How to Become a Freight Broker

1. How to Become a Freight Broker Introduction: welcome Teoh How to become a freight broker. This class was produced and brought to you by CSB Academy Publishing Company in cooperation with Mr Ronald Harris. This class is aimed towards newcomers to the self starter business world, but some knowledge of the trucking industry is a plus. This classes for everyone who has ever dreamed of becoming their own boss. The idea of owning their own business and becoming their own boss crosses everyone's mind. For many of those idealists, these thoughts never seem to come to fruition. There are many reasons why people are afraid to take the plunge. They do not have access to substantial funds. They're afraid to lose the security that comes with a steady paycheck and a host of other I just can't do it excuses. But the biggest reason that most people never try is simple. They are afraid of failure. Mr. Harris was no exception to this fear of staring into the unknown. While working as an OTR truck driver, he was gone for weeks at a time. He loved being able to travel for a living, but he was married with two Children and 1/3 on the way he greatly missed his family, and the separation was hard and his wife as well. When he looks at the faces of his family, he knows without a shadow of a doubt that running his own freight broker business was the best decision he ever made. He sets his own hours work from home and never misses any important life moments with his Children. He began his business with just himself and his wife. Mr. Harris says that starting out on his own took a lot of courage. It was a long and winding path full of trial and error. Do you want to be your own boss? Do you want to spend more time with your family and set your own work hours? Then this class is for you. In this class, you will learn exactly how to go about starting and running. Your own business is a free broker. You will learn exactly what it's a freight broker does, why this job is important during the life of a trucking load and how to make money fulfilling that need. You will learn the difference between a freight brokers, agents and foreigners and 10 specific reasons why you should be a broker. We will discuss what a day in the life of a broker looks like, What roles and responsibilities are part of the day today functions as well as what training and licensing you'll need well. Specifically discuss startup costs and how you can obtain funding to get your feet off the ground. You learn the steps in starting a business from the ground up the right way. You will learn about the recommended tools, equipment, software and what needs to be in your office space. You will gain a perspective on how to find clients and market your own. Newly found adventure finally will discuss the trends for the future and where this industry is going. Look at the class project outlined to see how you could apply the skills. Learn in this class to real world scenarios. Once you have finished this course, you will have all the tools necessary to start, run and grow your own successful self employed a freight brokerage business 2. What is a Freight Broker?: Lesson one. What is a freight broker? In the simplest terms, bring a freight broker means that you were the middleman between an authorized transport company and the company or person who require shipping services. Freight brokers play a critical role in the movement of cargo from one place to another, making themselves essential for logistics in the economy. With specialized technical knowledge of the industry, they determined the shippers exact needs and match them with a freight carrier who move the items at a price acceptable to both parties. Free burgers are in their fee in the form of a commission paid either by the carrier or by the shipper. They're experts at helping carrier companies who are sitting empty fine items to fill their trucks and help shippers locate the more difficult to find reliable carriers. Some companies have brokers on staff to keep all their shipping coordinated In house, a freight broker is not to be confused with a freight forwarder, although sometimes afford her will also perform. The same task is a broker. The main difference is that a forwarder will actually take possession of items, consolidate them into smaller size shipments and arrange for a carrier to transport the items. Items that are being shift will never be in the possession of a freight broker. A free broker also needs to be adaptable, since goods must be moved even during times of economic stressor crisis. This could mean finding new carrier companies or even reducing fees in order to retain business or gay new clients and lean times. Free brokers are a small part of a very large transportation industry. This industry includes everything that carries people or cargo from one destination to another by bus, truck boats, planes, rails, cars or anything else you can think of. The transportation industry is so large that has a 2011. It was worth about $1.82 trillion or about 10% of the U. S. Economy. In the same year, nearly 4.3 million people accounted for truck transport services and amounted to about $200 billion with exports as high as $1.48 trillion. Here a 10 steps to becoming a freight broker. We will discuss each step throughout the remainder of this class number one, get proper education and training number to name your business number three. Incorporate your business number four. Have a business plan number five. Gather up enough money to get started. Number six. Get all required licenses. Number seven obtained a proper bond and insurance number eight. Set up your office or your home office. Number nine. Find clients and number 10 on going marketing to grow your business in. The next lesson will discuss how much money you can make and how to make money being a freight broker. 