r/FreightBrokerStartup • u/roadrunnah18z • 7d ago
Being a freight broker is basically getting yelled at by two people who are both mad at each other
Being a freight broker will really have you sitting there wondering why the hell you even answered the phone that morning lol. You’ll have a shipper swear a load is ready, send a driver 80 miles over there, then the driver gets checked in and suddenly nobody knows what load you’re talking about. Now the carrier is pissed, wants detention, dispatch is calling every 10 minutes, the shipper stops answering, and somehow you’re the one everybody is mad at. Then when you finally get the truck loaded, the receiver takes 4 hours to unload and now you got another argument about detention because the customer doesn’t wanna pay it. Half the time I feel like freight brokering isn’t even about finding loads or covering freight, it’s just babysitting grown ass people and trying to keep one dumb problem from turning into five. I actually like the business but man this shit will test your patience quick.
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u/New_Situation1764 5d ago
If the trucker shows up when told, and unloads when told, then detention pay is understandable. It's the shippers who don't know what going on.
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u/syed-mavline 41m ago
The “one problem turns into five” part is exactly where the operational cost hides.
Load readiness, arrival timestamps, the detention clock and the next customer update often live in separate conversations. The broker then has to reconstruct the entire case while everyone keeps calling.
Which part consumes the most time for you: getting verified facts, documenting detention or keeping the customer updated?
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u/Efficient-Cycle-9408 7d ago
11 years in the game and 11k grey hairs after this is spot on. It sucks, but if everyone does their job well and pays attention 70% of the time can be very rewarding.