The Freight Agent's Guide to Preventing Double Brokering

Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your journey as a freight agent, avoiding double brokering is crucial for maintaining integrity in the industry. That said, knowledge is power. Brush up on the ins and outs of this scheme to ensure smooth sailing as a professional and upstanding freight agent.

What Is Double Brokering?
As a freight agent, you may come across the term "double brokering" from time to time. Double brokering is when a broker books a load with carrier A, and then carrier A turns around and brokers the load to carrier B who ends up delivering the load. Most of the time nobody is the wiser but if carrier A is a real bad actor they never pay carrier B. This is considered unethical and is generally not allowed by most freight brokerages. Double brokering is something that you should be aware of as a freight agent. Working with reputable brokers and carriers is the most important step for avoiding this unethical practice.

Ways to Prevent Double Brokering
As always, proactive prevention is the best measure against any sort of fraud. A few strategies that freight agents can use to prevent double brokering from happening include the following:

• Continuously vet your carrier on-boarding process and put steps in place to limit how new of carrier you use.
• Have a broker/carrier contract with all of the carriers that you work with.
• Build relationships with your carriers. The more trust you have with them will help the entire process.
• Keep your performance rating on the load boards good in order to attract the best carriers.
• Load tracking is key, use technology to track the loads. With all of the ELD providers load tracking has really become the norm.

Double brokering can be a costly and time-consuming issue, but with proper planning and communication between all involved parties, it is possible to minimize the chances of this occurring. By taking proactive steps, freight agents can help ensure that shipments arrive on time without any delays or complications due to double brokering. Get in touch with Sureway to learn more about the measures our company takes toward preventing double brokering. With our dedicated support team, Sureway agents don’t go it alone in the constant battle against fraud.