How to Start a Freight Brokerage Business

Just about everything must move at least part of the way to its final destination by truck. With that in mind, it's safe to say that almost every company is a potential customer for you. But if you take that approach, you'll have a tough time coming up with an effective, not to mention affordable, marketing plan.

What's wrong with just going after anybody in the world who might ever have to ship something by truck for any reason? Because that market segment includes literally millions of companies and individuals, and it's impossible for any small business to communicate effectively with a market that size. Can you afford to send even one piece of direct mail to 1 million prospective customers? Of course not. But when you narrow that market down to, for example, 500 or 1,000 customers in a particular area, doing a successful direct-mail campaign is much more affordable and manageable.

Keep these questions in mind as you form your marketing plan:

• Who are your potential customers?
• How many of them are there?
• Where are they located?
• How do they currently transport freight?
• Can you offer them anything they aren't getting now?
• How can you persuade them to do business with you?
• Exactly what services do you offer?
• How do you compare with your competitors?
• What kind of image do you want to project?

Resources

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Associations and Regulatory Agencies

• American Society of Transportation & Logistics
• Delta Nu Alpha, an international transportation organization with a focus on education
• Federal Highway Administration
• National Industrial Transportation League
• National Association of Small Trucking Companies
• Surface Transportation Board
• Transportation Clubs International, a network of more than 200 local transportation organizations
• Transportation Intermediaries Association, an organization for North American transportation intermediaries, including property (freight) brokers, domestic freight forwarders, consolidators, ocean and air forwarders, intermodal marketing companies, perishable commodity brokers, logistics management firms, and motor carriers
• U.S. Department of Transportation

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