3. All About the Money: welcome to lessen Thio of how to become a free broker. In this lesson, we will discuss the monetary aspects of working as a free broker. How does a freight broker make money? As I just mentioned, the process for making money as a trucking freight broker is relatively straightforward. When a shipper hires you to move a load of cargo, they're paying for the cost of transportation. The freight broker then uses their contacts, and resource is toe find a carrier to transport the cargo. A freight broker pays the carrier a lower amount to move the freight than the amount the shipper paid. The difference in the two amounts is called the spread, and this is the profit for the freight broker. This profit, minus the cost of operations, is the salary for a trucking or freight broker. The most important determining factor in a broker's overall income depends on how many loads of freight broker can move in a week. Some freight brokers are able to move 123 loads a week, while others conduce up to 10. Also, the pay for each load can vary. This means there are many factors that go into influencing how much a freight broker makes . Nationwide, the average salary for a freight broker is about $43,600 per year on independent freight. Broker can make his much as $150,000 a year. However, there is a lot that goes into influencing how much afraid broker can make. There are three important factors that influence afraid. Burger salary. These are also the top three factors that you, as a freight broker have control over to get the maximum potential out of your perspective . Earnings Years of experience skills such as contacts and efficiency of services. Location. Some states can amass higher earnings and others. The job of a freight broker can certainly be demanding, but it can also be exciting and rewarding smarts and patients will get you through the early years. And once you develop a good client base and experience, you can make a decent salary in this profession. In less than three will discuss the differences between a broker, an agent, a forwarder and 10 reasons why you should become a broker 4. Brokers vs Forwarders vs Agents: welcome to lessen. Three. Discussing the difference between freight brokers, forwarders and agents. The first thing you need to understand before considering whether you want to be a freight broker is knowing what distinguishes all the players in the logistics and transportation industry, the major jobs in this industry, our freight brokers, freight forwarders and freight agents. While these jobs may all look and sound the same, they're different in the tasks they accomplish. Free brokers. A freight broker can be a self employed individual working full time from home. However, this can present the challenge of running an entire business while still finding the time to search for new shippers and carriers. A free broker needs to conduct business while also worrying about cash flow, billing and collections. Marketing Networking on all the basic record keeping paperwork. This is where the job of the free agent comes into play. Freight agents. Many freight brokers start their careers as free agents. This allows those going into the freight industry to start at the ground level and recoup training investments while gaining the knowledge and hands on experience needed to become a freight broker. The main responsibility of a free agent is to find new customers and drivers. Much of your time is spent on the marketing of freight brokering services, networking, with shippers and carriers doing reference and background checks making sure loads get to the destination on time and troubleshooting load problems. Basically afraid Agent focuses more on the operational side of freight brokering rather than the strategic management side. Freight forwarders, a free forwarder and freight broker, may seem interchangeable to those who are new to the industry. The truth is, there is some similarity between the two, however. After a little bit of time in the industry, you'll notice there is considerable difference between these two jobs. While a freight broker will move, commodities from shippers to carriers free for orders are more likely to directly handle the goods that need to be transported. Ah, free forwarder, transporters, cargoes and shipments internationally. This often requires them to receive smaller cargo and combine them into a larger shipment. This means a free four order must physically possess the goods, consolidate them and then determine the best shipping method, whether it is land, air or water. While there are many other jobs within the free brokering industry, the focus is on thes three and defining them so you will know what you are getting into by becoming a free broker. Now that we know, the difference is, I want to take the time to tell you why you should consider becoming freak. Broker number one. It's an independent career number. Two. You'll have more time for important things. Number three. You can earn a better income number. Four. There's no commute Number five. You have a low start up costs. Number six. You have low overhead expenses. Number seven. You'll have unlimited earning potential. Number eight. It's a growing business number. Nine. It could become a family business and number 10. It can become your family's legacy. When you run your freight brokerage correctly, you will have an asset that takes care of your family for generations to come. It