What Exactly is a Freight Broker?

Have you ever wondered what a freight broker is, what they do, and why they exist?

To put it in simple terms, freight brokers are simply matchmakers. They are the middleman between the shipper (the maker or owner of the product) and the trucking company that moves the freight.

Freight brokers perform a valuable service for both ends of the spectrum, however, they do not function as an actual motor carrier. Instead, they arrange for the transport of goods.

Freight broker activities are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) which defines a broker as “a person who, for compensation, arranges, or offers to arrange, the transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier”.  -49 C.F.R. Part 371

Brokerages

Freight brokerages provide assistance to motor carriers by filling their trucks and providing assistance along the route to help the truck driver deliver the order on time.

Not every motor carrier has a private sales force working to secure loads for their fleet and needs help accessing a network of shippers quickly to keep them rolling. Freight brokers also provide great financial service to truckers, providing fuel advances to help with cash flow and offering quick payment plans. Oftentimes, the carrier is paid before the freight broker collects payment from the shipper! Bottom line, a freight broker exists to help the motor carriers relocate their equipment to a better freight market, or in many cases, back to their home base.

Many companies find the services provided by freight brokers to be an important link in their supply chain. The importance of a freight broker is easy to understand; the freight broker makes sure that the shipments are arranged to deliver on time at a fair price with reputable providers. Without freight brokers, shippers would encounter an enormous investment of time and money trying to find the right motor carrier to transport their products, tracking the shipment, and auditing freight bills.

Frustrated with your shipment tracking? Check out Trinity’s Customer Portal and see how easy it is to track your shipments, view and pay your invoices online, and request freight quotes.

Discover Trinity Logistics AS YOUR FREIGHT BROKER PARTNER

Trinity Logistics, ranked by Transport Topics as one of the Top Freight Brokerages for the 20th consecutive year, moves an average of over 40,000 loads per month. With that amount of volume, we carry significant buying power and relationships with our carrier network. That translates into savings on each shipment that many shippers may not be able to obtain based on their volume alone.

Trinity Logistics saves shippers and motor carriers a great deal of time playing matchmaker. Our goal is not only to deliver your product on time but also to deliver time itself so that you can perform at your best without having to become experts in matching loads to trucks or vice versa.