Transportation Broker Education and Training Basics

Become a successful transportation broker with the right training and education

More than 14,000 licensed transportation brokers operate in the U.S. and more than 50% of them full time. If you're considering a career as a transportation broker or already work as an agent or own a transportation brokerage business, increase your success through proper education and training. The first lesson you'll learn about transportation broker education and training basics is that the industry doesn't require any formal training; you can still enhance your value, however, with appropriate transportation broker training and other education programs/degrees.

With nearly one million shippers in business, the demand for transportation brokers and agents continues growing. As demand grows so, too, will competition, and that's where education and training pay off.

1. Include property broker, truck broker and transportation brokers in your search for freight broker training classes; they're often used interchangeably, and you can also substitute the word agent for broker in any of those terms.

2. Only one level of transportation broker certification exists: Property Broker; the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration doesn't recognize any other title.

3. Not only can you work from home as a broker, you can accomplish online freight broker training, too.

 

Become a transport broker after attending trucker broker training

While attendance at a freight broker training school isn't mandatory, the schools provide training to increase the likelihood of your brokerage's success, and any certifications will increase your viability within the competitive industry.
Try: Earn certification through the Certified Transportation Broker Program developed by the Transportation Intermediaries Association. The three-month home-study program provides professional recognition, marketing advantages and career advancement. Read more about the two-day and five-day freight broker classes offered by Transport Training International. Licensed by the Alabama and Georgia Departments of Education, TTI supplies tools for running a successful brokerage. It boasts membership in the BBB Reliability Program, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Alabama Trucking Association. Chat live with a freight broker (your instructor) during its Freight Broker Web Conferencing Class. Register for the online truck broker training at Gatlin Education Services. Gatlin provides career training programs to nearly 700 colleges, universities and other education sources.

Find transportation broker or third-party logistics education through professional organizations

Don't think that because continuing education/training/certification isn't required, you don't have any more to learn. You'll find it difficult at best to locate a freight broker school offering advanced courses, but you can find classes and seminars offered through transportation/logistics professional organizations that will increase your knowledge and give you the tools to make you even better.
Try: Consider membership in Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) to further your education while enjoying many other benefits. As the only organization representing transportation intermediaries doing business in the U.S. and abroad, TIA's members include brokers, forwarders, intermodal marketing companies and others. Join the American Society of Transportation and Logistics to take advantage its seminars and conferences. These educational events will increase your knowledge of the transportation logistics world beyond the scope of your immediate job.

Look for advanced classes through freight broker schools and online universities

Very few advanced or follow-on freight broker classes exist, but you can find plenty of transportation logistics-related programs through colleges/universities.
Try: Consider the Freight Broker advanced training at Brooke Transportation Training to polish your skills. Think about earning a Bachelor's degree from Sullivan University in Business Administration -- Logistics and Distribution. If you already possess a college degree, climb to the next level with a Master of Science in Management -- Transportation Management from the Florida Institute of Technology; earn the degree via distance learning at the school's virtual campus.

 

• Besides any training you obtain, keep in mind that to legally become a transportation broker, you'll also have to apply for your authority through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, post a $10,000 Surety Bond and file your BOC-3, a processing agent upon whom court papers would be served in any proceeding against a motor carrier, broker or freight forwarder.

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