How to Protect Your Freight Broker Business?

Running a freight broker business takes a lot of hard work, commitment, and planning ahead of time. Before you even book your first shipment, it’s important to make sure you have a plan in place that takes into account all the legal stuff that comes with running a freight broker business. You need to make sure you’re up to date on all the rules and regulations and have a plan for how to navigate them effectively.

Following are some of the important tips that you may follow to evaluate risk and set up processes to keep your logistics freight brokerage business and reputation safe.

If you’re a broker, you probably got into the logistics business to make money and be your own boss. But if you want to build a successful logistics brokerage business that will last longer, you need to think through all the details to make sure you don’t miss out on any opportunities.

Below are some tips to help you create a great business plan –

Setting Up Relationship with Your Shippers & Careers

Relationships with shippers and carriers are one of the most important aspects of your business. Getting things off to a good start sets the tone for the rest of the relationship. It is important to set detailed business terms and expectations in advance. It allows for transparency and realistic expectations to be set. Consistency in communication is essential and should be taken into account in every aspect of your collaboration, from negotiation to timely invoice payment.

Understanding the Market Shifts

Your business is made up of a combination of things you can control and things you can’t. You need to think about the changes that will affect your cash flow and how you will run your business. So, work to improve your company’s operational efficiency so you can profit when business is booming and be prepared to face any challenges that may arise in the future.

You should consider the following variables to understand the market shifts:

• Fuel costs.
• Your industry cycles and timing when it performs the best.
• Availability of goods.
• Availability of transportation vehicles.
• Your relationship with the shippers and carriers.
• Reputations of the shippers and carriers.
• Supply and demand in your industry.
• Fluctuations of money flow.

Having a Backup Plan Ready

There are a few things that can affect your business badly, such as truck breakdowns, carrier delays, shipment hold-ups, etc., if you don’t have a backup plan in place. The only way to avoid major issues and delays is to have a backup plan for each freight and communicate it to all parties involved. Your carriers will be more likely to be grateful and work with you again if they know you’re proactive.

Prepared for Any Situation

Freight brokers know that big profits come with big risks. To keep your business running well, you have to make sure you’re up to date on the needs of the insurance and compliance while hiring a carrier or conforming a shipping contract.

You need to know who’s responsible and what they’re responsible for when it comes to legal risk and regulations. You also need to make sure your systems are in place to meet all the requirements for every load.

Things to Consider While Selecting a Carrier

If you want to protect yourself, the first step is to make sure you’re onboarding the right carrier. Once you’ve found a carrier and agreed on rates, it’s important to vet them and make sure they’re legally allowed to haul your load. This also gives you the chance to start developing a relationship with the carrier and ensure you’re signing up for a good one for the long haul.

• Confirming Authority with DOT & FMCSA.
• Confirming government-issued tax ID.
• Confirming the insurance of the truck and cargo.
• Checking the work profile of carriers to understand whether they can deliver the goods on time or not.
• Checking how safely the carriers deliver the goods to the destination.
• Reviewing the carrier authority.
• Inspecting the legal agreement and terms of a carrier when hiring.

It’s not a one-time thing. Licenses may expire, authority may  need to be renewed, there may be violations, and insurance premiums must be paid. Eventually, it’s your responsibility to verify all these details as well as that every carrier is eligible to drive on every haul.

Manual completion of this process can take as long as 2-3 business days, which costs you a long time. However, with the right tools and software, such as carrier onboarding and monitoring of FMCSA and RMIS, you can complete this entire verification process in minutes.

Conclusion

Protecting your reputation is one of the most important things you can do for your brokerage business, and it begins with a well-thought-out business strategy. To succeed, you’ll need to implement processes that allow you to adjust to changing market conditions in a consistent and compliant manner.

Risks can be mitigated by implementing a carrier onboarding process and continuing to track compliance and regulations for each haul. By taking the time to implement standards, you can keep your business moving forward and your revenue increase.