Becoming a freight broker can be a very rewarding career in regard to connecting companies that need product and materials shipped along with those who provide the logistics resources. Successful freight brokers can have a very lucrative career. That said, it can also be a challenging field for those who don’t have the necessary training or background to understand what information to look up when and how to build those relationships that are critical for success in connecting orders with resources available.
Depth Makes a Difference in Performance
Experience and training are critical for understanding what to do correctly. So much of the success of a freight agent depends on relationships, as well as building trust with clients and companies that want to do ordering with, and need to work with an outside agency. The resources that are available in regard to supply on the logistics side also depend on agents and brokers to find them work and find them orders that fit what they provide.
So again, knowing who and how to connect on an efficient basis is what makes or breaks a freight agent’s success. If the related training is not available through mentoring and through a freight arrangement agency that provides that experience on hand, then an agent who is starting out may need to seek a third-party training service that can provide the same information.
The Gap in Using Third Party Training
Is freight broker training worth it as a way into the industry? Training needs to go beyond just the technical tools a freight agent uses. A freight agent who instead builds up experience developing relationships with companies and shippers will go much farther. The relationship-building skill, as well as salesmanship and understanding how to speak, thinking on one’s toes and utilizing information on the fly will be far more valuable training to have. All of that comes from experience and working with other season agents who are good at these tasks. Additionally, the more contacts one has in their logistics network built up over time, the more relationships they can build, and the more relationships they can build, the more trust they can build. It all tends to increase more orders and more revenue success in the field.
Why Hands-On Training Makes More Sense
Real-time training with other freight agents in the job provides realistic expectations of what challenges logistics can present. Unlike working from a textbook, real-time practice provides newer agents with experience, and how to tackle realistic obstacles they may face in everyday work. Instead of generic scenarios, the agent learns how to deal with issues in the very same networks they will be working in themselves when in full operational mode.
Secondly, in-person field training provides relevant information and lessons. Unlike a student working on a generic simulated database, a freight agent training on the job learns how to deal with the very tools, supply resources and clients they will continue to work with in real practice. There’s no risk of training on a system that the agent doesn’t end up using. Instead, they learn the ropes with the actual tools being used by the other agents on the same team.
Finally, real-time practice is experience versus a training round. While the work is being guided by a seasoned agent or broker, real-time training already starts to add to the confidence of the new agent. The person learns from day one the impact of direct relationship building, working with people who know how customers work, learning what clients want, what they’re expecting, and what different schedules or challenges can produce in logistics and how to respond to them.
Work Directly to Get Started
One of the best ways really for people to learn about the industry is to work with a freight broker and a freight company that is actually operating in their region. Trying to replicate that through a generic system or a simulation may give a rough idea what freight agent work is like, but it won’t match closely what the real work will require.
