Freight Brokerage Business. The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
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can interact with and learn from experienced instructors in person.
When it comes to finding a training program, you have many options to choose from. One option is Brooke Transportation Training Solutions (www.brooketraining.com/our-courses). Founded by Jeff Roach, this organization offers both an online training program, as well as 40- and 80-hour live training programs that are taught in multiple cities throughout the country.
Roach has spent his entire adult life working in various aspects of the ground transportation industry and for the past two decades has operated a highly successful freight brokerage business called Brooke Transportation Services, which is based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
It was back in 2001, when he was looking for a training program for his own employees but could not find a good one, that he decided to create Brooke Transportation Training Solutions and began developing an ever-evolving and extremely comprehensive training program, which is now available to the public.
Over the years, tens of thousands of students have graduated from Roach’s training programs and have gone on to pursue their own successful careers operating a freight brokerage business or working as an agent for an established company.
In this interview, Jeff Roach shares valuable information about how to acquire the education and training needed in order to operate a successful freight brokerage business or become an agent for an existing freight broker.
“When I started in this business, unless you already knew someone working within it, you didn’t know what it was. The concept of a freight brokerage or freight broker agent was simply unheard of, even though these companies existed. What I have seen over the past few years is that knowledge about this type of business has become much more mainstream. It used to be people who got into the freight brokerage business were migrating from the trucking business, for example, because they were the only ones who knew about this opportunity. Today, people are graduating from high school or college and are choosing this as a career path,” explained Roach.
“Today, companies in many different industries, and of all sizes, are using freight brokers or third-party logistics companies, which are basically the same thing. When I first started in this business and had to call on shippers, I often had to explain what a freight broker was. Today, this is no longer the case. Not only do all shippers know about freight brokers, most shippers now rely heavily on them,” added Roach.
As in any industry, technology is changing the way people do business. While there are many technology-based tools that can be used by freight brokerage businesses to automate some aspects of their work, Roach does not see technology replacing the need for freight brokers any time soon.
“Over the next three to five years, I think there will be new software and technologies introduced that will handle more of the tasks and decision making that’s currently done by freight brokers. So it’s important for people entering this field to understand how to use technology and to stay up-to-date on these latest advancements. Technology will help with efficiencies and asset utilizations, plus make it possible to make decisions faster,” said Roach.
Many freight brokerage businesses operate throughout the United States, and there’s a lot of existing competition in this field. However, Roach strongly believes that tremendous opportunities still exist for people first breaking into this field.
“There has never been a better opportunity than there is right now for freight brokerage businesses. If you look at transportation stocks, for example, they’re hitting an all-time high. With the new Republican-led U.S. government, starting in early 2017, there is going to be a huge infrastructure building program within the United States. I think we are at the beginning of a renaissance period as far as it being the best time ever, in the history of the world, for transportation companies, transportation services, brokers, and agents,” explained Roach. “Companies in many industries, and of all sizes, are investing heavily in transportation and logistics. I see tremendous opportunities existing and growing in many areas of the ground transportation industry.”
When asked to describe the ideal student for one of Brooke Transportation Training Solutions’s programs, Roach responded, “Everyone needs to enter this field with realistic expectations. This is not a career path for someone who does not like to work. This is a career for people who like to wake up early and spend their entire day solving problems and developing creative solutions for evolving problems. It never stops. You make a living in this business by solving problems.
“When operating a freight brokerage business, there is no such thing as running it on autopilot. You have to be the kind of person who loves to solve problems. Each and every day, you are going to be solving problems for shippers and carriers. Thus, you have to enter this industry with the right expectations and the right attitude. It’s not for the faint of heart.
“There are many different personality types that do well working in this industry, but you need to understand that you’re literally going to be sitting in front of a computer and on the phone every day, from morning to night. You’re going to be continuously communicating with shippers, traffic managers, dispatchers, drivers, and other logistics companies, for example. Again, this career is for people who love to work hard and solve problems.
“In terms of core skills and prior education, I have seen plenty of people with little formal education succeed once they’ve acquired the proper training to operate a freight brokerage business or become an agent. I have also seen people with college degrees succeed. This industry is open to everyone, as long as they’re willing to work hard and do what they say they’re going to do. The last thing I am going to do is put restraints on people by telling them they’re not an ideal candidate for this industry,” said Roach.
After years of being an instructor and training thousands of individuals to operate their own freight brokerage businesses, Roach says that he can look at a new class of students and pick out who will likely become the most successful by pinpointing one certain trait.
“The person who has overcome the most adversity in their life and did not quit will be the person who is the most successful working in this field. This is a business that takes that type of character—someone who is not going to quit when things get difficult or stressful. This is a job where you are putting out fires and solving problems. It never stops. You can’t be the type of person who gives up easily. You need to be the type of person who gets knocked down and who gets right back up again.
“Someone who has encountered great setbacks in their life and has overcome them will typically do much better in this type of work than someone who has had everything handed to them. There is nothing easy about this career path. If anyone says working in a freight brokerage business, or operating one, is easy work, they are lying to you,” added Roach.
For people who have no previous experience working in the freight, shipping, or ground transportation industry, Roach believes that the very best way to get started is to invest the required 40 to 80 hours in order to obtain training.
“You will learn what works and what doesn’t work. Operating a freight brokerage business, or working as an agent, is not the type of job that requires you to pass a test, get a license, and then get started. There are a lot of excellent courses out there. Participate in one,” said Roach.
“I am 100 percent sure that what’s covered within our courses is the most accurate, most timely, and most necessary information someone needs. We help people break into this industry with the knowledge they need to become successful.
“Before you spend any money to obtain a freight brokerage license and acquire a surety bond that could cost thousands of dollars, obtain the right training, determine the best path for you to personally follow, and then decide how to proceed next in terms of in what capacity you’ll enter this industry. It might make financial sense for you to first become an agent, as opposed to launching your own freight brokerage business. Make intelligent decisions based on knowledge and coaching,” explained Roach.
Not everyone chooses to open their own freight brokerage business and wants to take on that added financial responsibility. Roach stated,