Hey Everybody!

[iambasic]

My name is Matt and I'm an independent freight broker out of Louisville, KY. I've been in the business for a few years but went out on my own very recently. My business is pretty seasonal so I have tons of time on my hands in the winter to post on internet forums.

I'm not sure what else to put here... Nice to meet you all!

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum Matt. I look forward to getting to know you and thanks for joining the community.

[David Hunter]

Howdy Matt! Is a freight broker someone who helps a company with shipping?

[iambasic]

Yes indeed. I mostly move produce, but I do some light industrial as well.

[David Hunter]

Nice! I important fasteners and fittings, and the containers are usually around 40,000lbs. Not light! haha

[turboguy]

What type of fittings do you import David?

[iambasic]

I've done some work for customs brokers. That sounds like an interesting business. What industry do you service with those fasteners and fittings?

[turboguy]

His post got me curious as well. I had thought one of the fastener companies we use was in Cleveland but I looked and they aren't. They are in Indianapolis.

We have used some fright brokers as well in the past but I don't think we do much anymore. We did get into trouble once doing that. We paid the broker and he didn't pay the freight co so they came after us for a bill we had already paid.

[David Hunter]

Pipe clamps, channel nuts, Strut brackets, pipe rollers, post bases, etc. All that fun stuff. ha

We're a distributor, so we mainly sell to construction companies.

[iambasic]

So your supply chain is probably port-> 3PL warehouse (likely whoever you use for customs)-> FTL to you-> Parcel/LTL out to customers. I'm curious what % of your revenue transportation cost is because to me it looks like you work in logistics too lol.

[David Hunter]

Not sure what 3PL warehouse is. Once our containers hit the port, they get taken on a train to the railyard in Cleveland, and then we have a trucker who drops it off at our door. :-)