News roundup, May 7: OOIDA presses Congress for brokered transaction transparency
The association presses Congress for required disclosure of brokered transaction records, including what the shipper paid, and more in COVID relief bill. A new truck routing program is available from the Department of Homeland Security. A Georgia-based…
POLL: Should brokers’ per-load margins be limited at a certain percentage?
Would you advocate a regulated cap/ceiling on freight brokers’ margins/percentage take on any load across the board? On certain commodities or situations like the current crisis? Or just let supply/demand sort it all out? …. Weigh in here.
With rates ‘nowhere near sustainable’ for independent truckers, debate stirs over ‘re-regulating’
Voices from D.C. demonstrations as well as around the trucking business as everybody seems to be looking for the elusive, profitable ‘new normal’ that might help businesses sustain through the COVID-19 crisis.
Words to truck by: ‘You will never, ever come out ahead running at a loss’
Refusing to do that, independents Daniel and Phyllis Snow have been at home for going on a month now as rates and available freight volumes have fallen and what Snow calls a veritable epidemic of “bad business” (extending from brokers to shippers and r…
Carriers’ right to review what the shipper paid for a brokered load
The power to determine whether you’ve been treated right on a load-to-load basis by a broker is held by … guess who? Assuming you haven’t signed away the right by agreeing to a contract in which you waive it, reader, that’s you.
POLL: Do you employ a factoring company for collections assistance?
Factoring has been on the rise over the course of the last decade, per Overdrive’s prior reporting, though payment speed has to, as a general rule. How often do you use a factoring, if at all? Weigh in here.
The owner-operator’s No. 1 freight negotiations tool — Right of refusal
Gary Buchs sees signs of hope in business confidence indicators of late, despite the big decline for spot freight: “Don’t forget the value of your right of refusal – that’s your line in the sand. … I’m an optimist, generally. If I’m thinking about fr…
Low rates in troubled spot market prompt protest, letter writing campaign
Spot market gets harder: For weeks now, owner-op frustrations have grown with rates and volume falling– some have taken to letter writing to attorneys general and state governors urging action on “reverse price gouging” while others, as in Houston yes…
How to file on a broker’s surety bond
Three in four owner-operators report at least one incident of broker nonpayment and an effort at recourse. The most common action is filing a claim on the broker’s surety bond — find here a detailed how-to on the process.
How brokers, carriers can prevent business ID theft schemes
While it’s virtually impossible to stop someone from using your name once your identifying information is compromised, a few extra steps taken early by both brokers and/or carriers can immediately derail schemes involving business impersonation fraud.