Last Minute Loads: Artificially Raising Your Own Rates?

Last minute loads.

If you’re in the manufacturing business, you’re no stranger to last minute loads. Every once in a while (or more often), your customer needs your products fast. Whether it’s for an installation project or to keep their own lines running, it doesn’t really matter. If you want to keep your customers happy, you have to deliver pronto or you’ll lose money and customer respect.

We understand the predicament you’re in. And we also understand why you email every broker you know with this load. You don’t have time to wait. You need to get this on the road as quickly as possible, and it makes sense–the more help you employ, the faster you’ll get it done.

Right?

Wrong!

Artificially raising the rates on your own last minute loads!

It’s counter-intuitive, but contacting more brokers is actually the worst mistake you can make when you have last minute loads.

Here’s why.

There aren’t 40 trucks available to take your last minute load. There might only be one, and every broker you contacted is now emailing or calling that one carrier to secure that one truck for your last minute load. And you know what happens when 40 brokers are vying for one truck?

You guessed it.

That carrier is negotiating for the best rate. It’s not bad business on their part. It’s what everyone would do. When there’s that much demand, the carrier can wait until someone is ready to pay a premium price for their services.

All the while, you’re waiting. And while you wait, your customer becomes more frustrated and your rate explodes. You’re going to pay more because when you contacted 40 brokers you artificially drove rates higher on your own freight.

A better way.

Work with one broker you can trust. It doesn’t have to be AM Transport Services, but that would be a smart move on your part. We work with the best small to midsize carriers in the midwest. And our in-house logistics team is the best in the business. We take care of your last-minute loads from pickup to delivery and beyond. 

Don’t raise the rates on your own last minute freight, call AM Transport Services (we answer our own phones 24/7), and we’ll make sure you get a good rate and superior service.