What we have is an epidemic in the hotshot industry as a whole. Double brokering of loads, low rate per mile and high cost to operate. The American economy is heavily dependent on the trucking industry. Roughly 70% of all goods are shipped via interstate freight. So it’s safe to say that a trucking venture should be a pretty sure bet with a little common sense, hard work, and dedication. Though, what happens when the cost to operate outweighs the rate per mile? Companies go out of business, freight slows and people become unemployed.
Reasons for an epidemic in the hotshot industry
Double brokering is one of the main culprits in the dropping of the rates in the market. This can happen when a broker receives an order from a shipper and hands it off to another broker. This can happen multiple times before the load reaches the load boards. Each broker takes a little piece of the pie until there is barely enough money on the load to move the freight.
Adding to the epidemic in the hotshot industry… there are also brokers that will see freight on one load board and then repost it on another load board at a much lower rate… hoping to sell it before the original broker does. This is why it’s extremely important to have as many load boards at your disposal as possible. There are also brokers that will take that freight, give it to you and then never pay you or the carrier for your work.
All of this which is illegal. It seems as though nobody in the FMCSA cares to deal with this issue and the only ones that truly suffer are the carriers. We are the ones with our money, equipment, and time on the line out here. We are doing the lions share of the hunt for the scavengers to take the meal, and we are left with the scraps. It’s time for this to change.
We also have an issue with crooks from overseas working th load boards under shell companies. No, I’m not a crazy conspiracy theorist. All you have to do is look at all of the Email only loads. If you call them, either they answer and say email only or you can’t even understand what they are saying. No, I’m not some evil racist either. This is a fact. If you decide to take these loads you might want to consider it charity work because you’re most likely not getting paid. They got tired of calling you about your cars extended warranty, so they moved on to our valuable freight.
