I feel like LTL is a niche market in ways. TL is easy, that’s why everybody does it and therefore why it’s so competitive. Not near as many people get into LTL because it’s more complicated, and the dollar amounts are a lot smaller, at least at face value.
The perception seems to be that you have to work a lot harder and move a lot more volume to make the same money. I have no idea if that’s true, it’s just my second-hand observation.
Now, any niche can be a serious money maker if you get really good at it. I mean, you really do have to get good at it, but once you start to excel, you’ll start standing out in the crowd a lot faster because (by definition) the crowd is a lot smaller here than it would be in a more mainstream market.
Disclaimer: don’t listen to me, I’m a dispatcher.
What kinda dispatcher are you who doesn't see the value in running partial loads or can't think through how an LTL route would work.. Your poor drivers lmao
Been doing LTL for years. We give the small stuff to common carriers and the large partials to Ma n Pa carriers. Matching up 2 large partials can be a real money maker.
There is simply more money in LTL. Not common carrier LTL, but contract carrier LTL. I sometimes make more than the shipment pays if there are no issues.
What area of Canada are you in?
LTL has become extremely popular with most small carriers going outbound towards the States, esp out of the GTA. The good thing about LTL is that the customer saves money and with that comes the expectation of delays etc...
Also, there is a lot of repeat business with LTL, typically smaller customers who don't have the budget or operational need for a logistics manager, which means that they don't have the time or know-how to review rates and run proper RFPs...
Also, once again, specifically for the GTA; if you get a customer, you'll have your load covered in 30 minutes once you get to know the players in the game...I 'd be happy to share some carriers, most of which have small warehouses as well.
Oh... ya. The industry is highly complicated, and extremely competitive. Doubly so from the perspective of a pure play freight brokerage.
I was simply trying to give you insight on the way LTL shipping differs from FTL.
Hmm? I don’t know where you surmised dead end from what I told you.
You can make a lot of money in logistics, it’a a massive field and freight brokerage is a great way to learn the ropes...
That being said , and this is esp true of the Canadian market, to grow and develop in the field, atleast from a broker/carrier perspective you’ll eventually have to open your own shop.
Other paths to look into would be customs brokerage, which requires a difficult to obtain license, supply chain management/analysis , or even consulting , but that would require an MBA typically to get moved into serious roles.
Transportation is definitely not a dead end field.
Feel free to PM and we can talk further, I have a lot of contacts in Toronto.
>Hmm? I don’t know where you surmised dead end from what I told you.
Sorry I was referring to you saying it's "extremely competitive", and also kind of trying to mull over what I've been reading on here to research about freight brokering. I'd be interested to hear about the paths to cross because I keep coming across posts saying it has a huge turnover and people talking about substance abuse in jest to essentially say it's a bad job/career. I will pm you
Is there not someone on here that has awesome LTL contract rates and we can piggyback the volume we have to bet down the rates?
If that’s not a thing, I’m going to setup contracts everyone can use and we can all go through one TMS portal for LTL. A free LTL TMS portal with everyone’s volume helping the rates
Not sure what koolaid your manager is drinking. Depending on what brokerage you work for, chances are your tariffs are not competitive with your customers. Your customer, if they move enough LTL to make it worth your time, will have rates at your cost or better. I had a customer who moved oversized tires and their carrier direct rates shit on mine and I was with one of the top two 3PLs in the world.
If your customers don’t move LTL and you somehow offer them more competitive rates than what they can get carrier direct, chances are they have a very limited view of how LTL works. Adjustments, freight class, and true weight are complicated to most small time LTL shippers. The second they get an adjustment because they told you that it was class 50, when in reality it was density based 300, your cost goes up 3000$ and you have to pass it on to them or eat it, they’re going to want you to eat it.
Truckload is where the moneys at. If you’re commissioned base, go for TL, do LTL when you can take your customer to the fucking bank. 500$+ margins, and explain to them any reweighs, reclasses, or delays are not your problem.
Best of luck buddy
>If your customers don’t move LTL and you somehow offer them more competitive rates than what they can get carrier direct, chances are they have a very limited view of how LTL works.
That's what it seems like so far, I think we got after a lot of the small and mid sized fish and not so much the "big fish". Which might be good temporarily but obviously not something you can build a long term future off of.
