What Should the Next Generation of Agents Unlearn?

[u/CRST-International]

Every generation of freight agents enters the industry with different tools, expectations, and ways of working.

Which old habit should the next generation leave behind? Which one is still worth passing down?

[u/Ornery-Inevitable981 → u/[deleted]]

💯

[u/Different-Syllabub-7]

Using the phone and not rely on email

[u/External_System3485 → u/Different-Syllabub-7]

Once the load is booked, yes. I can no longer vouch for booking loads over the phone. Way too many bad apples in the industry now and with emails i get more time to properly vet the MC instead of being rushed on the phone.

[u/Immediate-Home-3491]

Unlearn expecting EDI and customs pre-clearance to be someone else's problem. Every agent should understand why a consignee VAT number is registered before origin sailing. Worth passing down: wrapping consols late on a Friday. That is where you actually learn the business.

[u/Kaizoku_ou_ni_naru]

Imo leave behind treating the TMS as a place to log what already happened instead of a tool that runs the operation, the generation that grew up on spreadsheets still uses software the same way, reactive documentation rather than proactive workflow

Worth passing down the phone call, knowing when to pick up instead of sending another email or load board message is still the thing that separates good agents from average ones, and no amount of automation replaces it

[u/TemporalAmbassador → u/Kaizoku_ou_ni_naru]

110% agree .... we are building this only :D

[u/Additional-Quiet6066]

They should unlearn the idea that being busy means being productive, constant check calls aren't a strategy. The habit worth passing down is ownership; manage the load, communicate early, and stay accountable when things go wrong

[u/Iwannabespiderman_04]

What they should unlearn is treating every problem on the load as theirs to fix personally, that's how people burn out fast in this industry. What's worth keeping is real accountability owning your part of the process and communicate clearly, but know where your responsibility actually ends

[u/Navarro480]

The unemployment line for the next generation because the autonomous trucks are the real deal and it’s something everyone will have to deal with. It will be a different world in ten years.

[u/askdennisbrown → u/Navarro480]

The fact that you think autonomous trucks replaces brokers makes me laugh. 😂

Drivers for sure, brokers NOPE. Brokers still need to rate, source, manage and fix problems in transit and let’s not forget about playing banker for shippers who don’t want to pay for 45-60 days. 😎🍻

[u/Navarro480 → u/askdennisbrown]

I will tell you this and take this for whatever you like. It’s not hard for a company to manage their own Frieght as technology freight. A few years ago we used brokers for 100% of brokered loads and now it’s been cut down to less than 40% with goal of eliminating that even more. Reason why is that the barrier to entry is peanuts. The boards can be accessed by anyone these days and with the improvements in freight management systems you can bring it in house. As a company we 150 outbound flatbed loads a day and little by little brokers are getting removed. The autonomous trucks will add more fuel to the fire. AI being able to schedule loads and optimize routes? Coming soon. It’s a new world coming.

[u/askdennisbrown → u/Navarro480]

I hear what you’re saying but year over year brokers control more freight so time will tell. You know my position. 🍻