is clear that there are many benefits to being afraid. Broker in the next lesson will examine what a day in the life of a freight broker looks like. 5. A Day in the Life of a Freight Broker: welcome to lessen. For in this lesson, we will talk about the day in the life of a freak broker. But first, let's discuss the class project. The best first step for any new venture is brainstorming through the course of this class. You will want to know down any new ideas that occur to you for starting your own company. For the delivery. Bubbles of the class project will be creating an initial business plan. This can be or riel ideas or an imaginary or pretend business, since we wouldn't want someone else borrowing your actual business plan Ideas Number one. Create a business name. Like I said, this can be fictitious. Number two Craft A mission or vision statement for your new business. Number three dropped the executive summary section of your pretend business Plan Number four Plan, where you will perform your work playing your office space office hours and brainstorm any equipment you'll need to start. Consider implementing office hours, especially if you work from home number five. Try to envision your day when she began this venture. Brainstorm any obstacles that you might have to plan to overcome. For extra credit, you can create a logo and start playing with website templates. If you desire, let's examine exactly what your workday would entail once you become a freight broker. The heart of a trucking broker's job is the freight that needs to be transported domestically. It is often goods produced in the United States or abroad and is delivered to a domestic address no matter what's being shipped. A load always has a shipper sour and a consigning receiver buyer. A trucking freight brokers job starts when you solicit business from shippers. Ideally, from the moment you become afraid broker, you should have a substantial database of shippers from your prior experience in the freight industry. If shippers have worked with you before and found you'd offer reliable and punctual services than the likely come to you with their cargo, a type of freight that's being handled will determine your rates When you negotiate terms with your shipper. Once you and the shipper agree on figures and you accept responsibility for the load, the next step is for you to find a truck or a trucking company that wants to transport the cargo again. You need to spend some time negotiating freight rates with the carrier. However, the goal this time is to sell the load to the trucker for a lower rate so you can cover your expenses and make a fair profit. But you also need a factor in a fair return for the carrier. After you in the carrier agree on terms next to exchange set up packets. These packets contain information on each other's operating authority or M C number. Sure T bond W nines and references. Now you've reached the point of drawing up a contract between you and the carrier. The contract will help protect your business. You also need to be careful, since the carrier can go directly to the customer to offer services and cut you out of the process. The best way to prevent this from happening is by exercising prudence and not giving out too many details about the customer you're working for until the contract is signed. After the contract is signed, in return, you can fax a rate confirmation to the carrier for signature. Once you receive this back, you have officially covered your load and can be sure it is off for delivery. The rest of your job is to ensure the load gets to the consign e on time. This will impact your reputation as a freight broker and directly impact the future of your business. So here is an hour by hour. Look at a typical day. Your day begins is the alarm goes off at 6 a.m. You're brushing your teeth, making coffee, and it's go time you step into your office. Turn on the light, your computers, your printer in your fax machine. Open the blinds so when the sun comes out, automatically shines into the office. Settle in your chair. Sip your hot coffee, sit back and open your voicemail. Check all your voice mails from the previous day and write down those who you need to call back, act on email or follow up with at a later time. The voicemails you have are mostly going to be from your carriers, letting you know the status of their loads, any delays or accidents or anything else that you need to know to start your day. It's wise to prioritize those things. First. Organized the information in a way that will help you tackle it in order of urgency and preference. Being organized is very important the next thing you want to do is call any of your carriers that are still on the road and delivery shipments. Since the industry operates on a 24 7 schedule, you won't have any problems reaching drivers that early in the morning get all the information you need from each driver on the road in one phone call. That way, if your shipper or the person receiving the order happens to call during the day, you have all the answers for them. Don't forget to take breaks. You deserve to have a lunch break to even if you're working from home. As your day goes on, you'll start to get incoming calls from your carriers. Mark, a new driver of years in Florida who operates as an independent contractor of Marx Transportation Company L. L. C. Calls you in, hopes that you have some extra free. He come back Hall. Mark wants to make up for one of his other loads cancelling on him. As you check your orders, you discover that one of your shippers is asking for a last minute hall us mark what he needs to make the minimum on the load you