Who is a freight broker and what does he do?
A freight broker is an intermediary between a freight service provider and a shipper.
Freight brokers may be specialized in a certain type of freight such as equipment hauling on lowboys, oversize, bulk tanker, auto, or other types of freight transportation.
The responsibility of the freight broker includes:
- maintaining communication with carriers and updating the status of the cargo
- looking for quality carriers
- selection of transport that meets FMCSA requirements
- tracking cargo and checking its delivery
- financial managing (billing, payments to carriers)
- also, the freight broker assumes the risk of lending to the client, therefore they are engaged in checking and monitoring the lending of clients.
A freight broker in the United States must be licensed by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The FMCSA is a division of the US Department of Transportation and deals with the regulation and enforcement of the transport safety rule.
Also, a freight broker can be either one person or a large multinational company.
What is freight broker software?
This is a type of Transportation Management System (TMS) that specializes in freight brokerage operations.
Brokerage software can provide opportunities such as:
- the ability to add cargo to the system
- search for suitable transport
- invoicing
- tracking cargo in real-time
- automatic updating of cargo status
- fuel tax tracking
- electronic documentary information
- planning a route
- logistics
- accounting
- transport management ( read more about TMS)
Top features and benefits of freight broker software
There is a lot of software in the market with different functions and it is important to choose the one that best suits your business goals. Here the top 5 benefits of using freight broker software :
- Freight shipping calculator
This module allows you to calculate the cost of delivery of the cargo by analyzing the requirements for transportation conditions, type of cargo, necessary and suitable type of transport.
- Selection of a Carrier
Selection of better carriers, depending on the type of cargo, route, volume. Some software solutions have a convenient filter by which you can choose the most suitable carrier for a specific order.
- Consolidation
Some of the software has the ability to consolidate similar supplies and reducing overhead.
- Route optimization
Pointing and optimizing the route is another important function that allows you to choose the best route depending on several factors such as distance, fuel cost, road conditions, etc.
- Cargo tracking
Some systems give the opportunity to track the cargo on all routes, automatically update the status of the cargo, track its progress in real-time, check the estimated time of arrival, send push notification and receive a warning in case of delay or emergency.
Do you need freight broker software?
Anyone who works in brokerage and wants to get ahead in this niche needs reliable freight broker software. This allows you to manage effectively your clients' freights, work faster, and earn more money eventually. Of course, there is always a choice between buying a license for an existing product or ordering development for yourself. There is a variety of cloud freight broker software on the market at a fairly low price that can help you in your business. Find out how we can help you create custom freight broker software.
Tips to choose the best freight broker software for your company:
- choose specialized software for a freight broker
Now many solutions on the market are TMS themselves and are created for shippers, carriers, and fleets. Thus, they have many functions that you do not need, and this in its way makes the learning process and integration into your company more difficult. Of course, if possible, it is always better to order the development of software for a freight brokerage for your needs in a specialized company.
This way you get what you need, with maximum flexibility and fully tailored to your needs.
- flexibility and extensibility
It is very important that the freight broker software can grow and evolve accordingly to your business needs and has the flexibility to easily integrate with other required services or customize its functionality to suit your requirements.
- security
You need to be clear about where the data is stored, on your server, or with a service provider. It is also important to adhere to all standards and protocols to keep your company and your customers' data safe.
- training
It is very important to understand how freight broker software training will be carried out. Usually, training is required for company employees to work with such software and assistance in integrating them with the company's business processes.
- support
Find out how well the support services of a software company are working. It is very important that your supplier can always help you and be in touch to resolve any issues quickly.
Read Also Transportation Management System (TMS), What Is It?
Top 5 freight broker software programs in 2021
Top features:
- Single screen to view orders and perform all tasks
- Realtime monitor the status of rate confirmations
- Dispatch with a few clicks and send custom rate confirmations directly via email or fax
- Financial and performance analytics about customers, carriers, and lanes
- Built-in tools for analyzing pricing and margins
Top features:
- Controlled visibility of agents and sensitive information
- Realtime shipment monitoring
- Comparisons on lane pricing and historical rates
- Map-based dispatch
- Execution of freight bill audit & payment
- Simplified document imaging and management
- Secure hosting and backups from the cloud
Top features:
- Accounting System
- International Shipping
- Load & Job Tracking
- Load Board Integrations
- Multi-Loads Management
- Multi-Modal Transportation
- Total Agent Management System (TAM)
Top features:
- Free unlimited users
- Simple invoice management
- Easy load confirmations
- Email load sheets directly from the system
- Load real-time tracking
- Distributed file storage for documents
- Sales management tools
Top features:
- Carrier Selection
- Sales management tools
- Dispatch & Operations
- Customer Portal
Contact us to learn more about how we can help you optimize your freight forwarding and logistic business.
