Qualified candidates can find positions in freight brokerage companies, from front line trucking jobs to executive and management positions in the warehouses and home office. Look for freight broker training that can help you achieve the position you desire. Areas of training that transport brokers require range from finance to sales and global logistics skills.

Consider a degree in management to get you started and add professional development courses for truck brokers through training centers and trade groups. Take advantage of seminars and events put on by transportation brokers that could move you up the corporate ladder and off the road, or find truck driver courses if you prefer to get out in the field. Training for transportation brokers is available in a number of places.

1. Watch truck broker job boards

2. Participate in trade groups for truck load brokers

3. Ask for guidance from freight broker agent experts

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Look for training from freight brokerage websites

Keep an eye out for the trends that are leading the industry to point you towards the training you need to meet the demands of the times. Consider the requirements of each of the jobs you might like to pursue, and find out what driver CDL or investor CFP certificates you need to make yourself a desirable candidate.

I recommend: Get training and learn about industry opportunities with one-on-one Internet based lessons from Shippers Carriers. You can buy training programs and work them at your own time at DOT Authority.

Join associations for truck broker training

Most trade associations offer continuing education and professional development courses for their members. Some groups can guide you to special 3PL or broker certification courses that will help you advance your career while offering events and meetings at which you can meet other professionals and find out about other training options.

I recommend: The Transportation Intermediaries Association offers broker certification programs so that you can get the certifications you need to succeed. Learn some of the secrets of the trade by participating in the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.

Find a training mentor for trucking brokers

In addition to getting more broker training certification courses that are important to freight brokers, look for someone who is already involved with the broker industry and ask for advice about the training you are receiving and what courses could best give your career a boost.

I recommend: Transport Training International is a private organization that can get you started on your career path as well as help you find other professionals to mentor you in your career. Check out the blogs and the assortment of training courses available through A1 Freight Training and seek out the people behind the scenes who can helpp.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Talk to your employer about what kinds of transport broker training they will either pay or reimburse you for, including membership fees in trade associations.

Your company's shipping needs may have outgrown retail shipping companies, but securing quotes from and monitoring the routes of trucking companies can be daunting. For that reason, many small businesses turn to transportation brokers to help navigate the sometimes tricky ins and outs of arranging for the right transportation.

Working with a transportation broker can help your business save:

1. Time — searching for carriers for every destination
2. Aggravation — sorting through which carriers are both reputable and available
3. Money — paying one broker instead of several individual carriers

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Where to find the right broker for your company

Several great online solutions will get you the names you need.

I recommend: YellowPages.com contains extensive listings under “Transportation Broker.” Online broker Freightquote.com gets you carrier quotes in seconds. Designed to help carriers find reputable brokers, the Red Book Transportation Broker Ratings is a good back-door research tool.

Check qualifications and insurance before signing on

The best brokers will carry three types of insurance: “contingent cargo” (a backup policy that pays if the carrier fails to deliver), liability, and “errors and omissions” insurance. Insurance isn't required by law but is a good sign your broker is reputable. Ask your broker how long they have been in business and about their financial solvency.

I recommend: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Web site contains company safety and security records and fact sheets on various topics related to carriers and brokers. RTS Credit Services specializes in performing credit checks on transportation brokers.

Get your agreement in writing

Make sure to have a clear, written agreement with your broker. This avoids misunderstandings, spells out expectations and delegates roles and responsibilities.

I recommend: FindLaw for Small Business contains links to basic information about contracts and where to find a contracts or transportation attorney in your area.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Ask brokers if they offer discounts for regular customers or larger shipments.
• •  If you'll be shipping hazardous waste, ask your broker about additional charges or regulations governing this need.
• •  Brokers belonging to the Transportation Intermediaries Association adhere to a code of ethics as a condition of membership — ask if your broker is a member.
• •  Ask how your broker finds its carriers — does it merely post electronic requests for carriers or does it work more closely on an individual basis with a solid network of transportation companies?

Transportation brokers continually look at changes in the industry that affect the way they do business, from governmental policy changes to fluctuating fuel and travel fees. To compete successfully, you must keep up with freight brokers and the various mergers taking place among transportation manufacturers and logistics companies.

Follow trends affecting trucking transportation brokers, including union negotiations, keeping up with health care for drivers and trucker retirement benefits. Read freight broker publications that keep you updated with news and information about new logistics software developments and which transportation executives are making news. Get your information about transportation brokers news and trends from a variety of places.

