Freight Broker Job Description

A freight broker sells truck capacity it does not own. On one side of the desk sit shippers: manufacturers, distributors, retailers and food producers with loads that have to move today, next week or every Tuesday for the next year. On the other side sit motor carriers, from single-truck owner-operators to large fleets, looking for freight that fits their equipment and their lanes. The broker prices the shipment to the shipper, buys the truck from the carrier, and keeps the difference as gross margin. Inside a brokerage the two halves of that job may belong to one person or be split between customer sales and carrier sales teams.

Pricing a load. Every quote starts with the lane: origin, destination, equipment type (dry van, reefer, flatbed, step deck), weight, pickup and delivery windows, and anything unusual such as driver assist, tarping or hazmat. The broker checks what similar loads have paid recently, what carriers are posting on load boards such as DAT and Truckstop, and where fuel prices sit, then decides how much margin the load can carry without losing the customer. Contract freight is priced in bids that cover a lane for months; spot freight is priced one load at a time, sometimes within minutes.

Covering it. Once a shipper tenders a load, the clock starts. The broker posts it, calls carriers who have run the lane before, works inbound calls and emails, and negotiates a buy rate. Before the load goes to a carrier, the broker checks who the carrier actually is, whether its operating authority is active, whether its insurance is current, and how its safety record reads. A rate confirmation then locks in the price, the appointment times, any accessorial charges such as detention or layover, and the payment terms.

Running it. From pickup to delivery the broker owns the shipment's status in the shipper's eyes. That means check calls or app and ELD tracking, early warning when a truck is running late, and fast re-covering when a carrier falls off a load or a pickup is missed. After delivery comes the paperwork: the signed bill of lading and proof of delivery, the customer invoice, the carrier payment, and any dispute over short-paid accessorials or damaged freight.

Where the work happens. Freight brokers work for large third-party logistics providers, regional and niche brokerages, asset-based carriers that run a brokerage arm, and agent offices that operate under another company's authority. The tools are a transportation management system, load boards, rate and market data, carrier onboarding and monitoring software, a phone, and an inbox that does not stop. The job rewards people who can sell, negotiate the same load from both directions, and stay calm when a reefer breaks down overnight with a grocery load on board.

Education. A typical path is a bachelor's degree in supply chain management, logistics, business or marketing. Because the job is a sales job at its core, a high school diploma plus a record in competitive sales, hospitality or customer service can also be enough to get hired onto a desk. What matters in the first year is the ability to make calls, learn lanes and equipment quickly, and keep dozens of loads straight at once.

Typical entry points. Typical starting seats include carrier sales representative, track-and-trace or load coordinator, and customer service roles at a brokerage or third-party logistics provider. Inside sales at an asset-based carrier is another route, since it teaches lane pricing from the carrier side. As guidance, people who move into a full broker role with their own shipper accounts typically spend one to three years learning the operating side first, though fast learners at high-volume desks can move sooner.

Certification. The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) awards the Certified Transportation Broker (CTB) designation. TIA's 2025 syllabus describes the CTB course as a 16-week online program worth 180 clock hours, covering general business principles, the basics of being a property broker, traffic management, contracts and pricing, the regulatory environment, and legal cases in transportation. TIA's new member education policy also sets a bar for joining the association: new membership applicants without at least 3 years of freight brokerage experience must enroll in its New Broker Success Package, which includes the New Broker Certification (NBC) course and final assessment.

Federal registration. Opening a brokerage requires broker operating authority from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and FMCSA will not register a broker until a surety bond or trust fund for the full required amount is in effect, filed on Form BMC-84 for a bond or Form BMC-85 for a trust fund. Anyone planning to open a brokerage or operate as an independent should budget for that security, contracts with shippers and carriers, and a carrier vetting process before booking the first load.

Skills that carry the job.

• Negotiation on both the sell and the buy side of the same load
• Prospecting and account management for shipper customers
• Working knowledge of equipment types, accessorials, fuel surcharges and appointment scheduling
• Carrier vetting: authority, insurance, safety data and identity checks
• Comfort with a transportation management system, load boards and market rate tools
• Clear written communication for rate confirmations, claims and exception updates
• Composure under time pressure and the discipline to document every decision

BLS does not publish projections for freight brokers as a separate title. O*NET lists the occupation BLS assigns them to, wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives outside technical and scientific products, with projected 2025-2035 growth of "decline (-1% or lower)" and about 99,800 openings a year on average. That occupation covers sales of many kinds of goods, so the figure describes the broad group rather than brokerage desks in particular.

The legal ground under carrier selection moved in 2026. In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, decided May 14, 2026, a unanimous Supreme Court held that a claim that one company negligently hired another to transport goods is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, so a broker's choice of carrier can be tested in a state-law negligence suit.

At least one analyst expects that to change how brokerages spend. In a Nov. 2, 2026 Logistics Management roundtable, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Lee Klaskow said brokers will likely spend more on carrier vetting, compliance, technology and insurance, and that this could hurt smaller carriers and brokers that lack the compliance infrastructure or financial resources. In the same discussion, Evan Armstrong, president of Armstrong & Associates, said verifying a carrier's operating authority and insurance is no longer sufficient, and recommended a documented, repeatable vetting process covering carrier identity, authority, insurance, safety records and driver qualifications before a load is offered.

Productivity is the other pressure. Armstrong said his firm uses a benchmark minimum of 15 loads per person per day for spot-sourced truckloads, and that some brokers using digital freight matching and voice AI had surpassed 40. Armstrong described C.H. Robinson's $5.8 billion agreement to acquire RXO as a move that anticipates AI-driven productivity scaling with increased volume.

For someone entering the field, the developments above point to the skills worth building early: carrier vetting and compliance, reading safety data, negotiating capacity when trucks are scarce, handling exceptions, owning shipper relationships, and supervising automated quoting and booking tools rather than simply using them. From a broker desk, career paths lead to senior account management, carrier procurement, pricing and bids, and branch or desk leadership. Brokers who want independence can start a brokerage or work as agents under another firm's authority, taking on the bond, records and vetting obligations described on this page.

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am applying for the Freight Broker position at Ridgeline Logistics. For the past two years I have worked as a carrier sales representative at Harbor Point Transportation, a mid-sized brokerage in Columbus, and I am ready to take ownership of shipper accounts while keeping the carrier skills that got me here.

My days at Harbor Point start with the board. I cover dry van and reefer loads across the Midwest and Southeast, negotiate buy rates with owner-operators and small fleets, and run every new carrier through our onboarding checks before a rate confirmation goes out. I have learned to slow down when something looks off, such as a phone number that does not match the carrier's records or a dispatcher who pushes too hard for a quick tender. Twice last year that caution kept a high-value load away from a carrier that later failed our identity review.

I have also spent time on the customer side. When our account team was short-staffed, I took over track-and-trace for two food manufacturer accounts, sent proactive delay notices, and rebooked a missed pickup before the receiver's appointment closed. Both customers asked that I stay on their freight after the account manager returned.

Ridgeline's focus on temperature-controlled freight and its investment in carrier vetting fit how I want to work. I am comfortable in a TMS, I use our automated quoting tools as a starting point rather than a final answer, and I document every carrier decision so it can stand up to review later. I am also enrolled in the Transportation Intermediaries Association's CTB preparation course.

I would welcome a conversation about the accounts you need covered and how your team measures a new broker's first year.

Sincerely, Jordan Alvarez