call the shipper, confirming a rate for the shipment that allows you to pay mark his rate while making a profit. You confirm all the details with both parties and again, the necessary documentation to start the load life because Mark is already an agent of yours, you have a standing agreement in place, as you do with all of your carriers and shippers. The first thing you want to do is to confirm the rate agreed upon with the shipper and send them a shipper rate confirmation that requires your signature and return. To schedule the shipment, you must collect the following information on every shipment. This is standard operating procedure for freight brokers the name and address of the consign er and consign E the pickup and delivery address the commodity, the dispatch, telephone number, delivery time and total miles. You're going to have to provide all of these details to mark your carrier so he can accurately provide a quote and accept the load. During each transport, you make sure everything is going smoothly, but often communicating with your carriers in your recipients. At the end of the day, whatever time you have set your office hours, enjoy time off because you will rinse and repeat the next business day. The next time Mark might be Stacey, and there might be another, more pressing concern than just picking up a back haul. Each day will bring new adventures. So if you love variety, this is the career choice for you. I've made your day seem extremely simple, which it typically is, is a home based business model. In the next lesson, we will discuss the roles and responsibilities of a freight broker. 6. Roles of a Freight Broker: welcome to less than five in this lesson will discuss with the roles and responsibilities of a freight broker. Entail. This lesson will discuss what you'll be expected to do as a freight broker. Brokers can be viewed as the matchmakers of the transportation and logistics industry. They work to match a shipper with a carrier to get cargo from point A to point B. Determining the roles and responsibilities of a freight broker will happy to assess your work readiness In general, a trucking freight broker has four primary responsibilities. One. Ensure the safe transit of shipments from a shipper to the carrier through a consign E to prepare all the appropriate documents and reports that come with cargo transport. Three. Settle all money obligations for your carriers, including negotiating terms and rates. Four. While making sure current customers are happy, find new customers and truckers. 10. Must do tasks of a trucking broker. Within these duties and responsibilities. A trucking broker may need to perform the following 10 tasks. One. Work with shippers and carriers to get a fair rate for a specific load and making sure a commission is included for yourself to search for appropriate carriers or truckers to deliver the cargo to a consigning three. Prepare load information and other necessary documentation for each cargo, including bills of lading and sometimes over short and damage reports. This is done with appropriate software and computer systems. Four. Monitor the movement of the shipment by keeping in contact with drivers and shippers to make sure everything goes right on the route and gets to the destination on time. Five. If necessary, make arrangements for load storage. Six. Troubleshooting any problems that happened during load movement. Seven. Confirm with truckers and consign. Ease that a load is delivered on time and according to load information. Eight. Bill shippers and pay carriers on time with appropriate documentation. Nine. Create proper and necessary marketing materials to promote your business. 10. Network with individuals, companies, carriers and other stakeholders within your niche to develop new business leads. Any other tasks involved in getting a load where it's supposed to go would be included. After a shipment leaves the customer, anything it needs is your primary responsibility. In less than six, we'll talk about the start of costs and how to obtain funding 7. Costs of Starting this Business: welcome to lessen six of how to become a freight broker. In this lesson, we'll talk about the startup costs and how to obtain funding for your new business. Do you have any assets that you will be bringing to the table? Start up costs can be pricey, and it is up to you to find creative ways to get the financing you need. How much available capital do you have in the bank? What about investments? Do they have any available withdrawal limits? Is it possible to take out a second mortgage on your home? Do you have excellent credit? How about going to your financial institution for a business loan, personal loan or line of credit? All of these questions gives you possible scenarios regarding access to getting the funds you are going to need. Obviously, the optimal solution would be to obtain a business on from a lending institution, But you can honestly start with just the bare bones. Once you have made an appointment with your loan professional, there are several things to bring along with you. Probably the single most important document you hand over will be your business plan. Having a business plan shows that you have given thought to what you are expecting from your business in. Any lender likes to see this. Banks will not just hand out large sums of money without knowing exactly how it is going to be used. You will need to set up accounts with merchants for phone utilities, the Internet, rent, office supplies and payment processing methods. You will need to pay the proper state and local fees to run your business. Different areas have different requirements