The past, the present and the future of freight brokers

In reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman, I couldn't help but think of the many ways our world has changed over the past twenty years, and the effect of these changes on our business. The freight broker of the not too distant past relied on the telephone and his contacts written down on a sheet of paper or stored in a rolodex file. He or she might have one containing a list of shippers and another holding the list of carriers to call if a load from a customer was called in. The carrier list was very finite giving the broker only so many avenues to pursue, unless the broker had a book, (a carrier directory), with carriers listed alphabetically by state.

Along came the facsimile machine allowing customers to fax over orders and trucking companies to fax over their truck lists, which showed where their trucks were going to get empty over the next few days. And about this same frame of time, load boards began to materialize at truckstops across the country, giving drivers the ability to view available loads in their vicinity, enabling more owner operators to find loads, thereby becoming more productive and more efficient. The load boards also gave the freight brokers another resource for finding trucks, albeit an expensive one.

And finally we enter the modern day era of freight brokering, brought about by the internet, mobile devices, email and EDI. All of these things are flatteners, which have created more competition. The internet has given brokers the ability to search online truck postings, post loads and research the industry. Our mobile devices allow us to communicate virtually any time, anywhere. Email has made the ability to communicate quickly and easily just by pointing a mouse and hitting a few keystrokes on the keyboard while talking on the phone. And EDI has sped up the billing and payment process, in a addition to providing another outlet for exchanging electronic data. Document imaging has replaced the hordes of paper laden boxes and file cabinets, and the keyboard and computer screen have replaced pen and paper.

Who knows what the future holds for us? I can envision all drivers submitting their signed Bills of Ladings to the broker straight from the cabs of their trucks, further speeding up the billing and payment process, but I don't have a crystal ball. Technology has improved our industry so much in the areas of communication, load tracking and information, but it hasn't taken people entirely out of the equation. People, whether you love them or hate them, are the one constant in our industry and they will be for some time; which leads me to this conclusion: the future is unpredictable for our industry, but as long as people are involved in the transportation industry, freight brokers will be in business.