How to Become a Trucker Broker
Trucker brokers bring drivers together with people who need something shipped on a truck. It can take several months to establish a new truck brokerage---also known as freight or logistics brokerages---but a successful broker can make anywhere from $40,000 to $200,000 a year. Successful trucker brokering will require you to gain experience in the field, develop people skills to deal with customers and eventually obtain federal broker authority for interstate shipping. The market for trucker broker professionals should continue expanding through at least 2018.
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Instructions
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Go to work in a trucking or shipping firm. Learn how freight brokers operate in the industry and what makes shippers and truck drivers favor one freight broker over another.
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Ask some of the trucker brokers you deal with at your job to recommend a good training course. There are multiple course available, many of them online.
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Apply for a job as an agent for an established trucker brokerage. Working for another agent will let you test the waters of brokering without the cost of applying for a federal broker authority. You will have to share your profits with your partner.
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Set up a home office. Trucker brokers and agents don't need loading docks or storage space. Turning one of your rooms into an office and equipping it with computers, file cabinets and other equipment will enable you to start business cheaply.
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Apply to the federal government for a broker authority, an absolute necessity before you set up an interstate freight brokerage of your own. In addition to the federal forms, you'll need $300 for the non-refundable application fee and either a $10,000 surety bond or a $10,000 trust fund to cover potential losses and liability.
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Contact potential customers and let them know you're available to arrange shipping. In addition to contacts you've already made in your career, browse industry publications and website and network with business groups to find possible customers.
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Tips & Warnings
As a trucker broker or an agent, you'll probably be on the phone a lot. If your business phone is a cellular phone, make sure the plan has lots of minutes.
You don't need federal brokerage authority if you only handle shipments within your state.
Before you open your business, decide whether and how you want to specialize. Freight brokers can do general business, focus on trucking in a particular region, or work with truckers who have experience in particular kinds of cargo, such as hazardous waste.
Before starting your business, make sure you have enough money saved up, or a line of credit, to cover the months before you break even. Your savings should cover both your business expenses and your personal living expenses.