now here is the meat of the matter, all costs listed together in one place. Keep in mind that these are only estimates, and your business may need to increase or decrease, depending on your structure. The freight broker license the current amount of the fee and any state for getting your license from the FMC essay is $300. This is a one time fee only state fees and registration. Every state has different costs and processes. When it comes to registering a business, it is only at the federal level where everything is standard. Sure T bonds, you're up front. Costs for surety bonds depend entirely on your credit score. The agency you have chosen and financial information for your business, the better. Your credit rating is the lower the cost for the bond in general. The average cost per years between 1375 $100. Insurance. Any business needs insurance to cover them from legal liability. Expect to pay in the neighborhood of $3000 or more annually, but this will depend on the insurance broker you were using. Areas where you want to be protected include employment disputes and properly at hearing the legal contracts and injuries or fatalities that are the fault of third party carriers. A bare bones equipment list when you are just getting started, contains a phone reliable connection to the Internet, a fax, printer, copier and a computer software. The technology for software is constantly changing and evolving. The price you should expect to pay is in the range of 600 to $1200 depending on what you choose. Marketing the sheer variety of marketing methods makes putting a dollar value on this category extremely difficult. Since it is all over the map, there are free options, such as cold calling right up, too pricey advertising campaigns start with what you can afford and expand your efforts. Once you begin to see profits, keep in mind that you really need to get clients so it may be to your advantage to put a significant chunk of your budget towards gaining new business incidentals. Murphy's law is at work everywhere, and our industry is no exception. Choose your own amount of reserve cash. But failing to remember that problems with cash flow kills many smaller businesses in the first year is a fatal mistake in less than seven will discuss the finer details of establishing your business. 8. The Finer Details of Starting a Freight Brokerage: welcome to lessen seven of how to become a freight broker. In this lesson, we'll talk about the steps you should take and starting your business. The first step is to pick a name. There's a simple and easy way to take the pain and stress out of choosing a business name. Keep in mind the following tips to help you brainstorm a great business name. The name needs to have value. Ask yourself the following questions. What will the name of oak in the customer when they hear it for the first time? What image does it convey? Does it express a fun personality or stoic demeanor? Is the name unique? Is the name memorable? How will the name look on logos, websites or anywhere else You place your name? How will the name look as a website address? Next, you'll want to establish a business entity. While a lot of business owners choose to remain sole proprietors, others want to set up a corporation or a limited liability company or an LLC. When you choose to set up a corporation or an LLC, there are a number of tax and legal protections that you can take advantage of that you wouldn't otherwise have access to is a sole proprietor. You should consult with a tax or illegal professional about the benefits of different types of business entities and which will be best for you. The basic purpose of a business plan is to determine what your goals and objectives are going to be not just for the next few weeks, but potentially for years in the future. One business concept. This is where you will describe your proposed business, the services you will offer business structure, retail manufacturing, transport, etcetera and the target market. Two. Financial requirements. This area should allow for a clear and concise explanation of the amount of capital needed to start the business as well as future capital required for expansion. Also include information unavailable collateral and any equity. Three financial features. This is where you will have the opportunity to present the finer points of your business's finances, such as return on investment sales, cash flows and profits. Four. The current position of the business. All of your legal information will be stated in this portion include things like data formation, key personnel, legal form of operation corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship and principal owners. Five achievements. If your business has any relevant achievements, do not leave them out. Things to include are those such as test marketing results, current client contracts, prototypes, the facilities, location and patents or patents pending. Keep all language concise and to the point to convey a sense of confidence and purpose. The executive summary. Even though we're discussing this first, this is the last part of the plan you'll usually write. It provides a bird's eye view of your company, what you do, why you do it and how your business will succeed. This section is often two pages long or less, and summarizes all the points covered in detail throughout the other sections of the business plan. Even though this section is short, it is often the most important portion of the business plan. The busy executive will scan this portion of the business plan first, and their decision to investable greatly depend on this portion. Next is the business