Many shippers rely on brokers to find capacity and manage loads, yet not all brokers operate with the same level of transparency, communication, or accountability.
When problems do arise with a freight broker — like poor communication, unreliable carriers, or unexpected fees — they threaten to derail the very supply chain it was meant to support.
The good news? With the right logistics provider, shippers can avoid most of these frustrations and keep freight moving smoothly.
ATS Logistics, a freight brokerage and sister company to Anderson Trucking Service (ATS), has been in the brokerage business for decades. We've seen our fair share of brokers plagued with issues that lead to disappointed customers and poor word-of-mouth.
Unfortunately, not every problematic brokerage's reputation precedes them. Shippers must thoroughly vet brokers before committing any freight to them, and remain diligent throughout the shipper-broker relationship for any warning signs of trouble ahead.
In this article, we'll break down the five biggest (and most common) problems you might encounter when working with a freight broker. Along the way, we'll give our expert tips on how to avoid them, so you can proactively protect your supply chain and your relationships.
Key Takeaways for Shippers:
- Most freight broker issues stem from poor communication, limited visibility, or weak carrier vetting.
- Clear expectations, transparency, and due diligence can prevent frustrating mistakes and hidden costs.
- Shippers should vet brokers the same way they'd evaluate any business partner: on reliability, integrity, communication, and track record.
1. Poor Communication
Freight moves fast — so shipment information should, too. One of the biggest frustrations shippers face is inconsistent communication from brokers. Missed calls, vague updates, last minute surprises — or in worst-case scenarios, total ghosting — can make it difficult for shippers to plan freight movement and serve their customers reliably.
Late or incomplete communication is also a surprisingly significant factor behind hidden costs when working with a freight brokerage.
When your broker goes radio silent, a driver misses a check-in, or critical information doesn't get passed between you and the carrier, things can break down fast. Shippers can lose valuable time chasing updates, issues are more likely to crop up, and customers get impatient and frustrated.
These issues can translate to hidden costs if the lack of timely communication (or outright miscommunication) leads to delays, fees, or firefighting measures that could add time and cost to your shipments.
How Can I Avoid Poor Communication with My Broker?
Establish communication expectations early. Ask your broker how often you’ll receive updates, who your main point of contact is, and what systems they use for tracking and notifications. A reliable broker will be transparent and proactive about keeping you informed.
During your vetting process, you can also ask brokers to connect you with a current or former customer so you can talk with them about their experience. Consider asking these customers questions like:
- How easy was it to communicate with this brokerage?
- Did they make your needs feel validated and addressed?
- How is their track record with your shipments?
- How did they respond when something went wrong?
- If any additional fees were accrued during your shipment with this broker, how did they communicate with you about those charges?
- What kind(s) of load tracking do they offer?
- Were there any surprises about communicating with or working with this broker?
- What did you like about your experience with this broker? What did you not like?
2. Inconsistent Service
Inconsistency is one of the most frustrating pain points for shippers. Service quality can vary widely depending on which carrier the broker selects, how familiar they are with your freight, or how busy they are on a given day.
One shipment goes smoothly, the next is full of surprises . . . and you're left exhausted from managing the ripple effects of this uncertainty across your supply chain. Yikes.
This unpredictability makes it harder to plan inventory, set customer expectations, and trust the reliability of your shipping cadence.
It's also one of the biggest culprits behind the hidden costs of freight brokerage. Frequent service failures can lead to costly re-bookings, redelivery fees, and damaged customer trust.
While small service inconsistencies may not seem like much — a missed delivery window here, a rebooking due to misunderstood handling requirements there — those hidden costs can sneakily add up over time and put a serious dent in your budget.
How Can I Avoid Inconsistent Service from My Broker?
Discuss performance expectations early and ask about the broker’s internal quality controls. Consider questions like:
- Do they track carrier on-time deliver (OTD) performance?
- Do they measure service quality across lanes, modes, and seasons?
- Do they assign dedicated personnel (single point of contact) to accounts for consistency?
The more structure a brokerage has around process and accountability, the more reliably they can deliver consistent service.
3. Hidden Costs, Fees, and Pricing Surprises
Transparent pricing (or lack thereof) and hidden fees are among the top shipper concerns about freight brokerages.
At first glance, a broker's rate might look like a great deal — that is, until unexpected accessorials, detention charges, fuel surcharges, or other hidden costs appear on your invoice.
Less reputable brokers may not be forthcoming about extra charges for services beyond standard dock-to-dock pickup and delivery, called accessorials. Common accessorials include:
- After hours delivery: Delivery outside of normal business hours.
- Detention/demurrage: Fees that accrue after a driver has waited beyond a set duration of time (e.g., two hours) at a pickup or delivery location.
- Extra stops: Each stop beyond the first along a route accrues additional fees, typically increasing with each stop.
- Inside delivery: Incurred when drivers are required to move freight beyond the loading dock.
- Layover: For unplanned overnights or extended driver breaks that push loading/unloading to the next day.
- Liftgate/special equipment fees: Picking up or delivering at a facility without a loading dock may require a liftgate or other equipment, triggering additional fees.
- Limited access or residential delivery: Extra charges for deliveries to residential addresses and restricted or limited-access locations.
- Lumper fees: Payments to third-party loaders/unloaders. This is common at distribution centers and warehouses.
- Metro delivery: Delivery in congested urban areas and major freight hubs.
- Missed appointment/redelivery fees: For failed pickups or deliveries.
- Peak season surcharges: Extra charges during busy holidays/seasons and demand spikes.
- Reclassification/reweigh: Incorrect shipment weight or class was provided, prompting a re-class or re-weigh.
- Sort and segregate: "Sort and seg" fees are for sorting and/or counting freight at delivery. This is common for grocery and produce shipments.
