Overdrive

42 | Overdrive | July 2017 BROKER RATINGS must be NASTC members to have access to the Best Broker list. The Transportation Intermediaries Association, a group representing bro- kers, also has a quality designation. Use of the TIA Member logo indicates the brokerage meets membership criteria, which includes having no unexplained nonpayment complaints; using written contracts and written rate confirmations; having insurance; having a written car- rier selection criteria; having no TIA Watchdog reports filed against them; and having a minimum credit score of 80, maximum days to pay of 30 or three credit references. Brokers are not required by law to carry insurance, but TIA suggests its members carry four types: general liabil- ity, contingent cargo, contingent auto, and errors and omissions. Anyone using a TIA member broker has some recourse if there is a nonpay- ment issue, says Nancy O'Liddy, TIA vice president of government affairs. If TIA's six-member ethics commission reviews a complaint against a member and finds the broker was in the wrong, the broker is given a chance to pay or lose membership. TIA also offers a more advanced des- ignation, the Certified Transportation Broker logo, that signifies that the broker has passed an intensive course and exam. It's essential to do research before tak- ing a load from an unfamiliar broker, says Mark Fields, driver and owner of 12-truck fleet JVF Transport. "For guys with one or two trucks, one loss is huge," Fields says. "It can shut you down." Fields, who uses Truckstop.com and DAT to find freight for his fleet, tends to pay attention to a broker's days to pay and MC number before taking a load. He says if the MC number is high, meaning it's a newer brokerage, he either stays away from it or asks for half down before the delivery. "New brokers that open – some are legit, and some are scams," he says. "I have a brokerage along with my com- pany, and I had to go through the same thing when we started out." To help ease such concerns, DAT for years has hosted a Google- or Amazon- style review system. Carriers and brokers can rate one another on a five-star sys- tem and write a review. "Drivers are already talking about brokers – who's been good and who hasn't – and this is just an extension of that conversation," says Kevin Scullin, DAT product manager. "Brokers have metrics on drivers, so this is a way to bring that to the surface so everybody can benefit." O'Liddy says an owner-operator can take steps to look more attractive to brokers looking for trucks: Make sure relevant information is up-to-date and active with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and stay with the same insurance company rather than jumping around. O'Liddy says the same principle can be applied when examining a broker. She suggests checking that the phone number and other information matches what's on file with FMCSA. Also, if a broker's bond has been replaced often, there could be a problem. "These are easy signs to look for, and they're right there on FMCSA's site," she says. DAT's review system, as well as open review systems, "are starting to take the place of the credit score," says indepen- dent Chad Boblett, owner of Boblett Brothers. "Brokers know … they will be held accountable if they don't pay the drivers, and this system also gives the brokers a chance to respond to a driver's negative experience with them." Boblett is also founder of Rate Per Mile Masters, a Facebook group he started three or four years ago for owner-opera- RATING IS A TWO-WAY STREET As the old adage goes: "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Just as carriers can review and rate brokers within DAT's and Truckstop.com's load boards, so too can brokers rate carriers on their experiences. In DAT's system, brokers can see safety information on carriers. The more good feedback a carrier gets from brokers, the better the carrier looks to other brokers, which could help in getting better loads, says independent Chad Boblett, owner of Boblett Brothers. "The biggest thanks a broker can do that will make me remember a good experience with them is when they write a review on me," Boblett says. "As owner-operators, we're entrepreneurs, and positive feedback is huge for us and our businesses." Boblett says brokers often don't review carriers. DAT suggests if drivers want to get more feedback, just ask the brokers. "It's easy for them to do, so it doesn't hurt to ask," says Kevin Scullin, DAT product manager. Nate Rowlan, training manager for Truckstop.com, says the goal for his company is to help both sides make good business decisions, so he encour- ages carriers and brokers to leave feedback, good and bad. Mark Fields, owner of JVF Transport, runs this 1998 Kenworth W900. He places a lot of weight on a broker's average days to pay and longevity in the business.

• Cover
• COVER STORY: Jump start The electrified truck concept has taken on a real life, with players large and small vying for future shares of the Class 8 market. It’s not only large fleets that are placing orders.
• Presenting logs at roadside Running with an e-logs device is one thing. Communicating e-log data to an inspector is quite another. With five months to go, states’ data transfer plans vary widely, and an ambitious federal program remains untested.
• Broker ratings Not only have the internet and mobile technology made finding loads quicker and easier than ever, those same resources also can provide more in-depth, current information on broker performance.
• Drive Test: Best of both worlds Volvo’s regional workhorse tractor, the VNM, having been on the market for more than two decades, was overdue for a refresh. But Volvo designers did much more than modernize its body lines in producing th
• Options few after ELD challenge stalls.
• Pulse: “The real problem” with ELDs.
• Another reason shippers should deal direct.
• Reader majority opposes hair-sample testing.
• Obama-era contractor status memo rescinded.
• Trucker Talent Search finalists headed for Dallas.
• FMCSA study to assess split sleeper options.
• GATS to showcase free music and famous trucks.
• “Service and sacrifice” ’88 Freightliner COE.
• Owner-operator’s self-built “RisslerBilt” 379.
• “88 Mike” Morgan earns first Bandit Series win.
• Reader Rigs: ’13 T800 a stainless dream; ’90 K100 a farming COE; salute “The General” ’17 W900L Icon; ’96 W900L pretty in pink; respect “Big Tex” ’15 122SD; ’02 W900L goes by “Black Betty.”
• BUSINESS Log data might not cover IFTA, IRP.
• Gear Guide All-position tire, mudflap, locks, more.
• FLEET NEWS Decker’s Driver of the Year gets Harley.
• 5 APPS FOR THAT Podcast players for on-the-road listening.
• TWO-BUCK TRUCKERS Wendy Parker backs a driver’s plan to highlight trucking issues and show the general public how much the industry contributes to the economy.