description. Envision in this section, you'll start going into detail about your freight brokerage. This is where you will provide people with a description of what the business is about and what it will represent. This section will also provide insight into the company's potential and growth market definition. This is another important part of your business plans. You'll need to focus on putting everything together. This requires that she decide on your niche market, knowing who your customers are and the potential reach of your business. Take your time when writing this section. Some questions you'll need to answer include. What industry are you operating in at? What is the industry prospects? What is the scope of your business? What is the potential market share for it? What market segments are you going to be targeting, what customer needs and problems will you address? Who are the customers you'll be targeting and who is your main competition projections and forecasts in this section, you'll need to show your perspective lender how you're planning to grow the business. The best way to show this is by sales forecast for the next three years. Remember, when forecasting sales, you'll need to be specific and show why and how you will increase sales and growth and by how much. After you have a name, have incorporated your business and drafted a business plan. You'll want to purchase insurance in the next section will discuss what insurance and bonds you should purchase 9. Insurance and Bonds for a Freight Brokerage: welcome to lessen eight. In this lesson, we will discuss the insurance and bonds that you will need to start your freight brokerage . All freight brokers are required to have the appropriate amount of insurance that is deemed suitable by their insurance company. The next step is for you to pick a designated person to be a process agent in every state you intend to do business in. As a broker, you do have the option of designating yourself for this job. If you're planning for your operations to be within the borders of one state only you will need to file an application for interest. State operating authority. The laws are different in each state. The concept of surety bones can be difficult to understand. The actual definition is a legally binding contract to ensure every obligation could be met between the person requiring the bond obligate e whoever needs the bond principle. And whichever insurance company is willing to guarantee that the principle is able to fulfill the stated obligations, a simple definition will be easier to understand. They are insurance, which is both paid for and backed by you. How do Shorty bonds work when you purchase a surety bond. If the conditions set forth are not met, the obligation or beneficiary will file a claim against you. If a claim is filed, you are responsible for every cent of the claim, including any incurred legal costs. The surety is what backs the bond, but an indemnity agreement signed by your business and all its owners is needed for the surety. This document means that you are agreeing to the use of personal and corporate assets to reimburse the surety in the event of a loss. Alternatives to assure T bonds If you are unable to get a surety bond for some reason, there is still hope. There are occasions when obligations will accept cash held in trust until the contract has been fulfilled. There were also some obligate is willing to accept an irrevocable letter of credit. Unfortunately, these alternatives have a list of downsides to them, which many businesses do not find appealing. Since you're using your own assets as a guarantee, you will have a decreased amount of working capital. There is the potential for false claims to just be blindly paid without any type of investigation into the claim. The requirement is 100% capital. Lowering the amount of working capital you have can increase the chances at your business. May default on contracts. You will save the cost of a bond premium, but you will lose potential investment interest. Now you can see why it makes better financial sense to pay a low percentage of the bond amount. Rather than tying up your available cash in less than nine, we'll discuss the training and licensing you'll need to become a freight broker. 10. Training and Licensing: Welcome to a Lesson nine training and licensing requirements. To operate as a free broker, you will need to get a license from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, F M A. C s. A. One of the very first things you will need to do when applying for license is to also apply for an M C number. The first step in the licensing process is to submit a fee of $300 along with the Urs form . See the resource is section for a link to this form. The federal government oversees this multi step process. When it comes to the license is required to begin operations as a freight broker. Many schools offer training courses and various types of degrees such a supply chain management. But these air not educational requirements. As faras schooling goes, all that is needed as a high school diploma or G e. D. The main skills that you will find essential in this job are excellent scheduling and organization, customer service and problem resolution and the ability to oversee everything and make decisions quickly for both Canada and the United States. And by utilizing the unified registration system, the authority to operate as a freight broker must come from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. F. M. C. S A training one of the easiest ways to get trained as by having an entry level job at any local trucking or freight brokerage company. This is