Our guest on this episode of The Road Forward is Devon from Strong Hotshot Trucking. Devin is a motor carrier and runs a YouTube channel where he shares experiences from his own company and advice for other truckers and carriers.

Devin has dealt with double brokering first hand a number of times and shared with us his own thoughts and experiences.

What is Double Brokering?

Double brokering happens when a freight broker goes to book a load with a trucking company, only to find out later that the so-called ‘trucking company’ is actually another broker. This secondary broker can then change the price at which they book the load with an actual carrier, or worse, disappear and never pay the carrier. 

We did a poll on whether this is causing problems in the trucking industry. The result? 91% of those we asked agree that double brokers are a major problem.

A trend that seems to be occurring is that double brokers will book up all the loads on a load board and then outsource them. 

“It’s unfair that two brokers get paid on a load in one truck.”

–Devin

This issue on its own is bad enough, but considering the economy as it is– fuel prices rising, high demand for parts, etc.– it’s a particularly bad time for hard-working carriers to have to deal with this.

What’s the Solution?

While double brokering is more of a systemic problem, there are things that individual carriers and freight brokers can do to spot a double broker and hopefully avoid getting scammed.

From the beginning, the original broker should thoroughly vet the company they’re about to book a load with. How can you spot a company that might be a double broker? Some red flags include:

• The company has no inspections. Unless a carrier is just starting out, they should have inspections available.
• The company uses a fake address or an address that belongs to another business, such as a convenience store. 
• There are multiple trucking ‘companies’ with the same address. 

As a carrier, it’s always a good idea to check the BOL after each load to see who the real broker is. If the broker listed is different from the broker you thought you booked the load with, you may be dealing with a double broker.

We concluded this episode with Devin sharing his thoughts on the industry as a whole and where it’s headed. 

Be sure to check out the full episode to hear the latest in trucking news, including laws that could change what it means to be an independent contractor, IKEA and self-driving trucks, and how the trucking industry is helping out with disaster relief in Florida.

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