Straight answers about moving freight.

A freight broker is a licensed intermediary that connects a shipper who has freight with a motor carrier that has a truck. The broker sources capacity, negotiates the rate, vets the carrier's authority and insurance, issues the rate confirmation, tracks the shipment, handles exceptions, and manages the paperwork and payment on both sides. Verve Freight is a licensed brokerage, which means we arrange transportation and do not operate our own fleet.

A carrier owns trucks and physically hauls the freight. A broker arranges transportation between shippers and carriers and never takes possession of the freight. A freight forwarder does take possession, consolidates shipments, and issues its own bill of lading, and it is typically involved in international ocean and air movements. For domestic over the road freight in the United States, a broker is usually the right partner.

One phone call reaches a national carrier network instead of one fleet with a fixed number of trucks. You get capacity when your regular carrier is out of trucks, coverage in lanes you do not ship often, competitive pricing because carriers bid against each other, and one point of contact for tracking, claims and paperwork. You also transfer the work of vetting authority, insurance and safety scores to somebody who does it every day.

Not usually. A broker's margin is built into the rate, but brokers move enough volume to buy capacity at rates most individual shippers cannot access on their own, especially on backhaul lanes and in tight markets. The comparison that matters is your total landed cost including the time your team spends sourcing trucks, chasing check calls and filing claims.

Yes. Verve Freight operates under active FMCSA broker authority and carries the federally required $75,000 broker surety bond. Our MC number, DOT number and bond details are available on request and are listed on our carrier packet.

We arrange freight throughout the 48 contiguous United States, with additional cross border coverage into Canada and Mexico through partner carriers. Our office is in The Woodlands, Texas, just north of Houston, so we run especially heavy volume in and out of Texas and the Gulf Coast.

No. We move single shipments for small businesses and ongoing weekly volume for distributors. There is no contract required to get a quote and no minimum number of loads to work with us.

You get check calls at pickup, in transit and at delivery, plus location tracking on equipped trucks. If something changes, you get a phone call from the person handling your load. We would rather tell you about a two hour delay early than let you find out from your customer.

We call you as soon as we know, with the reason, the revised delivery time and the options. Sometimes that means rescheduling the appointment, sometimes it means recovering the freight onto a different truck. What it never means is silence until the delivery window has already passed.

Detention is the charge that begins after a driver has waited past the free time at a shipper or receiver, commonly two hours. It is billed to the party that caused the delay and it is documented by arrival and departure times. Keeping loading and unloading inside the free window is one of the most effective ways to keep your freight costs down.

The bill of lading is the legal contract of carriage between the shipper and the carrier. It is also the receipt for the freight and the document that describes what is being moved. Accuracy matters. The weight, piece count, commodity description and any special instructions on the bill of lading are what govern if there is a dispute.

Note the damage on the delivery receipt before the driver leaves, photograph everything, and keep the packaging. Then call us. We file the claim with the carrier, supply the bill of lading, delivery receipt and photographs, and follow it through to resolution. A delivery receipt signed clean makes a later damage claim very difficult to win, so the note at delivery is the critical step.

Carriers hauling for Verve Freight carry a minimum of $100,000 in cargo insurance, and we require higher limits for high value freight. Cargo coverage is not the same as full replacement value insurance, and standard LTL carrier liability is limited by freight class and can be far below the value of your goods. If your shipment is high value, tell us and we will address the coverage before it moves.

We arrange hazmat freight on a case by case basis with carriers that hold the appropriate endorsements and placarding. Provide the UN number, hazard class, packing group and the safety data sheet when you request a quote, and be aware that some commodities and some routes are restricted.

Truckload pricing is quoted per lane, not per mile off a chart. It is built from three parts: the linehaul rate, a fuel surcharge tied to the current diesel index, and any accessorials such as detention, liftgate or a second stop. The linehaul moves with distance, equipment type, weight, how balanced the lane is, the season, and how much notice you give. That is why the same 900 mile run can price differently in March and in October. Send the lane and the freight details and you get a real, lane specific number instead of a per mile chart rate.

Freight class is an NMFC code from 50 to 500 that LTL carriers use to price a shipment. It is set by four factors: density, stowability, handling and liability. Density does most of the work. Calculate it by multiplying length by width by height in inches, dividing by 1,728 to get cubic feet, then dividing the total weight in pounds by that number. Higher density means a lower class and a lower rate. If you are not sure, give us the dimensions and weight and we will confirm the class before the bill of lading goes out, which is what prevents a reclass invoice later.

A spot rate is a one time price for a single shipment, quoted against the market on the day you book. A contract rate is a price locked for a defined term on a defined lane at a defined volume. Spot pricing is flexible and can be cheaper in a soft market, but it moves with capacity. Contract pricing is predictable and protects you when the market tightens. Shippers with steady, repeatable volume usually put their core lanes on contract and run everything else on the spot market.

Count your pallets. One to six pallets is normally LTL. Seven to eighteen pallets is where volume LTL or partial truckload usually wins on both price and transit time. Above about eighteen pallets, or any time the freight is fragile, high value, or on a tight delivery window, full truckload is the right call because the trailer is never opened between your dock and the consignee. Tell us the pallet count, dimensions and weight and we will price the options side by side.

The rate confirmation is the written agreement between the broker and the carrier for one specific load. Before signing it, check the pickup and delivery addresses and appointment times, the equipment type and any temperature setpoint, the commodity and weight, the total pay, and every accessorial that applies: detention, layover, tarping, driver assist, extra stops. If something was agreed on the phone and is not on the confirmation, it is not agreed. Ask for it in writing before you roll.

Yes, and the earlier you tell us the better. Before a carrier is dispatched there is usually no cost. Once a truck has been dispatched and is en route, a truck order not used charge may apply, because the driver has already turned down other freight and burned the miles. Call us as soon as the plan changes and we will work to reassign the truck instead of billing you for it.

You get check calls at pickup, in transit and at delivery, plus location tracking on trucks equipped for it, and proof of delivery sent back to you the same business day. Exceptions come to you as a phone call from the person handling your load rather than a status change you have to go find. If you need tracking pushed into your own TMS or a specific visibility platform, tell us during setup and we will confirm what your carriers can support.

Accessorial pricing varies by carrier, market and location, so we quote them per shipment rather than from a fixed list. The ones that come up most are liftgate service, residential pickup or delivery, inside delivery, limited access locations such as schools, job sites and military bases, appointment scheduling, driver assist loading, extra stops, and detention beyond the free time. Tell us which apply when you request the quote and they are priced into the number instead of appearing on the invoice.

For expedited freight we can usually have a truck dispatched within one to three hours in a metropolitan market. Rural pickups depend on where the nearest available equipment is sitting. Standard truckload works best with two to three business days of notice, but same day and next day coverage happens routinely. When the clock matters, call rather than email.

Legal limits for an open deck load are 8 feet 6 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches tall including the deck height, 53 feet long, and 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. A standard flatbed deck sits about 5 feet off the ground, so tall freight often needs a step deck, which lowers the main deck to about 3 feet 6 inches. Anything past those limits is an oversize move requiring state permits, sometimes escort vehicles, and often daylight only travel. Send the dimensions and weight and we will tell you which trailer and which permits the load needs.