1. Get breaking transport brokerage news delivered electronically to you daily.

2. Read resources for freight brokers that cover important issues affecting the industry.

3. Join associations for transportation brokers that provide members with additional information affecting their businesses.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Register for email alerts from trucking transportation brokers news sources

You can register with many of the news services to receive important alerts, RSS feeds and industry newsletters that only cover Department of Transportation news, new services added by other transportation providers and earnings forecasts for the industry.

I recommend: Keep up with news that affects the international industry through the reports, blogs and email alerts at the Financial Times. The Kingsgate Transportation website provides a listing of recent headlines shaping the industry.

Subscribe to publications that cover freight brokerage trends and industry projections

Take time to read in-depth reports that cover the industry further than the headlines. Often the best information that can help drive your own business decisions comes from investigative reporting and research articles that take a deeper look into industry issues, such as how government regulations will impact the trucking industry.

I recommend: Get headline news and industry reports, surveys and analysis by reading Land Line Magazine. Subscribe to LogisticsWorld to keep up with international transportation news and in-depth reports offered by the magazine.

Receive the publications put out by transportation brokerage groups

You can get an inside track to news from your fellow truck brokers that often falls outside the realm of the mainstream media from professional associations. In addition, transportation and logistics groups keep an eye on the issues that most affect your industry since they are run by experts in the field who focus on the needs of the membership.

I recommend: Keep up with the industry trends through the publications of the American Society of Transportation and Logistics. Join the National Industrial Transportation League to network with your peers and keep up to date on the news and trends that are driving the industry.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Keep up with trucking brokers' information for the states in which you operate since so many rules and regulations are state-specific.

If you're considering a new career or business as a transportation broker, you'll need to build great relationships with shippers and trucking companies. One factor that can boost your credibility among potential clients is how knowledgeable you come across during sales calls. Before contacting your first shipper or trucking company, make sure you have a firm grasp of the terminology you'll need to perform your job. This guide starts with the definition of a transportation broker and then covers terms dealing with cargo containers or trailers (reefer, less than truckload), procedures (transportation factoring, co-brokered loads) and accessorial trucking services.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Transportation broker

Transportation brokers are companies (or individuals) that sell, arrange and manage freight transportation services for other companies. The transportation broker owns no assets, and is also known as a property broker or freight broker.

I recommend: Learn more about freight broker services through Premier Freight.

Reefer

A reefer is a refrigerated container designed for the storage and transportation of items such perishable foods that require lower temperatures.

I recommend: Learn more about reefer capabilities at the shipping company Matson's website. Click on the slideshow on the left side of the page to see interior pictures of a reefer.

Less than truckload (LTL)

The specific definition of less than truckload varies. One definition cites truck shipments weighing less than 20,000 lbs. that don't occupy more than 28 linear feet in a trailer. Another definition calls an LTL an even smaller shipment of under 5,000 lbs. that takes up no more than 12 linear feet of a truck. Regardless, an LTL shipment doesn't fill up an entire truck, and truckers often combine multiple LTL shipments to form a truckload (TL).

I recommend: Visit Freightquote.com to learn more about the company's less-than-truckload services and LTL advantages.

Transportation factoring

Transportation factoring is a method used to ensure a trucking company can pay its freight-related bills promptly without the need to first receive payment from the client. It involves selling the freight bill to a transportation factoring company that will immediately pay the trucking company roughly 90-percent of the freight bill. The trucking company receives the remainder of its money, minus a fee, when the client pays the factoring company. Transportation factoring is also called freight factoring or freight bill factoring.

I recommend: Learn more about transportation factoring and its benefits at AllOptions.

Co-brokered loads

Co-brokered loads is the term used to refer to shipments that have been managed and/or arranged by two different brokers. Co-brokering occurs when one transportation broker assigns a load to a second broker, and that broker then arranges for a carrier.

I recommend: Learn more about the difference between co-brokering and double brokering from the article at Carrier411.

Accessorial

The word accessorial refers to any service a truck driver might perform that's not considered standard operating procedure. Accessorial services include hazardous materials handling, inside deliveries, arrival notification, cash on delivery, residential pickups and deliveries and liftgate services, and they all require additional fees.

I recommend: Scroll down to the "Do your homework" and "Accessorial fees and cost-saving tips" sections at uShip to learn more about accessorial services and tips.