Source
r/FreightBrokers•
packattack3000

Reasons for a carrier to change MC numbers, or to have a second MC number

Morning All - Happy Friday

Broker here

Have had a couple of carriers throughout the last month or so reach out about changing MC numbers.

Both MC's are active for over 1 year, both common authority w/ no brokerage authority. No Carrier 411 reports or issues on either. Some marks against HOS and safety on SaferWatch, but nothing over the top. Mid size carrier, 100+ trucks. Same contacts and e-mail addresses. Haven't had any issues with them hauling some of our freight in the past.

Just curious what the benefits of this would be from a carrier's perspective?

Does this sound shady?

What questions should I be asking them?

Any guidance/advise is appreciated. Thanks!

Posted Jul 30, 2021, 2:18 PM UTC

931
marto_k•

So... this is a common tactic , especially amongst trucking companies that primarily rely on brokers and load boards for their freight. 99% of the time it has nothing to do w/ attempting to double broker , steal clients or product etc...

They're diversifying the risk of their operations; specifically they want to have a second MC# that's active and rolling so that if the DOT comes and inspects their compliance records they can transition the operation over to the other authorities; similarly with insurance and renewals.

Company drivers, especially no a days are the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality... most good drivers with experience become owner operators sooner or later; or they just don't change companies because they like where they're working and the company will work bend over backwards to retain them. Smaller companies can't hire driver's with less then 2-3 years of experience, so they're kind of stuck with that driver pool.

The rotating group of "free agents" that circulate the job market are... not the highest quality. And, they fuck up, ALOT. So, companies have to hire these drivers, and manage the risk of them fucking up their operating authorities etc...

22
dolphin_toes•

correct.

4
adolph-alerbush•

This 💯

3
marto_k•

Thanks for the gold 😀!

2
[deleted]•

1000000% accurate

1
kohlforr•

Well said. In an unfair system (CSA) you have to protect yourself and this is how it is done. There is a lot LESS double brokering going on than most suspect.

1
AlisaElle•

Blame the drivers…easy…got it…

-6
marto_k•

What do you mean? The drivers really are a huge problem with regards to road side DOT inspections...

I'm not trying to shit on anyone who drivers a truck for a living, but ... I've been in this game for a while. If they dont become an owner operator 2-3 years into this... and I'm not talking about the lease to own schemes that carriers pull, or you're not working for a large company like Walmart, Sysco, UPS etc...

Then chances are you're not getting a very bright individual... I've hired, onboarded and dealt with >500 drivers and... my experience is generally the same. If they've hopped more companies then they can remember, they'll typically also be unable to do a pretrip inspection or understand what a DOT inspection is...

Good lord I've heard tons of stupid shit; the most typical being, ya it say out of service on my inspection sheet, but he let me go as soon as I fixed what was wrong... or ya I have a speeding violation but don't worry the officer said it's just a warning...

Like... who do you think should take responsibility on the road at the end of the day?

3
AlisaElle•

Broker and small fleet owner OPERATOR. I have been on the operations/safety, driver and owner sides of this business since 2004.

It sounds like you took a dump on drivers because you did not place the first and heaviest blame for organizational failure on organizational structure and organizational management.

For example: When companies grow too fast, they put pressure on recruiters to recruit drivers and lower their baseline requirements for drivers coming in the door. Now you have a fleet full of inexperienced drivers. You hire dispatchers and/or planners to manage your fleet but, you’re so desperate you’re taking anybody with a pulse to work in the office. You don’t care if they know anything about the trucking industry or not. Now they’re on phones dogging out drivers and learning the industry from YouTube. You can’t keep your drivers happy and what’s worse, you can’t even keep them moving freight.

There are lots of other far worse scenarios. I’ve heard of dispatchers telling drivers to sleep on the ground. I’ve read crazy things in these forums. It’s just bizarre.

Lots of folks on the operations side of things don’t like to take responsibility for other issues. Drivers, most of which you never interact with on a face to face basis and are not able to defend themselves, and they are always the easiest to blame.

