You have an LTL pallet that needs a carrier? Maybe you are used to shipping some pretty dense items and you wonder why something that weighs less will cost you more? I’m not sure where you are coming from, but this is my story… Don’t worry, the rankings are coming soon. But it’s best you know why I am qualified to write up the industries best review on Logistic Freight Brokers.
Let’s try this.. Hi, I’m Brian. Born and raised in Boise, ID. I work for a company in sales here in the area, and I ship a TON of Freight everyday. Some truck load, some goes with a dedicated carrier, some by way of LTL, sometimes it’s anywhere from 1-30 pallets, but every shipment I utilize a third party logistics company on every load (I have a guide for small parcel shipments too.. aka UPS Ground and Fed Ex Ground). The company that I work for does over 80 million bucks in sales a year, and that is a low estimate, so we, as a company, know what we are doing when it comes to shipping pallets across the nation, and we partner with someone on every load.
Why? That’s easy.
A third party logistics broker has FAK’s of all types on what seems every lane imaginable. Without getting too detailed, this is a fancy way of saying they get a ton more discounts than then average Joe. Not only do they move a lot of volume, but they move a ton of varieties of volume, on almost all highways and interstates. You see, the type of loads a carrier will take helps the rates and having a presence in all 50 states and the cities within is a huge help.
So let’s start! I rank ’em… You ship with ’em!
#1. England Logistics – 9.9/10
Using Freightwire (subsidiary of England) is like having your buddy do your shipping for you. He knows my peeps in shipping. He knows my addresses I ship to most. He knows how many emails I want. He knows that I don’t want to be cc’d on every email. You will be different, and he adjusts. Give him a call. Then relax…
When you call, he answers. He is following your freight and if an issue arises, he is on it.
Rates are great! One great rate he has is an FAK at 300. This is huge and not as common.
If your freight has to be there tomorrow. Call Jared. Pallet or ground overnight deliveries are as easy as a hot knife through butter. Kid you not.
What stands out– Every pickup. Every delivery. Every shipment that I arrange with Freightwire (one of many offices that handles England’s freight) is taken care of. I don’t want to have to call a day or two later and have to ask why the heck a pallet hasn’t been picked up yet. My guys at freightwire.com follow-up. My boy Jared asked me yesterday which emails I like receiving, so he is customizing my email intake. And I can quickly know the status of my shipment. They save my common shipping addresses so it makes it easy for repeat business.
Response Time- Instant with a call. My rep or his secretary WILL answer. Zero exceptions. If I email the quote in, I have it back normally within 5 minutes. Rare is it that it takes me more than 20-30 minutes. I even chat my guy for quotes or questions over google hangouts if I have to. Gotta’ have my quote!
The Rates- Great rates for freight class 70 to 300. If that number doesn’t mean much to you, then just know that they have great shipping rates. Superior dominance of the FAK’s. It is my experience that most Freight Brokers can get good rates for the dense items. With few exceptions, I get freight quotes from Freightwire.com because the rates are going to either win or be super competitive, and I know that I will have a quote faster than Trump can fly off the handle and I get a company that saves me time and hassle with their diligent follow-up.
Need for Improvement- This is hard. If there was a knock, it would be that their main office isn’t local to me. This may not be a problem for all, but it does provide them with the opportunity to give freight quotes to any and all as they can work with anyone, no matter the size of the company.
Bonus- Try their overnight or expedited LTL quotes! I kid you not. It was only 4 months ago or so. I had an overnight shipment that would have cost over $1,500. My rep got me the shipment, overnighted and delivered the next day, half way across the nation for less than $400. Now every lane is different, but that is a true story!
#2. GlobalTranz – 9.89/10
What stands out– FAST. Responsive. Consistency. Pretty darn good pricing. One thing that I love about getting LTL or TL quotes from my gal is that I can always expect and answer via email back within a few minutes. Some people love the phone. I don’t. Neither does my rep. It’s a style thing that we are on the same page with.
Response Time- I am not sure if i covered this in complete detail above. I would say Freaky Fast but I think that one has been trademarked elsewhere.
The Rates- Great Rates. One of my co-workers thinks that they have great rates all around, but the shipping rates when it comes to shipping to the east coast. I have found their quotes for anything above 6 pallets to be better or close to the winning freight quote.
Need for Improvement- Possibly in the LTL space. Remember, LTL is typically 6 pallets or less (48x40x96 max height). I haven’t found too big of savings when compared to others.
Bonus- Globaltranz has some serious capital backing. Started in 2003 and now does over $800 million gross in a year. That’s quite a cash flow statement to take care.
#3. FreightQuote – 9.7/10
What stands out– Dependable and Responsible. These guys do it well. They are huge! They have the internal framework to deal with mass production when it comes to shipping. Any freight broker can handle the loads that I do everyday, but these guys are set up so that my rep has multiple secretaries for him (more on this later). They are built for large or small companies.
Response Time- My guy answers the phone most all the time. When I have to send an email, he calls back shortly after. I personally would like an email back, but he is more geared toward a phone, which can help get the freight booked sooner with a call. One thing that freightquote can’t control is the Time Zone difference: they are one time zone ahead which matters a ton when I have a rush at the end of my business day.
The Rates- Fantastic! You can’t knock their rates. There will always be a better rate by a buck or two if you wanna call 20 companies. Consistency over many lanes and many products. But this is where my expertise comes in. I have spend years calling 5 companies per load and separating the cream of the crop out. Don’t waste your time. If you are one who needs to explore every company, then read on… but please don’t do the mistake of reading self-promoting articles 😉
Need for Improvement- Again, not a red flag here. Just a minor knock from my experience. When my guy is out of the office, which really isn’t too often, I am attended to and I get my quote. I have four different people on his voicemail I can contact, but it just feels different than workin’ with my main guy.
Bonus- When in Kansas City, hit my guy up. He will gladly take you to a Chief’s or a Royal’s game. And now that the Royal’s give away their tickets again, you will have a nice seat at the ole’ Kaufmann.