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Insights for brokers, drayage carriers and ag haulers
Practical articles for three kinds of US freight operations: brokerages that cover loads with outside carriers, drayage carriers that move containers between ports, rail ramps and customers, and carriers hauling grain, fertilizer and livestock. Each article cites the regulation or agency it relies on.
For freight brokers
- How brokers vet a carrierA carrier onboarding checklist for US freight brokers: authority, insurance, equipment, identity, the broker-carrier agreement and ongoing monitoring.
- Double brokering and freight fraudWhat double brokering, carrier identity theft and fictitious pickups look like, the federal rules behind them, and the controls a brokerage can put in place.
- Broker record keeping under 49 CFR 371.3The six things a freight broker must record for every load, how long to keep them, who may ask to see them, and the rest of Part 371 in plain English.
- Freight broker marginHow a brokerage measures gross margin per load and across its book, why margin and markup differ, and where margin leaks after the load is covered.
- Waterfall vs broadcast tenderingThree ways a broker offers a load to carriers, one at a time, in a ranked sequence or to many at once, and how to choose, handle counters and keep the record.
Drayage and intermodal
- Demurrage, detention and per diemThe container charges a drayage carrier runs into, who bills each one, when the clock starts and stops, and how the FMC billing rule shapes a dispute.
- Last free day in drayageWhat the last free day means for import pickup and for empty return, how holds and export cutoffs interact with it, and a daily routine that keeps containers inside free time.
- Street turnsWhat a street turn is, what has to line up before an import empty can go straight to an export load, and how to keep per diem and liability straight.
- Intermodal chassisWho supplies the chassis under a container, what splits and rental charges are, and what federal rules say about inspecting and reporting intermodal equipment.
- Drayage TMSWhat a drayage and intermodal carrier needs from a TMS that a truckload TMS lacks: containers, release checks, last free days, multi-move jobs and container charges.
Grain, fertilizer and livestock
- Grain and fertilizer haulingWhat a carrier hauling grain in hoppers and fertilizer in season needs from its software: the ag hours exception, weights, hazmat fertilizer, cleanouts and scale tickets.
- Livestock haulingThe rules that shape a livestock haul (the Twenty-Eight Hour Law and the 150 air-mile hours exception) and what a cattle and hog carrier needs from its TMS.