Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/339482
VOICES 10 | Overdrive | July 2014 DOTAuthority.com's James Lamb held a session at the Mid-America Trucking Show in March relative to what he sees as a need for greater rate transparency in broker-carrier transactions. Readers' online com- ments leaned more toward skepticism on the issue than support for it. "I really don't care what the customer is paying the broker," wrote one reader. "I do care what the broker is paying me. If the broker wants to, he can charge double what he's paying me, as long as I'm happy with what I'm getting." Lamb speaks from his po- sition as the primary party behind the Association of Independent Property Bro- kers & Agents, a business league of small brokers. He became known as a primary voice against raising the broker minimum bond to $75,000 two years ago – for which many Overdrive read- ers showed favor. He talked at Mid-Amer- ica about how his new bro- kerage effort would adver- tise explicitly the percentage rate the broker would be taking on any load, and how doing so might have ripple effects throughout the industry if enough people mimic such practices. With intent to launch a "12PL" – or 12 Percent Logistics – brokerage, Lamb hoped to lead the way. Del Ray Johnson wrote he doubts that big trucking companies need transparency from brokers, noting their leverage over most in dictating rates. "The unknowing owner-operator allows other people to tell them what is the number," with plenty being willing, he added, to run on very thin margins. "That, my friends, is the problem, and the solution is an educated owner-opera- tor who runs his/her big rig like a big business." Lamb himself counters that "some will resist, but it's a matter of time. And it will make both shippers see they are paying reasonable rates … and truckers see they are being paid fairly. They will both want to do business with transparent brokers. Like 12PL. And it will catch on quick." Reader Jon McLaugh- lin, illustrating the issue that transparency might solve on both shipper and carrier ends, recalled being "cussed out" by the shipper "for the cost that 'I' charged to haul their freight. I asked what was so bad about me get- ting $1.50 a mile. He told me that I was lying" and showed the broker contract, under which he was paying $3.33 a mile with a fuel sur- charge of 49 cents a mile. McLaughlin then showed his rate confi rmation at $1.50/mile. "The 'honest broker,' " McLaughlin said, "pock- eted the FSG and also made $1.83 a mile on the line haul." Learning about rates in broker-carrier dealings One in three Over- drive readers got what they wanted toward the end of this poll's tenure at Over- driveOnline.com. Veterans Affairs head Eric Shinseki stepped down in late May in the wake of revelations that wait time statistics across a majority of facilities deliber- ately were falsifi ed to appear much shorter than the reality. A veteran commenting under the poll chastised Shinseki for being merely "asleep at the wheel" and "passing the buck" in order to protect himself when claiming he was unaware of statistical doctoring. With Shinseki gone, suggested Irvin J., the real work of fi xing the system should begin. "Revamp the VA from the ground up," he said. Some commenters, such as veteran Rey Moreno, expressed appreciation for their local VA facility. "It does make me sad that other vets have suffered," he wrote. "But it is hard for me to believe, because the VA people in my area are always polite, courteous, fast and effi cient." HOT BUTTONS WHAT IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO PROBLEMS PLAGUING THE VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT? Get rid of the top brass 37% Focus VA on modernization/ other efforts to improve service 34% Increase the VA's budget allocation 10% Other 14% I don't know 5% VETERANS AFFAIRS VETERANS AFFAIRS VA's hard work now begins "If all politicians were required to use the VA system for their health care, it would be world- class in no time," Kurt Keilhofer cracked wise of other potential fixes for service issues at Veterans Affairs. Voices_0714.indd 10 6/27/14 3:36 PM