one of the easiest ways to await your feet, but I can also understand this. Such jobs are not readily available for everyone everywhere. Your next best option is to attend freight broker classes on or offline. There are a number of good ones taught by freight broker experts throughout the United States. Investing in one of these classes will give you deep insight into the industry and the key players. You also gain the important practical knowledge and hands on learning, no matter what route you choose to go for your training and experience. The most important part of becoming a freight broker is to make sure you have really goals in mind. In less than 10 we'll talk about the equipment and software you need to get your hands dirty and dig in to becoming a freight broker 11. Tools and Equipment You'll Need: Congratulations. You've made it to lessen 10. In this lesson, we'll talk about exactly what you will need to start your freight brokerage business. The tools, equipment, office space and software you are going to need some type of space toe work out of. And many trucking brokers start right from the privacy of their own homes. As long as you have a spare room or a dedicated area from which to work, that is all you need. In the beginning, there are other options as well. You could rent office space. If that is in your budget, you could convert a garage or outbuilding on your property into an office where you could build a small addition onto your home. Regardless of the option that you choose, there is a list of things you are going to need. The most obvious items are the ones that are forgot most often, so we're going to include these as well. You will need a desk toe work from if you have clients coming into the office. It looks far more professional, being seated behind a desk than lounging on the couch in the living room. Having a desk also allows you to keep important papers handy and easy to find. If there is a revolt at the mention of you commandeering the family computer, you can purchase one almost anywhere. Secondhand is fine as long as it works and is capable of handling essential, newer programs and software. A fax machine is the next essential piece of equipment. Signed contracts go back and forth over fax, as do other important documents related to shipments, clients and various other business related items. Since you will also need a printer and photocopier, look for a model that does all three jobs in one machine. You may want to consider having a few chairs hanging around your office. If you have clients coming into your home office, it would much prefer a chair to sit on the being required to stand while you are discussing contract options. The following is a list of additional items you will need tohave to keep everything running smoothly. A dedicated phone line specifically for your business. A set up for payment processing methods such as Visa, MasterCard, Google pay, etcetera, a filing cabinet and file folders to keep hard copies of documents. Organized accounting software, freight broker software, stationary items such as business cards, reserve copies of commonly used documentation, plenty of paper for the fax machine in the printer, calculators, stapler, pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, envelopes of various sizes and correction fluid. As you begin day to day operations, there will be other items you come across. You will need to run out and purchase to effectively run your office and business. There are a number of industry forms and contracts you will need to have on hand. Always keep a master copy so that you can print more of them when needed. Broker Carrier Agreement Broker Shipper Agreement Bill of Lading Carrier Profile Co Broker Agreement Dispatcher Carrier Agreement Carrier Rate Confirmation Credit Card Authorization Terms of carriage credit Application rate Confirmation Addendum Despatch Company profile 2013 Carb True Broker Carrier Amendments Shipper Load sheet Freight rate matrix sheet shipper Past due letter Fuel surcharge FSC rate cheats shipper Afraid Quote carrier Payment policy access. Oriole charges shipper Personal guarantee. This is a good start to the type of forms and contracts required With the proper software system in place, you will easily make decisions with all the information you need right at hand. You are able to control several different aspects of your business from one place, including things like invoicing, sales, dispatch, security controls, financial reporting and carrier management, among others. This type of software also integrates with your accounting software. If you are using any purchase software online or in the store of your choice, check out the product descriptions and reviews beforehand to ensure that it has the features you will need. Some of the popular software examples you may want to consider are Arc Freight, a Vow Express freight view and ship Hawk in the next lesson will discuss how to grow your business through marketing. 