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Biggest Pet Peeve: Returning Loads
Sending Back Loads
When I joined the freight industry as a freight agent, I was taught a common practice that helped me to retrieve loads. A shipper would ask for a quote; I as a freight broker would begin to do some research, cost of gas, load to truck ratio, and present a bid.
We assume as brokers that because we have the load, or a carrier database, that we will be able to cover the load.
Usually, yes, you will be able to cover, however sometimes coverage is just a little harder to come by than expect. I would either have to (a) take a loss, (b) - ask the shipper for additional funds or (c)- send the load back and leave it to the shipper to find coverage. When working as a freight agent for another company, we had to go with the latter (B and C).
Our Practice
At TurnerRound Logistics, we take the loss.
Why would we ever take a loss? - INTEGRITY!!!
It is our standard not to ever quote without TRUCK IN HAND. However, there are some occasions where we still run at a loss. These losses come for mainly 2 reasons:
A carrier accepted a rate and last minute they either break down or accept another load. This is the truth of the business, trucks break down and sometimes a few carriers do not act with integrity.
Words of encouragement to freight brokers faced with this decision, running a load as a loss is not a complete lost. You still have the shipper that will return because you exceeded expectations.
How Does This Affect Our Business?
People remember the bad after taste in their mouth for much longer than the good taste.
Meaning, the next time a shipper has a load for us to bid even if we are not the lowest bid, we have built a trusted relationship.
We operate on a business model of, "Retention is our bread and butter."