Nate Cross & Ben Kowalski answer your freight brokering questions and discuss:

🪪 Why brokers request driver CDL

📊 Essential TMS reports to run

🚛 In-transit breakdown: who pays loss

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We weigh whether 2026 is the right time to start or double down on a freight brokerage, then map the forces moving the market: rising spot rates, falling volumes, and compliance crackdowns that are shrinking capacity. We dig into fraud tactics, why over‑automation backfires, and how small daily habits turn volatility into opportunity.

• rising spot rates against lower shipment volumes
• compliance enforcement and capacity exits
• reefer and van spot rates nearing or beating contract
• produce season impacts and regional tightness
• where automation helps and where it fails
• fraud patterns, carrier vetting, and human checks
• prospecting discipline and sales cycles that open in volatility
• building a carrier bench and standard checklists
• scaling from solo to team with ops and sales roles

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Nate Cross & Ben Kowalski answer your freight brokering questions and discuss:

🚛 Should a solo broker hire an agent?

🆕 When would you use new carriers?

💳 How to build brokerage credit fast?

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Cold calls get attention, but follow-up is where deals are won. We break down a simple, repeatable system to turn first touches into trusted shipper relationships using sharp recaps, smart timing, and notes that make every call build on the last.

We cover how to log key personal and operational details in your CRM, set the next step before hanging up, use market signals to add timely value, and communicate early and honestly when conditions shift—so you move from “price check” to trusted partner.

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Nate Cross & Ben Kowalski answer your freight brokering questions and discuss:

🚚 Can shippers use load boards?

📝 Any autos vs scheduled autos COI?

📦 Claim filed 2 weeks post-delivery?

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In this episode of the Freight 360 podcast, hosts Nate Cross and Ben Kowalski discuss the current state of the freight market with Dean Croke from DAT. They explore recent trends, regulatory changes affecting the industry, and safety concerns on the road. The conversation highlights the impact of enforcement on carrier attrition and the upcoming produce season, emphasizing the need for improved driver training and awareness.

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Nate Cross & Ben Kowalski answer your freight brokering questions and discuss:

❄️ Why post undeliverable loads during lingering winter storms?

🚚 Are vans or reefers rejected due to age?

📞 What activity and call expectations exist at large brokerages?

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Your rate isn’t your edge—your communication is: we teach a pressure-free prospecting system that starts with real shipper problems, builds trust early, and works when storms, tight capacity, and chaos hit. You’ll learn how to call with relevance (not price), tune delivery and silence, handle “not onboarding,” pivot by season/equipment, and use tools like DAT and Blue Book to turn market reality into opportunity. If you want to prospect without sounding salesy and build a pipeline that calls you back, press play—and share it with a teammate.

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Nate Cross & Ben Kowalski answer your freight brokering questions and discuss:

💸 Tax tips for brokers?

🧠 Where do you get sample rate cons?

🧾 What TMS auto-creates rate cons/forms?

📂 What broker forms do you keep?

🚛 How do you vet carriers?

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A brutal ice storm is set to ice over the South, squeezing capacity, delaying service, and pushing rates from Texas to the Carolinas—so we start by breaking down what that really means for freight. Then we get into a numbers-first playbook for building a brokerage sales team that performs under pressure: W-2 vs agent economics, onboarding timelines, call and CRM metrics that matter, clear GP milestones, and disciplined coaching so your team can turn disruption into durable shipper relationships.

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