You really want to get a load, why on earth should you bid high? When quoting rates, you will learn quickly to build in a cushion – always estimate high. Bid at least 5-10% more than the job will actually cost. That way, when you present your final quote to the shipper, you can easily be lower than the price that you quoted. By doing this, you have also built in a safety net in case your estimate is off. Remember, things change from minute to minute in this industry. It is always better to present an actual bill that, at the very least, is less than the quote. If the actual cost is less than your estimate, be sure to charge your customer the lower amount. Keeping the difference is not as important as keeping your customer. For example, I had a customer who needed an inbound rate from Georgia to Texas. I knew that my competitor’s rate was $200 lower than mine. I also knew that I would be able to get the shipment moved whereas my competitor with the lower rates couldn’t cover the freight. A low rate is worthless without service to back it up. I would much rather be a hero than a zero. Moving forward, Jeff Roach – President Brooke Transportation Training Solutions

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 […]

by Jeff Roach Microsoft bundles products that complement each other. Similarly, a trucking company and a brokerage are complementary products easily bundled.  But the timing must be right. Only when a trucking company has more freight than capacity should they open a brokerage. If a trucking company wants loads for their trucks they could simply use the Gold Book of brokers to get loads or go find some shippers. The brokerage has to be set up as a separate business all together with a broker MC number. (at the top of the auth it will have MC-B to indicate you’re a broker not a carrier). You will have economies of scale, however, brokers and carriers have completely different regulations and laws and liabilities Go to the FMCSA web site and do everything on your own. Look up “property broker”.  The fee for the broker authority is around $300.00 as long as you can get a 10k bond and process agents (PA $40 or 50 dollars.) When you’re ready to either open a brokerage or be an agent for a broker you should get training.  Subscribe to C.Depot or a similar website to learn cost per mile spread. Tell your shippers that you also have a brokerage.  Explain that you have an asset based transportation company and a non-asset based company to better serve them. In the old days a broker was a dirty word for carriers to the shippers, now, it is no big deal. All the big trucking companies have brokerages – they call them 3pl’s. I have been […]

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 […]

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.

by Aileen Cho Monster Contributing Writer Trucking can be a rewarding career, but it may not be right for every life situation. If you’re a trucker who wants to stay in the industry but not drive, freight brokering might be the answer. click here to read entire story

Recently added: Brooke Financial Services and Brooke Consulting Services, considered already as one of the top consulting companies for both shippers and carriers. Jeff can be reached by email jroach@transportationtraining.com Visit his web sites www.brooketraining.com and www.justintimefreight.com His office number is (214) 206-1169. Brooke Training books Zig Ziglar’s keynote speakers. Call for more information.

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.

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 […]