Once a sale is made, companies must quickly and efficiently deliver their products to their customers. Challenges during the shipping process can hurt their reputation and cost thousands of dollars. Many companies mitigate this risk by using a freight broker.

What is a Freight Broker?

A freight broker is an expert who helps shippers find the right carrier to transport their goods and products. The broker is responsible for finding a carrier, coordinating the pickup and delivery, tracking the shipment, communicating with the carrier, and updating the shipper. This allows companies to focus on production and sales while allowing an expert to handle the logistics of getting their products into the consumer’s hands.

Benefits of Using a Freight Broker

Using a broker to coordinate your shipping efforts comes with many benefits.

Carrier Quality – Freight brokers work with a lot of different carriers. Because of this, they know what carriers have a good reputation and can select the ones that will bring the best quality of services. If one carrier starts to perform poorly, the broker can quickly shift business to another carrier without disrupting the company’s shipping efforts.

Carrier Variety – We’ve all heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. This is also true when it comes to selecting a carrier. Using a freight broker allows the shipper to work with a single point of contact but utilize multiple carriers to minimize risk to the business.

Cost Reduction – Because of the volume of work that freight brokers give to carriers, they may be able to negotiate better rates than the shipper could on their own.

Shipment Tracking and Management – It’s critical that shipments arrive on time and that the shipper is aware of any potential issues or delays. The freight broker takes on the responsibility of communicating with the carrier, tracking shipments, and resolving any logistical issues that may arise.

Specialty Hauling – Many carriers specialize in a certain type of hauling such as liquids, refrigeration, livestock, etc. Shippers can leverage the freight broker’s expertise to select the right carrier for the specific job.

Risks of Not Using a Freight Broker

While a company can take on this responsibility in-house, there are numerous reasons why this may be a risky move for the business.

In-House Expertise – To manage this work in-house, the company must employ people that know about freight and shipping. Letting people who don’t have this expertise manage the work creates a lot of risk for the company.

Cost – Some companies may avoid the use of a freight broker because they view them as expensive. While it is true that the freight broker does charge a little more than going to a carrier direct, this cost is very small compared to the costs of hiring employees to coordinate shipments, manage carriers, and track shipments.

Multiple Points of Contact – While it is advantageous to work with multiple carriers, this may create additional headaches as the shipper will need to work with multiple points of contact across their carrier base. Utilizing a freight broker will give the benefits of a single point of contact without sacrificing having multiple carrier options.

Shipping Coordination and Delays – The shipper must do all the legwork to find a carrier that can not only handle the job but also have a truck available to meet their schedule. For the freight broker, this is much easier since they have an established network and can utilize load boards to contact multiple carriers at once.

How Do Load Boards Work?

Load boards make a freight broker’s job more efficient. Essentially, it works the same as a job board. The broker lists information about the load that needs to be transported. Carriers who meet the requirements of the job and are interested can then connect with the freight broker. This significantly reduces the amount of time that the freight broker spends looking for the right carrier.

Contact PFL’s Professional Brokers Today

Here at PFL, we pride ourself in having the best brokers in the business on our team. Give us a call today at 1-812-758-4661 to start working with us and see just how much we can help to further your business.