Carriers should manage brokers as strategic sales partners who fill gaps in a profitable freight network, not as enemies or substitutes for direct customer relationships.
Most carriers use transportation brokers, but many treat the relationship as a low-level transaction rather than part of a defined strategy. A reputable broker that pays promptly and helps keep trucks moving can be a valuable partner, although not every broker deserves that role.
1. Do Your Homework
Check the broker carefully. Large national brokers often have strong credit and timely payment histories, and many regional brokers do as well.
Transportation Intermediaries Association certification is another useful signal because certified brokers subscribe to the TIA Code of Ethics.
2. Use Brokers at the Edges of the Network
Brokers can supplement the carrier's sales effort where direct coverage is inconsistent. Analyze where broker freight is already being used and ask:
- Which lanes move a truck toward the next high-margin load?
- Which freight is driver-friendly?
- Can the carrier commit volume in exchange for consistent loads?
- Can regular rates be negotiated?
- Is the broker contract reasonable?
- Can carrier and broker leadership manage the relationship together?
The relationship should be handled with the same discipline used for a direct customer.
3. Know the Rates and Negotiate
Use a market-rate index and negotiate. Broker freight is often lower-margin connecting freight, so the carrier should confirm that the load before it and the load after it keep the full trip profitable.
During the COVID-19 disruption, normal shippers were closed while others surged. Carriers should not hesitate to request compensation for additional deadhead created by those network changes.
4. Beware of Pre-Booking
Some brokers make planning appear easy by booking loads a week or more before pickup. The freight on the screen can make customer-service and planning teams complacent when direct customer freight becomes available later.
Customer freight should remain the priority. Broker representatives are aggressive and motivated to build strong relationships with carrier employees, so the carrier must make sure convenience does not override network strategy.
5. Focus on the Carrier's Margin
Brokers are in business to earn a profit. The carrier should be concerned with its own margin on the load, not the broker's margin.
The relevant question is whether the freight improves the carrier's network and supports profitable movement before and after the broker load.
6. Do Not Replace Direct Customer Relationships
Brokers should not replace the carrier's primary shipper relationships. Sales employees remain accountable for securing profitable freight in their assigned markets.
When direct sales coverage falls short, the carrier should find a reputable broker and form a strategic alliance.
A useful image is a bucket: direct customers are the large rocks, while brokers are the pebbles and sand filling the spaces between them. Both can complete the network, but the large rocks define it.