Becoming an independent freight agent isn’t for every single person in the industry. However, if planned well, the move from internal account representative or logistics coordinator to independent agent can be an incredibly liberating experience, giving you the freedom to concentrate on what you do best: find and cultivate leads into customers.
For a hard-working, no-nonsense professional who chooses the most innovative available freight broker, the transition can be smoother than you’ve probably even imagined. Here are 3 reasons why you should become an independent freight agent:
1. You’ve already done the hard part: building relationships.
Any high-quality freight professional who’s thinking of becoming an independent freight agent long ago laid the groundwork for success with a brokerage by creating and maintaining industry connections that can feed you information, leads, and business for years to come.
With the tough stuff out of the way, prospective independent agents have mostly the exciting aspects of the transition to look forward to. Look for a broker that:
- Guarantees, in writing, that it won’t steal your clients
- Sets up a fair commission split
- Won’t require you to sign a noncompete agreement
- Has a strong enough back-end administrative and technology infrastructure to handle all your needs and allow you to focus on piling up more accounts
2. You can make a lot more money.
There’s no such thing as a sure thing in business. Even so, finding the right freight broker and becoming an agent is a very safe path to economic stability. Independent freight agents often earn double or even triple what an in-house agent representative pulls in.
It’s a unique situation for an enterprising, talented freight professional: It provides many of the benefits of owning a small business, but with the type of wide-ranging, highly valuable back-office support that only a thriving company can provide.
3. Enjoy support without the drama.
Working for a big brokerage provides a level of expert administrative support that simply isn’t feasible in a one- or two-person office. In addition, brokerages that truly care about work culture and employee satisfaction are capable of giving agents the services they need without stifling their individual productivity and well-being.
At a place like Freight Tec, agents are included in the camaraderie that comes with morale-building events such as the annual summer party, and awards banquet party.
Most importantly, independent agents aren’t constantly looking over their shoulders, worrying about the security of their hard earned business, as Freight Tec doesn’t employ any sort of “in-house” brokerage unit to compete against agents.
There are many reasons why you should become an independent freight agent, but most of them center on one common theme: Peace of mind and independence really can go hand in hand.
