#5. A broad-based freight brokerage firm is more capable for specialized needs.

A full-service freight brokerage firm is most likely to be knowledgeable and experienced across the broadest range of specialties, even to the extent of having staff who focus on particular areas. The best brokers are part of a wide-ranging firm that provides multi-faceted transportation services to clients. Such complimentary services might include bill administration to help you prevent over payment through oversights or inaccuracies, and account management to help secure the trucks to suit your needs best.

#4. Your process shifts from reactive to proactive.

Many shippers typically don’t think much about their rates until shipping time. Brokers think about rates every day, and continually keep their clients posted on market trends and opportunities. Establishing a relationship with a freight broker can elevate your process from a reactive mode that kicks in when production approaches completion, to a proactive stance that anticipates opportunities in advance, enabling more effective strategy when it is time.

#3. Using a broker reflects the good business practice of outsourcing for non-core services

Organizations regularly outsource for specialized skills outside of their core capabilities, such as accounting or legal counsel. Commercial Transportation is a similarly exacting business function; with so much at stake, it pays—literally—to outsource to a specialist.

#2. If you have shipments originating in multiple cities, a national freight brokerage firm gives you one-stop service for all locations.

A strong freight brokerage firm operating in multiple markets can serve you from a single source, eliminating the hassle of finding a good carrier in every location where you need one. The best freight brokerage firms will provide clients with an account manager who serves as a single point of client contact and responsibility, working with brokers in other locations to deliver the best opportunities in any location, whenever you need them.

#1. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Although many manufacturers and distributors have contracts with trucking companies to transport their goods, a significant amount of freight transport in North America is handled by freight brokers like Battalion Logistics LLC. Brokers are in business because they save clients time, money and risk, pure and simple. Fifty years ago, when a shipper wanted to hire a truck to move their goods, they just handed over the cash to the trucker, and the deal was consummated. Today, a shipper is faced with a much greater challenge when hiring a trucker. They worry about contracts, liability, insurance, fraud alerts, trucker and driver compliance, and, above all else, actually finding the truck at the right price.