- Tarping fees: For protecting open-deck loads from the elements and other damage.
- Truck Order Not Used (TONU): When a load is cancelled after the carrier has already been dispatched.
Other hidden costs of freight brokerage may include:
- Administrative fees: New customer setup fees, processings fees, invoicing fees, and other fees related to paperwork.
- Fuel surcharges: Variable costs passed on to the shipper due to fluctuating fuel prices.
- Hazardous materials: Shipments that require special handling, equipment specifications, or documentation due to the hazardous nature of the cargo.
- Overdimensional: Freight exceeds standard/legal dimensions of height, weight, length, and/or width.
These surprise costs can quickly turn a low rate into an expensive shipment. They are also quite variable, meaning shipping fees can change from shipment to shipment, lane to lane, or even day to day.
What's more, some under-resourced brokers have a hard time sticking to the rate they originally quoted. This can lead to a bait-and-switch situation in which a shipment is quoted at one rate, then billed at another after the customer has awarded that freight to the broker.
The good news is that the freight industry at large does not condone this practice, and brokerages that develop a reputation for this bad behavior are typically blacklisted by carriers and shippers alike.
Still, it's critical that both brokerages and shippers do their part to facilitate transparency and integrity in the quoting process and beyond. Your best-fit broker will be trustworthy and upfront about pricing, so you can feel confident that the rate you were quoted is the rate you will pay.
How Can I Avoid Hidden Costs, Fees, and Pricing Surprises?
Before you award any freight to a broker, vet them on their rate calculation and pricing protocols. Ask:
- How do you calculate your rates?
- What does my quoted rate include?
- Are there any fees and costs I won't see on my initial quote that I should be aware of?
- How do you disclose fees and other charges on your shipping contracts? Can you show me an example of a shipping contract with your brokerage?
- At what point do accessorials start to accrue? How are those priced?
- If "hidden" fees do begin to accrue, how will you communicate with me about those costs?
- How do you handle market shifts and price fluctuations? Will you adjust my original rate to avoid taking a loss yourselves, or will your stand by the original quote even if it puts you at a loss?
When you're ready for a quote, request an itemized quote that clearly outlines every potential charge. Reputable freight brokers will be upfront about all possible costs, including "hidden" ones, and explain how rates are calculated. Always read the fine print before agreeing to a load.
4. Accountability Issues
Accountability is important in any relationship, and shipper-broker relationships are no exception. Missed pickups, unclear delivery windows, and limited support when something goes wrong can leave shippers scrambling for answers — or for a new brokerage altogether.
These problems usually stem from weak processes, inconsistent communication, or limited oversight of carrier partners.
Reliable brokers, on the other hand, set clear expectations, communicate early when timelines are at risk, and respond quickly when disruptions occur.
Even when unforeseen issues like mechanical breakdowns or weather delays are unavoidable, accountable brokers stay engaged and work to protect the shipper’s schedule.
How Can I Avoid Accountability Issues with My Broker?
When evaluating a broker, ask for an example of a shipment that didn’t go as planned and how they handled it. Also ask how they monitor carrier performance and whether they remove carriers with a history of no-shows or delays.
A good brokerage should have clear systems that reinforce accountability, not leave you holding the bag when things go wrong.
5. Poor Carrier Vetting and Matching
If we've said it before, we've said it a thousand times: a freight brokerage is only as strong as the weakest carrier in its network.
The size, diversity, quality, and reliability of a broker's carrier network can make or break their business. Most brokerages are highly invested in ensuring their network is as well-vetted and high-quality as it can be — most, but not all.
Poorly-vetted (or flat-out unvetted) carriers may not provide great service or maintain strong safety standards and protocols. If a broker happens to place your load in the hands of one of these unreliable carriers, it can lead to damaged freight, late deliveries, or even accidents and compliance issues.
But even if a broker has gone over their network with a fine-toothed comb, there's still the matter of finding your shipment a good match.
Experienced brokers know how to match a shipment to its best fit within their carrier network, balancing key factors like capacity, geography, cost, and on-time delivery performance.
A great match can drive outstanding service and cost efficiencies. But a poor carrier fit can lead to service failures, late deliveries, unreliable capacity, and other issues — all of which are ultimately hidden costs that can eat away at your overall transportation budget.
Shippers are therefore understandably anxious about trusting a broker when they say they've matched their freight with their best-fit carrier. A mismatch can tie up supply chains with avoidable delays and create a mountain of unwelcome expenses.
How Can I Avoid Poor Carrier Vetting and Matching?
During your vetting process, ask how the broker screens and monitors carriers for their network. Do they review safety scores, insurance, and performance history regularly? Do they adhere to any internal standards of OTD, safety, etc?
Brokerages that are operating above-board will have a proven investment in the integrity of their networks as evidenced by clear vetting procedures and performance metrics for every carrier.
You should also get more information about the broker's processes for matching a shipment to a carrier. Ask questions like:
- How do you determine a carrier's fitness for a load?
- What fit criteria do you use?
- What technology do you use to assist your load matching process?
- Will my shipments always go to the best-fit carrier, or do you prioritize certain carrier relationships over other?
A skilled broker will use their knowledge of their carrier network, your shipment specifications and requirements, and technology to choose the best-fit carrier for your shipment.
Choosing a Broker You Can Rely On
Navigating the freight market can feel overwhelming, especially when communication lapses, service quality varies, or accountability falls short. But you deserve a shipping experience that feels predictable, transparent, and well-supported.
The companies that ship with confidence aren’t relying on luck; they’re relying on brokers who communicate clearly, take ownership when things go wrong, and commit to improving the process every time freight moves.
When you understand the most common brokerage pitfalls — and the questions that reveal how a partner truly operates — you put yourself in control of your logistics outcomes and costs.
