What advantages do freight brokers provide for shippers?
Cut freight costs. Most freight 3PLs have very large networks of carriers. A 3PL can leverage the size of its network to find the best carrier for a shipper’s load based on experience, equipment and cost. 3PLs can essentially be a ‘comparison shop’ on behalf of their shipping customers.
Move freight fast. Again, the large size of a 3PL’s carrier network allows for greater flexibility in meeting the timelines of shippers. From there, communication is vital to iron out schedules that work for shippers and destination facilities. We can also factor in stops to tank washes and other items.
Remove demands of traffic management. When a shipper books a load with a carrier, that shipper typically must allocate internal resources to track that load and manage the timeline and stakeholder expectations. Brokerages can handle those tasks on the shippers’ behalf.
Provide multiple transportation modes. Some 3PLs, like Bulk Connection, that specialize in bulk freight shipping can handle transportation across just about all trucking modes – e.g., liquid and dry bulk, dry van, LTL; effectively giving shippers a ‘one-stop-shop’ for their transportation needs.
Maintain carrier information. For shippers going it alone and working with different carriers directly, there can be a lot of work that goes into maintaining the carriers’ licensing, insurance and regulatory compliance information. Some 3PLs have a dedicated team whose responsibility it is to keep these records updated and ensure that the broker’s TMS system assigns shippers’ loads ONLY to carriers that are up-to-date and qualified to handle them.
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