achieved this incredible truck driving milestone and YRC Freight will be honoring him at a ceremony on March 6.  Read more at this CDL Life article. Congratulations to this honorable man who helps gives truckers and our industry a great name.

Anyone who drives anything has experienced some form of frustration on the road at one time or another, but those of us in the commercial driving industry may experience more than most. We are always one moment away from our beautiful big rig becoming an ugly innocent victim killer. Sometimes all it takes is some unpleasant news from home or a unforeseen delay in your lane to put a driver on edge. Add to that some people out on the road that are actually trying to cause trouble and the risk of road rage multiplies.  However, we all know that letting our emotions overtake us while we are driving has all kinds of risks – and none are worth it. Road rage has been defined as aggre ...

Large overhead. There is no reason to invest in big office space and lots of equipment for your freight brokerage. Sure, it is nice to have some extra space and conveniences but freight brokering is a really simple business that basically just requires a phone and a computer. When you add to your staff, think about finding an freight agent, assistant or bookkeeper who can work from home. Keep big expenses low and your profit margin high. Be sure to diversify in your client base. If the bulk of your revenue is coming from a particular manufacturing industry, try to focus on a new niche as you prospect new business. Unexpected events occur often in the business world and you definit ...

Tesla is getting into trucking. At least his first name is. The Nikola Motor Company, a Utah-based startup, has unveiled a compressed natural gas-electric hybrid semi aimed at disrupting the long-haul trucking industry the way the Tesla Model S did the car business. The company is run by Trevor Milton, a former executive at dHybrid Systems, which developed a CNG system for tractor-trailers that’s now owned by Worthington Industries. Along with Faraday Future, Nikola is the latest automotive outfit named after an electrical pioneer to seemingly appear from the ether. The truck, called the Nikola One, has been developed in secret for the past three years. It features a 150-ga ...