How former owner-operator/fleet owner and current educator and radio host Rutherford broke the ice with the mostly-broker audience at Truckstop.com's Connected 2016 user conference: "Many of my listeners think the majority of this room are lying, cheating scumbag parasites sitting in a room with a phone and an internet connection sucking all the profit out of the load." Truth is, brokers serve a purpose in the industry as the outside sales force for many an independent owner-operator, a model for freight movement that Rutherford views as the most efficient in trucking all around. In this talk, he spelled out for the brokerage audience why he's on a mission to help strengthen the relationships between brokers and independents toward better profitability for owner-operators and a more healthy industry.