Eight Years Later

Originally posted on our first blog September 11, 2006...

In every life there are events that happen which one remembers the smallest of details as to what they were doing at that exact moment or where they were when they heard the news. September 11, 2001 is one of those events. The difference in this event as opposed to others was this marked the 1st day of a changed nation if not world.

September 11, 2001 started for me as any other morning. I was up early, made coffee, and went down the hall to my office. My office was in my home but I normally didn't have the TV on. I was doing what I always did every morning. Looking over the loads I had to move for the day, post loads, check truck availability...just another day at the office.

By 7:00 A.M. the phones were beginning to ring, emails began coming in, carriers accepting loads, shippers scheduling loads...another busy day in the life of a freight broker. Then it stopped! It was so sudden that I remember thinking that my phones had quit working. One minute I was brokering freight, had people on the phone holding, emails being received, faxes being received...and suddenly, as if someone had turned a switch, nothing. A complete eerie silence.

I was the only one in my house and I didn’t have the TV on, so I hadn’t a clue. As odd and eerie as I new the events were I still moved forward. I picked up the phone and called a carrier to discuss a load. I still remember the conversation “oh man, we’re not doing nothing right now. Have you seen the news? A plane just hit the WTC….”

What?

So much has changed since that one phone call.

God Bless America!

Hard To Believe It's September 2009...

What a rollercoaster ride it’s been over the past couple of years. Everyone, including us, has been so concerned about the economy and everything else affecting our lives that keeping our eye on our businesses has become more than a full time job, it has become our lives. In order to have a chance of survival, it had to.

From talking to many business owners it’s apparent that many went from working the traditional 9-5, Monday – Friday to working seven days a week from the time they got out of bed to the time they returned. Weekends and vacations have become a thing of the past. A luxury one couldn’t afford, at least for now.

Taking the time to review our previous posts before all started to grind to a screeching halt, we somewhat saw this economic tsunami coming. The problem was that by the time it was recognized for what it was it had already landed. Over 1000 trucking companies went out of business in the first quarter of 2008. This statistic repeated itself in the 2nd quarter.

Much of this can be blamed on the high fuel prices at the time. You’ve got to admit we may have joked about $5.00 a gallon diesel, but did we really think we’d see it? I remember back to my days of being a small fleet owner and giving drivers warnings for purchasing fuel that was over $1.00 per gallon, sadly that wasn’t that long ago.

Although fuel prices can carry much of the blame, the truth of the matter is that far too many trucking companies are unable to establish their own accounts and instead use brokers for all of their loads. A trucking company can’t exist using a broker 100% of the time. By using this practice a trucking company can easily be giving away thousands of dollars per month.

On average a freight broker will take anywhere from 10%-15% off the top. If a trucking company is running an average 3000 miles per week for an average market rate of $1.50 per mile the gross is $4,500.00 per week. If a broker is being used for 100% of the trucking company’s loads, the trucking company is giving away $675.00 a week, per truck!

A trucking company with their own accounts should only be using a freight broker for approximately 50% of their loads. In other words, the trucking company has their own accounts (head hauls) and only use brokers for reloads (back hauls).

By doing this the trucking company can add approximately $337.50 to their bottom line per week, per truck. For many trucking companies a truck payment. Over the course of a year they could add $17,550.00 to their bank account.

How many of the 2,000 trucking companies could have used an extra $17,550.00 in their bank accounts when things got bad?

In our Freight Broker Workshops we tell all of our clients that a freight broker is the most misused tool in the transportation industry. When used correctly, one of the best tools a trucking company could have in its arsenal.

We can show you how to find your own accounts and add that extra cash to your bottom line. To learn more about our Workshops, tools, and services visit our website at www.taltoa.com.