10 Best Practices When Working with Freight Brokers

Eric Weisbrot - Marketing Manager

Article thanks to Eric Weisbrot, Aaron Anderson and JW Surety Bonds. Links provided:

July 2019 There are more than 17,000 licensed freight brokers working within the United States today, and that figure continues to grow as the transportation industry expands. Freight brokers provide services to shippers and carriers to help ease the process of moving loads, and this assistance takes away several of the challenges transportation professionals face each day. However, not all freight brokers have the same processes, nor do they offer the same level of service to their customers. To ensure your relationship with a licensed broker is in your best interest, follow these tips below.

Know What a Freight Broker Does

The most important best practice when working with a freight broker as part of a transportation business is understanding the role he or she plays. Freight brokers work as intermediaries between shippers and carriers, coordinating the behind the scenes tasks of moving freight. Brokers also manage the progress of loads, as well as handle most of the legal requirements for getting the job done. Recognizing this as a freight broker’s role helps make each transaction more straightforward and streamlined.

Check That They are Licensed

A critical component of being a freight broker is holding the appropriate license. Requirements for licensing for freight brokers involves getting registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, submitting an application, and paying the applicable fees. Check that a broker has motor carrier authority and has met the licensing requirements before agreeing to work together.

Ensure a Bond is in Place

Freight broker professionals also need to meet certain federal requirements for protecting their customers. This is done by securing either a freight broker bond or a freight broker trust. Either a bond or a trust of at least $75,000 is necessary to operate legally. Any claims against the freight broker for bad or negligent business practices are made against the bond, helping safeguard the customer. Ask for the broker’s bond or trust documentation to ensure this is in place.

Verify Past Experience

Another important aspect of becoming a licensed freight broker is gaining industry experience. In many cases, this is done through on-the-job training and employment in relevant fields such as transportation or logistics. While successful brokers do not need to have several years of employment history, having some knowledge of the industry is helpful when working with shippers and carriers. Brokers may also complete formal freight broker training to ensure they are up to date with current rules, regulations, and best practices. Verifying this experience is helpful when selecting a broker to work with over time.

Ask for Customer References

Whether a freight broker provides detailed work history and industry experience or not, another best practice is to ask for customer references. Brokers who have worked in the field for any amount of time should have success stories with past customers, and they should be willing to provide these details for potential new customers to validate. Be sure to follow through with customer references, asking questions about their experience with a specific broker.

Work with a Broker in Your Niche

Not all freight brokers work with the same demographic of shippers and carriers, nor do they all have the same expertise in a certain area of the industry. To ensure a freight broker is the right fit for your business, select a broker that knows the ins and outs of your specific market. Also, compare the benefits and drawbacks of working with a large freight brokerage versus a smaller company or individual. There are times when one may be better suited.

Build the Relationship

As with any business partnership, building a relationship is key to ongoing success with a freight broker. Although it is becoming easier to transition to a different broker because of increased competition in the industry, that does not always mean it is the best choice. Cultivating a business relationship with a broker, particularly one who has delivered consistently over time, creates a stronger bond that results in successful transactions.

Have a Plan for Working Together

Communication is an essential component of working with a freight broker. It is necessary to have a plan in place for the channels of communication that will be used as loads are shipped. Just as important is the overall objective of working with a broker. Shippers and carriers must clearly identify what it is they are looking for, including what challenges they are trying to address so that the broker can provide a path toward the right solution.

Resolve Issues Quickly

Not every load will be perfect, and both freight brokers and their customers need to be aware of this truth. However, managing the issues that arise when deliveries are not completed on time or they fail to meet other specific standards is part of what makes the relationship with a broker beneficial. Shippers and carriers need to work with the broker to ensure issues are resolved quickly, which often means communicating effectively and in a timely fashion.

Trust the Process

Having a successful relationship with a freight broker comes down to trusting the process. Brokers are trained to work as intermediaries, and they are capable of completing the tasks per the request or need of the customer. Trusting the process often means letting go of some control to the freight broker, but with the right relationship, this is an easy and ultimately profitable task.

Eric Weisbrot is the Chief Marketing Officer of JW Surety Bonds. With years of experience in the surety industry under several different roles within the company, he is also a contributing author to the surety bond blog.

