Freight Brokerage Business - The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc. Startup Guide

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employers determine salaries for employees based on a wide range of criteria, including geographic location. This can be a valuable tool to help you set salaries and put together overall compensation packages for your employees.

       • Broker (agent). A broker does the basic tasks that you do. This person needs to understand all the details involved in arranging a shipment and have good communication skills. A background in trucking is helpful. Unless you have a full-time bookkeeper or accountant, you or your brokers will have to bill shippers and pay carriers. You can either pay brokers a salary or a commission based on their sales.

       • Secretary/receptionist. In most freight brokerages, this individual answers the telephone, routes calls, takes messages (during business hours, instead of relying on impersonal voicemail), greets visitors (though they will be infrequent), and handles routine word processing and correspondence.

       • Customer service/Account representative. This is an inside person who handles all customer service duties, including quoting rates, taking pickup orders, tracking shipments, assisting customers with claims, and dealing with any service issues that arise.

       • Bookkeeper. This individual keeps your financial records and may also handle billing and payables. He or she will also work as a liaison with your accountant.

       • Sales representative. A sales rep may work inside on the phone, outside face-to-face, or a combination of both. This person’s job is to identify and secure new business and help maintain existing business.

      Keep in mind that as a small business operator, you and your employees will often juggle multiple responsibilities. Another important position within a freight brokerage is the person who manages the company’s website, blog (if applicable), and social media presence.

      Picture the ideal candidate in your mind. Is this person unemployed and utilizing various career websites to find a job? It’s possible, but you’ll improve your chances for a successful hire if you are more creative in your search techniques than simply writing a help wanted ad for a newspaper or posting a job opening on one or more career websites.

      Put the word out among your professional contacts that you’re looking to hire, and utilize tools offered on professional social networking services like LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). The TIA (www.tianet.org) also offers resources for its members that can help freight brokers find and hire qualified employees. Schools and organizations that offer freight broker training, such as Brooke Transportation Training Solutions (www.brooketraining.com), are always willing to share details about their recent graduates who are looking for employment within the industry.

      When you actually begin the hiring process, don’t be surprised if you’re as nervous at the prospect of interviewing potential employees as they are about being interviewed. They may need a job, but for you, the future of your company is at stake.

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      Before you hire your first employee, make sure you are prepared. Have all your paperwork ready, know what you need to do in the way of tax reporting, and understand all the liabilities and responsibilities that come with having employees.

      It’s a good idea to prepare your interview questions in advance. Develop open-ended questions that encourage the candidate to talk. In addition to knowing what they have done, you want to find out how they did it. Ask each candidate the same set of questions and take notes as they respond, so you can make an accurate assessment and comparison later. If candidates claim to have experience, use industry jargon to see how well they understand it. The freight business has a language of its own that most outsiders won’t be able to speak unless they’ve had proper training and experience in the industry.

      When the interview is over, let the candidate know what to expect. Is it going to take you several weeks to interview other candidates, check references, and make a decision? Will you want the top candidates to return for a second interview? Will you call the candidate, or should they call you? This is not only a good business practice; it’s also common courtesy.

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      Instead of hiring full-time or part-time employees, you can hire freelancers, develop an internship program, and/or work with independent contractors (agents). Each of these options requires you to adopt a different hiring approach, has different financial ramifications for your business, and allows you to fill different types of positions with qualified candidates. For small, startup businesses, these options often make more financial sense than initially hiring full- or part-time employees.

      Always check former employers and personal references. Though many companies are very restrictive as to what information they’ll verify, you may be surprised at what you can find out. At least confirm that the applicant told the truth about dates and positions held. Personal references are likely to give you some additional insight into the general character and personality of the candidate; this helps you decide if they’ll fit into your operation.

      Be sure your employees are legal. Under federal law, you must verify the identity and employment eligibility of employees; complete and retain the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) on file for at least three years, or one year after employment ends, whichever period of time is longer; and do not discriminate on the basis of national origin and citizenship status.

      Be sure to document every step of the interview and reference-checking process. Even very small companies are finding themselves targets of employment discrimination suits; good records are your best defense if it happens to you.

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      Hire people as soon as you start to feel you need them. You may be able to start by yourself, but to really grow and generate substantial revenue and profits, you’ll need a team.

      Many of the employees you want could be working for major freight carriers or large manufacturers and already enjoying “big company” benefits. You can’t afford not to offer a strong benefit package. The brokers we spoke with provide paid vacation and holidays, health and life insurance, retirement plans, bonuses, profit-sharing, and flextime. Any other benefits and perks you offer to employees that make their employment experience more enjoyable or save them money will also be welcome.

      As a smaller company, you have a degree of flexibility large companies don’t always have. For many people, especially those with children at home or care for elderly parents, flexible working hours can be a tremendous benefit.

      Give your employees subscriptions to industry trade magazines and newsletters, and encourage them to use and share the information they learn from those publications. The cost is nominal, and the result is that you’ll increase their value to the company as well as their sense of self-esteem.

      Williamson says that in addition to tangible benefits, you need to create a pleasant working environment. “This is a high-stress business,

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