2
marto_k•

What? I don't know what half of what your reply has to do with my comment..

Organizational failure is a real thing, and its prevalent in this industry, but that doesn't change anything about the driver shortage and the entire dynamic...

  1. There's a shortage of drivers.
  2. Very few fleets can insure brand new drivers, fewer still have the operational capacity and infrastructure to train them properly.
  3. Becoming an owner operator is the best thing a driver can do for their career. You earn double to triple the money and get to set your own schedule w/ regards to home time, vacations yada yada yada... ; which leads to my last point.
  4. The ones who are career drivers and have not realized or perhaps are incapable of handling the responsibility of owning their own truck are the bottom of the barrel... this also happens to be the segment that rotates throughout most trucking outfits; they work for 4-6 weeks then off to greener pastures... go check out cdlscan.com ... I personally know 8 of the top 10 "Superstars" on there...

There is nothing for drivers to be defending themselves from after being issued a violation notice for speeding, not wearing a seatbelt or talking on a cell phone while driving...

3
poisonousman•

Amen

2
poisonousman•

Amen to that

2
AlisaElle•

My experience is that there are far more people who are obsessed with the “macho” sound of saying they work IN trucking than there are those who are actually truckers and have what it takes to cut it.

1
marto_k•

… what? I completely agree with you… it takes a lot of work and dedication to be a trucker. That doesn’t change the fact that there are a ton of people working as truck drivers that are not cut out for the job yet continue to do it…

It’s the same in any profession…

2
poisonousman•

Came to say it

2
AlisaElle•

Much easier way out than diagnosing, treating and cutting out the REAL issues…

0
Waisted-DesertBroker/Carrier•

Small carrier here (I'm an employee, we have 25 trucks currently), with 4 carrier MCs and 1 broker MC.

One for our local local flatbed work. One for local aggregate hauling in the mines. One for regional/OTR. One for cross border into Canada. The Broker MC is for one of our regional/OTR customers. What we can't cover with our own assets, they allow us to broker out.

Note, these are all running under different company names. However the contact info for each company/MC is the same. There are brokers that refuse to work with us because they can't understand how one company (regional/OTR) has the same fax number as another company (local aggregate hauler). It's frustrating at times trying to book backhauls for our trucks and having to explain that 1) I have too much other work to do to double broker loads, and 2) your load doesn't pay enough for me to even try to double broker it.

5
Hefty_Offer1537•

This ^^

2
freightceoBroker/Owner•

Couple potential reasons:

  1. There is a pending issue on the other MC that hasn’t hit the FMCSA yet.

  2. They are brokering out freight and not paying carriers. Then showing up under another MC. Doesn’t matter if they have brokerage authority or not, they may still broker.

  3. They may be representing multiple drivers.

  4. They may be spoofing other carriers MCs and falsifying documents to you.

Back in the day we would ask for references from large brokerages. But I don’t think they are as willing to do this.

Good practice is verifying the email and phone number to the FMCSA filings, checking out what Google presence they have.

I find the risk of identity/cargo theft is greater if the carrier is not represented by a factoring company.

3
InstahgatorBroker/Owner•

I find it amazing all these carrier with common authority but dont have published rates. Why do they choose common if they are just not going to follow the law?

1
marto_k•

Hmm, can you elaborate? Are you talking about the standard for hire motor carrier authority?

3
InstahgatorBroker/Owner•

The difference between common and contract authority is that common carriers are supposed to publish their rates. I believe this is a law that is not enforced.

LTL carriers like Ward, Fedex Freight, ABF, ETC are all common carriers and they publish their rates, then give discounts on those rates to their clients.

"Standard" depends on who you talk to. Busses are motor carriers as well as trucking companies.

0
in_between_CCs•

Generally pass on these carriers unless I am desperate

1
rroarrin•

One bad Apple can spoil 100 good apples in the same barrel. They are getting extra barrels to transfer the Good apples so they can clean out the original bad barrel

1