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5 Ways to Clear Your Personal Info From Your Car Before Selling You Sell It

Article thanks to Vince Pontorno and komando.com. Links provided:

May 28, 2019  With so many different devices, apps, and connections in our lives, we tend to forget our cars are connected devices as well. Think about it, your car knows every contact, location, app, and combination.

It's important that you remember this if you're thinking about selling or trading your current vehicle. You would be surprised how many people sell their car and forget to erase all the personal information stored in its memory. By ignoring this step, you're not only handing over the keys to your car, but the keys to your life as well.

That's why we're going to tell you five ways to wipe your car clean of any and all personal data that has been synced, paired, or downloaded over the years. The settings and methods can vary according to make, model, and year, but we can give you some general pointers to lead you in the right direction.

1. Remove phone contacts

Syncing your phone is usually one of the first things you do when you get a new car. By doing so, you're giving the car access to contact names, numbers, and in some cases, text messages.

There's nothing wrong with that. It's a feature that helps make life easier and hands free while you drive. However, when it comes time to sell or trade, be sure to disconnect your phone from the car's pairing system and delete any information that may be left behind.

Once again, every car is different and how you go about deleting your phone's contacts/data from it can vary, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Everything is labeled in cars today, so you can start by pressing the phone or settings button and choosing the phone that is currently synced.

By selecting your phone, you should be able to manage settings that connect it to the car. From there, simply follow the prompts until your phone, and all of its data, has been removed from the system completely.

2. Delete maps and addresses

This is a step that most people forget when they're ready to part ways with a car. Your navigation system holds all of your regularly used addresses and previous destinations.

This can include places like your office, your kid's school, and even your home address. Removing personal information from your car is about protecting yourself and creating an easy transition for the next owner. Don't make it easy for anybody to track your locations or daily routine.

If you go to your car's destination, maps, or info settings, you can find your way to a menu that will give you the option to delete previous locations and addresses from the map. Keep in mind, in some cars, even after you've deleted an address, it may still be saved in the system's memory bank. So, you may have to go a little deeper, or refer to your car's user manual to permanently delete an address.

3. Clear mobile apps

Any private login information, or personal data that’s gathered and stored on mobile apps, may also be connected to the car. For example, car manufacturers may provide you with an internal mobile app that lets you control the car’s data functions or help you to locate it in the event that it is missing or stolen.

Since these apps can require and contain personal info, like logins and passwords, you should remove the app from the car when you are ready to sell it.

4. Scrub garage door codes

As mentioned earlier, clearing your personal info from a car before you sell it is a matter of safety and common courtesy. You may be a trusting person by nature, but I don't think you want someone else driving a car that can open your garage door.

Especially, if they can locate your home address with the previous destinations menu, which we've already covered. So, before you hand over the title, remember to erase the garage door code programmed into your car.

The car's built-in garage door opener can usually be found on the rear-view mirror or the sun visor. Each component will have three buttons displayed on them.

To erase the garage door code, you'll want to place your fingers on the first button and on the third button. Press and hold down both buttons at the same time until you see the indicator light start to blink. Once the light begins to blink, you have successfully deleted the garage door code from the car's memory.

5. Remove digital content subscriptions

If you have a subscription to a some form of digital content, i.e., SiriusXM, you can transfer your existing account to the radio in your new car. Often times, people forget to terminate/transfer their subscriptions after selling a car. The new owner of your previous vehicle shouldn't be accessing digital content on your dime.

Be sure to notify your service about any radios/vehicles you no longer have so they can remove them from your account. Also, a reminder for those of you who may be thinking about selling your car during a trial period. Since the trial is attached to the specific vehicle, if you sell or trade your car during that time you'll have to do without both. Just a heads up.

Bonus: Privacy4Cars App

The Privacy4Cars app is a one of a kind platform built to assist car owners with the removal of personal information such as, phone numbers, call logs, location history and garage door codes, from modern vehicles. It's a great tool to use if you're toying with the idea of selling your car.

First created by a cyber-security and vehicle privacy expert, Privacy4Cars allows users to select their cars according make, model and year, and provides visual step-by-step tutorials on how to quickly/effectively clear their vehicles of personal information.

The app is available for both Apple and Android. Tap or click here to download the app for Apple. Tap or click here to download the app for Android.

https://www.komando.com/tips/568497/selling-your-car-how-to-clear-your-personal-info-first?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=totd&utm_content=2019-05-28