There are thousands of freight brokerages operating in the United States. In fact, at the end of March, there were 27,450 U.S. freight brokerages with active Motor Carrier authorities.
Brush Pass Research helped put freight brokerages’ role in the transportation industry into perspective by reporting that they control roughly 300,000 truckloads per day.
Obviously, it’s easy to find a freight broker. But how do you know you’ve found one of the best?
Five Ways Top Freight Brokers Set Themselves Apart
The top freight brokers set themselves apart by showing integrity in every transaction, mastering the logistics maze, responding rapidly in critical situations, generating value beyond basic logistics, and scaling solutions for your business’ success.
1. They Do the Right Thing: Showing Integrity in Every Transaction
RJ Logistics COO Jay Frieden said doing the right thing means “ensuring you do what you committed to and what we signed up for.”
Frieden said in situations in which things go wrong, “a lot of providers will first try and figure out how much I can charge a customer to do this. In our case, we’ll figure out the pieces later, let’s make sure we take care of the customer. That can be recovering a load in the middle of the night, getting a carrier to make a delivery that wasn’t scheduled until Monday over the weekend.”
RJ Logistics “won’t stop until we deliver what the customer needs,” he said.
2. They Solve Complex Problems: Mastering the Logistics Maze
Ryan Duncan, an RJ Logistics senior customer sales executive, recalled a situation in which the team’s quick thinking saved a customer thousands of dollars on a single shipment.
Duncan said the problem arose when RJ Logistics learned the customer didn’t have a forklift or a loading dock at the shipping site. “We actually brought in a box truck and … transloaded it onto the box truck, had a liftgate on that box truck, dropped it down, and … had a pallet jack as well to help the customer get unloaded. And instead of paying double, we were able to use our local carriers to … help them out and solve a problem.”
3. They Spring into Action When Needed the Most: Rapid Response in Critical Situations
A customer told RJ Logistics a project start date was a few weeks out. Then that changed, remembered Director of Sales David Saunders.
“All of a sudden their customer’s timeline radically changed. We came in on a Monday morning and they needed three trucks there ASAP. We huddled as a group, got really collaborative, got with them, reached out to all our partner carriers to get the drivers there as quickly as possible,” Saunders said, pointing out that RJ Logistics even obtained strapping equipment. “The carrier didn’t have as much of that on the short term that we needed so we went out of our way to go buy that equipment for them out of our own pocket to give it to the carrier to go and pick it up. It was really kind of a high-stress situation because they needed it there ASAP.”
But the customer knew RJ Logistics would deliver. “The first thing they thought of was: ‘Let’s call RJ because they’re going to really take care of us and at least be honest with us.’ Can we get there on time? They’re going to believe that we are, that we’re not just overextending ourselves. I think a lot of other brokers in this industry will say, ‘Yes, absolutely, we can do it,” and then they’ll reach back out about 1, 2, or 3 o’clock, when it’s too late to make a decision or a change and say, ‘We can’t do it, but we have a solution for tomorrow.’
“Right in the morning we got in around 9 and had that meeting and said, ‘We realistically can do this.’ We set accurate expectations with them, and we ended up executing. We had to stay a little late to get it done for them, but that’s kind of what it’s all about. We’ve got to go the extra mile for them, and they were thrilled with it,” Saunders said.
4. They Generate Value: Beyond Basic Logistics
Co-founder Chris Klaidi Shyti said the RJ Logistics team values the company’s customers and takes pride in delivering on promises.
“The way customers react to the way we approach our business interactions has been nothing but a pleasure to see,” Shyti said. “We’ve seen a lot of thank yous coming in by email, to our team members congratulating them for the effort that we put in day in and day out to try to solve those issues.
“When we keep in mind that we have to really focus on the correct principles and our core values to be able to deliver that positive experience, it comes back to us in a manner of gratitude through an email or even a phone call, even face-to-face when we see our customers. It’s fulfilling to see and that’s what keeps the team going every day.”
5. They Grow with Your Business: Scaling Solutions for Success
RJ Logistics’ exceptional service helps their customers grow their businesses. That in turn helps RJ Logistics scale as well.
Zyljana Mersinaj, RJ Logistics’ director of business development, recalled when a customer asked for her help with a critical shipment that required on-time delivery.
“That meant even if it was 10 minutes late, it would require air charter, which obviously would cost $100,000 or more,” Mersinaj said. “As soon as I got off the phone, I immediately met with my team to further discuss a solution for our customer. During our discussion, we agreed to put a process in place to allow us to confirm driver location two hours before pickup. Doing this, this would allow us to calculate on-time pickup and on-time delivery.”
It worked. The shipment was delivered on time, and the customer continues using RJ Logistics for all its critical time-sensitive freight.
RJ Logistics Is the Right Broker to Move Your Freight
“The linchpin to achieving a mutually beneficial outcome between the carrier and shipper rests in the careful selection of the appropriate broker, thereby averting potential frustrations and forging successful partnerships,” an article, “How to Find a Freight Broker,” said. “More technically speaking, a freight broker stands as the crucial bridge between those in need of freight transportation services and the providers of such services.”
RJ Logistics has built the strongest of bridges.
At RJ Logistics, we are driven by our mission to deliver positive experiences for our customers, partners, and community through actions guided by our core values and principles.
At RJ Logistics, our integrity is on display in every transaction. We are masters of the logistics maze. We respond rapidly in critical situations. We generate value beyond basic logistics, and we scale solutions for your business’ success.
Through our strategic partnerships, our expert service options include flatbed, Conestoga, cargo van, dry van, and expedited.
Schedule a call with RJ Logistics today.