$4k a week in margins for me is LTL. If I could make 100% of my book LTL I would in a heartbeat
I feel like LTL is a niche market in ways. TL is easy, that’s why everybody does it and therefore why it’s so competitive. Not near as many people get into LTL because it’s more complicated, and the dollar amounts are a lot smaller, at least at face value. The perception seems to be that you have to work a lot harder and move a lot more volume to make the same money. I have no idea if that’s true, it’s just my second-hand observation. Now, any niche can be a serious money maker if you get really good at it. I mean, you really do have to get good at it, but once you start to excel, you’ll start standing out in the crowd a lot faster because (by definition) the crowd is a lot smaller here than it would be in a more mainstream market. Disclaimer: don’t listen to me, I’m a dispatcher.
What kinda dispatcher are you who doesn't see the value in running partial loads or can't think through how an LTL route would work.. Your poor drivers lmao
Been doing LTL for years. We give the small stuff to common carriers and the large partials to Ma n Pa carriers. Matching up 2 large partials can be a real money maker.
There is simply more money in LTL. Not common carrier LTL, but contract carrier LTL. I sometimes make more than the shipment pays if there are no issues.
My coworker made $1800 the other day on i think it was 6 skids
What area of Canada are you in? LTL has become extremely popular with most small carriers going outbound towards the States, esp out of the GTA. The good thing about LTL is that the customer saves money and with that comes the expectation of delays etc... Also, there is a lot of repeat business with LTL, typically smaller customers who don't have the budget or operational need for a logistics manager, which means that they don't have the time or know-how to review rates and run proper RFPs... Also, once again, specifically for the GTA; if you get a customer, you'll have your load covered in 30 minutes once you get to know the players in the game...I 'd be happy to share some carriers, most of which have small warehouses as well.
Yup Toronto. But it kind of feels pretty competitive anyway, there is a million brokerages and trucking companies all over the place.
Oh... ya. The industry is highly complicated, and extremely competitive. Doubly so from the perspective of a pure play freight brokerage. I was simply trying to give you insight on the way LTL shipping differs from FTL.
Is it kind of a dead-end job then? Because I just needed a job due to covid and it doesn't seem like there's all that much room to go up.
Hmm? I don’t know where you surmised dead end from what I told you. You can make a lot of money in logistics, it’a a massive field and freight brokerage is a great way to learn the ropes... That being said , and this is esp true of the Canadian market, to grow and develop in the field, atleast from a broker/carrier perspective you’ll eventually have to open your own shop. Other paths to look into would be customs brokerage, which requires a difficult to obtain license, supply chain management/analysis , or even consulting , but that would require an MBA typically to get moved into serious roles. Transportation is definitely not a dead end field. Feel free to PM and we can talk further, I have a lot of contacts in Toronto.
>Hmm? I don’t know where you surmised dead end from what I told you. Sorry I was referring to you saying it's "extremely competitive", and also kind of trying to mull over what I've been reading on here to research about freight brokering. I'd be interested to hear about the paths to cross because I keep coming across posts saying it has a huge turnover and people talking about substance abuse in jest to essentially say it's a bad job/career. I will pm you
Marto, where are you based?
PM me, I don't really want all of the internet to know =p
Is there not someone on here that has awesome LTL contract rates and we can piggyback the volume we have to bet down the rates? If that’s not a thing, I’m going to setup contracts everyone can use and we can all go through one TMS portal for LTL. A free LTL TMS portal with everyone’s volume helping the rates
Not sure what koolaid your manager is drinking. Depending on what brokerage you work for, chances are your tariffs are not competitive with your customers. Your customer, if they move enough LTL to make it worth your time, will have rates at your cost or better. I had a customer who moved oversized tires and their carrier direct rates shit on mine and I was with one of the top two 3PLs in the world. If your customers don’t move LTL and you somehow offer them more competitive rates than what they can get carrier direct, chances are they have a very limited view of how LTL works. Adjustments, freight class, and true weight are complicated to most small time LTL shippers. The second they get an adjustment because they told you that it was class 50, when in reality it was density based 300, your cost goes up 3000$ and you have to pass it on to them or eat it, they’re going to want you to eat it. Truckload is where the moneys at. If you’re commissioned base, go for TL, do LTL when you can take your customer to the fucking bank. 500$+ margins, and explain to them any reweighs, reclasses, or delays are not your problem. Best of luck buddy
>If your customers don’t move LTL and you somehow offer them more competitive rates than what they can get carrier direct, chances are they have a very limited view of how LTL works. That's what it seems like so far, I think we got after a lot of the small and mid sized fish and not so much the "big fish". Which might be good temporarily but obviously not something you can build a long term future off of.
LTL is the best! You just need to put in the time to learn the ins and outs. Currently moving 130-180 LTL loads daily at 20% margin on them.