The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Tuesday that it is opening a comment period on a request from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the Small Business in Transportation Coalition that could lead to a requirement that brokers automatically share documentation on transactions with drivers and other parties to a deal.
The OOIDA request is that FMCSA require brokers to provide an electronic copy of every transaction within 48 hours “after the contractual service has been completed” and would also “prohibit explicitly brokers from including any provision in their contracts that requires a motor carrier to waive its rights to access the transaction records.” The SBTC request is for FMCSA to “prohibit brokers from coercing or otherwise requiring parties to brokers’ transactions to waive their right to review the record of the transaction as a condition for doing business.”
Parties to a transaction do have the right to receive documents about the deal. But brokers report that the documents are almost never requested. The countervailing argument is that drivers don’t ask for them because they’re afraid the request could lead to a “blackballing” of those drivers who do make the request, limiting their opportunities in the future.
(The follow-up article to this breaking news was published later in the day.)
Cedar
In all fairness to all parties the brokers truckers. I have been so frustrated over the rates and how the brokers settle for the low rates. Everything is a bid from the gitgo. Honestly the rates used to be based according to trailer space and weight dimensions and ect… I honestly think there should be a base rate for all freight based on the product and how much the insurance costs to the carrier. For instance if the load is a standard cargo rate than it would not require a rate for a load that would require extra or higher cargo insurance rate. Yet hazmat loads should be at at a higher rate due to what all is involved and the higher risks. Along with that all drivers should be trained accordingly and the companies should not be just putting anybody behind the wheel of a truck.
Chris
I’m an o/o with my own authority.The problem isn’t the brokers.Its the steering wheel holders that thought they needed to buy their own truck so in turn they would make a ton of money.Little did they know without having any business sense and unable to understand simple math.They’re going to fail and moving freight for below average rates are going to help them fail faster.I’m here to tell you if the mega carriers could get idiots to drive for 25 CPM they would hire them all.This is just business.Keep cost down,keep revenue up.I can’t blame a broker for understanding simple economics.Its a shame a lot of owner ops and independants cannot tell you what their cost per mile to do business is.Its takes more than driving a truck to own a trucking company.FMCSA and DOT isn’t helping either by letting everyone under the sun get operating authority.There are a lot of owners without the knowledge of american economics that will move freight below average rates.That isn’t good for the industry either.I apologize if I offended anyone with this comment.Just trying to shed light on the situation.Hope everyone stays safe.
Jarod
I like this reponse Chris. No matter what industry you are in if you don’t have proper training then you are susceptible to failure. As a Broker we want to work with Drivers who know what they are doing and we will pay them more than the carriers who are unable to get the job done. That is the same for all parties. I firmly believe in Honesty and Transparency to my customers and carriers and it proves to work.
MB Tranzport LLC
Correct
Mari Pena
Long overdue! There are brokers that are fair and work with carriers as they should. The majority are greedy and often attempt to find ways not to pay carriers after the work is completed. There has to be transparency created to balance the gap. The greedy ones have damaged the industry for everyone.
Sheri
Ok, let’s talk about other areas..EXAMPLE..Shipment gets overloaded. CDL driver wants to say something but if they say something they may loose the business. Why aren’t the companies that load these trucks responsible for over weighted loads. The individual driving the trucks are just trying to make a living. The company loading the trucks knows what they are doing and should be responsible for it. Second, why don’t truck driver lives matter .the court ruling should be appealed stating that USDOT isnt responsible for protecting truck drivers from angry mobs on the highway. Basically the court is saying Trucker Lives Don’t matter..which isn’t right.
Semi Retired
Sheri, The driver is responsible for the loading and operation of the truck. I think I would be more concerned about accepting an unsafe load and being sent to prison for the next 30 years than about the shipper not giving me the business.
This morning DAT was reporting 9.2 loads per truck from Los Angeles to Chicago. The shipper needs you a lot more than you need him.
About 30 years ago I was injured when a forklift driver failed to load the truck the way I told him to. When it finally got to court the judge said “when it comes down to anything to do with that truck the driver is God”. I became a millionaire that day.
Ivan M Nickolov
Great!!! Thank you OOIDA! Long overdue. Sick and tired of greedy brokers. Have to have limits on brockers fee. Shippers and consumers will be the biggest beneficiaries.
Supersport
The limit on broker’s fees is you saying no to the load. Why in the world do you want the government dictating any part of any transaction? You can’t manage your own business?
Owner Operator
What about the carriers like Landstar and XPO Logistics that have a brokerage arm of their asset based business model? When they can’t cover something with their trucks they broker the load to other carriers. I can’t think of one carrier that is not also a broker.
Has anyone thought of the problem that the big carriers create when they have assets stuck in the middle of nowhere and they need to move the truck. They can bury the rate at a massive loss and take that business from the Owner Operator that can’t afford to run for 75 cents a mile.
So from the example above, getting rid of brokers does not solve the problem. The fastest and easiest way to solve the cheap freight problem is to not accept cheap freight. Also keep in mind that it is the shipper/payer that drives the market downward. Many shippers send out mass e mails asking for a rate and stipulating that only the lowest quote will get a response. I think we can all agree that if it money were no object the broker would make 1 phone call schedule the truck and add $2,000 to the bill then go play golf the rest of the day. That simply is not going to happen.
If you really want the government to step in and regulate how you do business, think of how efficiently most State and Federal agencies are run. Do you really want that? Back in the days of the ICC you made good money, but you could only run certain lanes and if they felt that no more trucks were needed then you could not get operating authority.
Just a few things to think about.
Jack Butler
DEFUND!DEFUND!DEFUND!DEFUND
I can only wish the FMCSA would go automatically BROKE!!!! Comments,documents,reports whatever it takes!
#DEFUNDFMCSA
Sales rep
Having worked both as an Owner Operator and as a sales agent for brokers and trucking companies. I can appreciate that drivers and carriers feel they are getting the short end of this. However, it’s my belief that if I give a carrier an accurate description of the job to be performed and he gives me a rate and I pay that rate in the terms prescribed in the contract then what I charge the shipper really is none of the carrier’s business. After all he got the money he asked for.
Many drivers don’t realize what it takes to secure the business going on their truck. In some cases it may take months or even years of calling on a shipper to get the opportunity to handle that business. There are numerous phone calls and meetings to determine the needs of the shipper and their customer and then there is the shipper that doesn’t want to pay the invoice because there is a scratch or damaged box. The broker still has to pay the carrier and there are times that a broker may not be paid for 2 or 3 months. A responsible broker is going to make sure the carrier is paid no matter what the shipper decides.
Further, if the carrier doesn’t like the terms, the freight or the lane, then don’t agree to haul it. Look for other freight that suits you better. If you think it’s easy to roll into town and secure the business that brokers have been handing you, get on your phone and make it happen. After all,you are the one that makes the decision about your business. I’m sure you should have no problem getting loaded at the rate and terms you want.
Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it and then you’ll have to deal with the consequences. Brokers, like carriers are here to make money and both need to respect each others time and need to earn a living.
Andrew
What a wonderful response. My thoughts exactly.
CM Evans
The idea here is to get the conversation started and find some balance. You must know that if the profit margin was to the carrier benefit all the brokers would close up shop and buy trucks to drive As you once did. The weak will still be weeded out and the best businesses will remain so that all can run “profitable” operations.
DT
This is a big deal and one to watch.
Charles
I think we should just get rid of the brokers problem solved
MB Tranzport LLC
Most of them at least