12. Gaining Clients through Marketing: Lesson 11 in this lesson will discuss how to effectively market your new freight brokerage . Let's look at a few tips as to how you can get new customers niche marketing before you start working as a freight broker, and it's important that you identify a particular niche. Once you know who your target market is, you will be able to build your expertise around the particular niche. Focusing on a particular market will allow you to better meet your customers, needs build a strong reputation and stand out from the competition. Use the Internet. Once you have identified a niche market, the job of finding new customers is going to be easier. Perhaps the best way to look for shippers is through the Internet. Most brokers used the Internet as their main way to locate shippers and carriers. You often find websites with complete databases of top suppliers and shippers throughout the United States. There are some directories that even linked to the company's website, so you can easily contact them by email. Use freight boards. There are both free and paid freight boards. You will need to subscribe to these and pay monthly fees if you choose to become a member for one of these freight boards, you only need to register with your company name. There are plenty of shippers who go on these boards to look for carriers or brokers. A free freight board will allow you to search databases without paying. However, paid boards will offer incentives like credit scores to make sure a carrier or shipper is a legitimate business. I personally prefer to pay these boards as you get clients faster and get to establish your new business sooner rather than later. Cold calling. Most freight brokers don't like this option, however, even if you only get one customer from 100 calls, you're getting results to be successful cold calling. You need to know why you're calling before you make the call, and you need to do a complete research about the company or individual before you call them . While it is rare for this option, toe work right away again. You don't want to become discouraged with time and practice. You'll learn what works and what doesn't. This way you'll be able to find new shippers more easily as you gain experience with cold calling. Have a presence when it comes to an online presence. You want to use all social media platforms to your full advantage, including Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and linked in. However, it is also just is important that you have an offline presence. Participate in local events, exhibitions, seminars and other important events related to your trade. When you stay active and ensure quality services, you'll soon develop a loyal customer base. In the final lesson, we will discuss trends for the future of this industry. 13. Freight Broker Course Conclusion: you have made it to the end of this course, I hope that you feel that you have all the resources that you need to start your own free per bridge from the comfort of your own home. In this lesson and the final lesson, we'll discuss the trends for the future of the free brokerage industry. What role will trucking brokers play in the future? There is plenty to juggle in your role as a freight broker. It is essential to stay on top of legal changes, which happened on a regular basis and to effectively monitor every possible aspect which could affect your business, such as the newest available technologies and fuel prices across the globe. Watching the trends is the best way to make sure that your business flourishes. Certain trends may seem futuristic, but most are closer than you realize. These were the ones you really want. Toe watch autonomous technology. The best thing to come from autonomous technology is the ability to offer data that is more specialized, enhanced reliability and lower costs to your customers. It is easy to see where the cuts and costs will be dramatic, and the intention is to have a large decrease in the number of accidents on the road. Since shipments will be more reliable, the entire industry will become more predictable by integrating new computer systems into the trucks. The hope is for a better collection of data. Once this information is made available, it will be possible to further cut costs and predict more accurate shipping times, making autonomous technology a very positive development. Self driving trucks Not since the days of back to the future has the reality of self driving vehicles been so close. What free brokers want to know is just how it will affect their side of the industry. Current autonomous vehicles require a real human driver to be present in the front seat. This requirement may remain in force for several years yet or until all the bugs have been successfully worked out of the technology fuel prices The price of few is always the proverbial X factor. For the most part, market trends in fuel prices are fairly easy to foresee. With the amount of domestic OPEC production and fracking in the United States, stability is being predicted in the current low costs of fuel legal changes. Any types of legal change can show a huge difference to the bottom line. The next change expected in the industry is the cost of insurance premiums to go sky high. Taking all things into consideration, the future of trucking brokers is still looking extremely bright. There are plenty of reasons to air on the side of optimism. For 2017 alone, current forecasts are predicting a stable 2.1% GDP growth. This is the direct result of assorted industry trends converging together at just the right time now. In 2016 estimates for GDP growth were 1.9%. Proving the forecasters know just what they're talking about, advanced software makes it increasingly easy to match the perfect carrier with their clients intended freight. Once you combine software technology with the decreasing costs of basic trade tools such as computers, you can see the rate of technological advancements is another great reason to start your own trucking brokerage business. Thank you for participating in this course. We sincerely hope it has benefited you. If you are in need of further information on this topic, you can check out Ronald Harris's book on Amazon, titled Trucking Free Brokerage Business Start up Step by Step Guide to become a successful freight broker