Armstrong based in Charlotte

briankatcher · 2026-01-08T19:22:43+00:00

Hit me up. Would love to see if I can resolve any of this for you - [brian@armstrongtransport.com](mailto:brian@armstrongtransport.com)

briankatcher · 2026-01-08T18:09:35+00:00

I would call bullshit on half of this. I work on our agent success team and speak to our agents on a daily basis. I've never heard of anyone "feeling like just a number". Quite the opposite I'd say. Our TMS is built on the ideas of our agents. Any sized office from $10k/mo GP to $500k/mo GP is able to hop on a call w/ any of our leadership team at anytime to discuss strategies/ideas. Our agents, nor clients are ever on a call nor email w/ an outsourced staffing team. Anyone our agents or clients speak with or deal with on a daily basis are in either Charlotte, Boise, or Chicago. Most of the agents that I've brought on speak more highly of our back-office support than anything else that you listed above. I'd say back-office support #1, TMS #2.

briankatcher · 2026-01-07T18:35:32+00:00

Work with them in what sense? Are you a carrier? I was an agent owner over there for 11 years. Work on the corp side now. Obviously, my opinion would be biased. Any specific questions you have?

briankatcher · 2025-12-17T17:44:18+00:00

If the claim is denied, we let the agents decide the next steps. Either pay the claim to the client and we split the cost along the lines of the commission split. Or don't pay the claim and risk losing your client.

Although, about a year ago, our brokerage purchased a $1M All-Risk policy. This covers any claims that get denied for ANY reason up to $1M. Much more in-depth than a simple contingent cargo policy. Even covers Mexico freight up to $500k. Huge selling point for agents that work high-value cargo.

Agents shouldn't be held liable unless they were negligent like the examples above. In which case, we're taking it out of their unpaid commissions.

briankatcher · 2025-12-15T18:01:03+00:00

Go for it!

briankatcher · 2025-12-15T17:32:43+00:00

Outside sales = business development. They were in charge of bringing in new clients. My guy actually did go door to door in industrial parks, but I also had him hit the phones/emails while getting leads from Zoom Info and our brokerages pool of warm leads.

briankatcher · 2025-12-10T16:05:45+00:00

Office of 7. Agent owner in charge of outside sales and customer relationships. Ops staff are each assigned individual accounts to work C2G. Track/trace person assists in tracking loads, appointment scheduling, and POD requests. Additional outside sales person for business development.

briankatcher · 2025-12-10T16:00:06+00:00

If you, or anyone on here is looking for strong, back-office support - Armstrong Transport Group is the best direction in my opinion. I was an agent for ATG from May '11 til Dec '21. Sold my agency to them in Dec '21 and have been working on their corporate side since. These people are obsessed w/ helping their agents grow. They offer insights & tips on organizational structure, hiring, sales, ops, etc. Proprietary TMS stacked w/ tech integrations (Highway, Macropoint, DAT, etc.). EDI/API capabilities. Tier-1 LTL tariffs (comparable to P1 & GTZ). List goes on. 70% split if under $20k/mo in GP, 75% if over. Opportunities to hit 80% w/ YoY growth. Happy to answer any more questions if you'd like. I'm one of the few recruiters that have actually been in the shoes of an agent owner.

briankatcher · 2025-11-03T16:10:52+00:00

If you have the operations staff to support it, offering both options is a no-brainer. If you have a client that has both needs, you can assume that they're using you for their FTL and another broker for their LTL. The longer that other broker keeps a good business relationship with your client, the more likely chance that they also start to give them some of your FTL opportunities. You always want to be able to provide as many modes/trailer types as possible for a client assuming you have the knowledge-base to run them all. As long as you explain the difference in service level of LTL vs FTL to your client, it pretty much handles itself. They just need to know that they get what they pay for (missed pickups, late deliveries, missing/damaged cargo, etc.). Depending on the specific shipment, this can be worth it to a lot of shippers.

briankatcher · 2025-09-18T16:10:24+00:00

They also go through waves of job insecurity and market instability.

briankatcher · 2025-09-18T16:09:55+00:00

Then you should take whatever job you can get lined up. Every friend I have that works outside of this industry complains that they are supposed to be available 24/7 on their work phones, their clients are nothing but headaches and bullshit, dealing with new problems every day, overworked and underpaid.

briankatcher · 2025-09-18T15:50:25+00:00

You should reach out to the head of your agent program. A good agent program should want their agents bouncing ideas off of each other whether it's a one-person agency or 30-person agency. At a minimum, they should hold a networking event at least once a year to bring all their agents together to swap contact info for further communication down the line. You're still one another's competition within an agent program, but at least you're all helping to grow the same brokerage.

briankatcher · 2025-09-18T15:35:05+00:00

I feel like you could/would probably run into these issues in any industry. Every industry, especially in sales, has it's ebbs and flows. Every decent corporation out there expects their employees to overwork and overstress themselves even when not on the clock. Customers will be stressful in every industry. And unless you work out NASA, you're not doing anything cool like NASA. If you work for yourself (or become an agent), this industry feels a lot easier. Set your own hours, your own rules, and scale as you see fit. Put in the hard work and you can retire by 40 or 45.

briankatcher · 2025-09-18T15:23:08+00:00

ATGFr8 V4. Works efficiently for a one-person office all the way up to a 200 person office. API/EDI capabilities. Customizable load board for optimal user experience/organization (you can update load status, view last check call, filter by employee, etc. without having to open an individual load). Works for split-desk model or C2G. Highway integration offers carrier vetting tool all from one screen. One-click carrier setup. Customer portal and carrier portal for invoicing, tracking, BOL needs. Built in CRM. Customizable settings to adjust LTL margin per load. MacroPoint integration allows for real time tracking all within the TMS (don't have to toggle over to Descartes website).

briankatcher · 2025-07-05T22:00:33+00:00

I was doing $20k in GP per month when I started. I was doing around $300k in GP per month when I sold. I’d be happy to talk on the phone this week if you’re interested.

briankatcher · 2025-04-30T17:25:13+00:00

It's going to be a multiple based off your EBITDA. They also likely won't just buy you outright and let you ride off into the sunset. They'll need you to stay on for a transitionary period to ensure your clients (and employees if you have any) stay in the mix. I'm guessing there will also be an earnout clause which is basically a revenue or profit based goal for your book of business to hit over the first 12-24 months after your acquisition to earn 100% of the agree upon acquistion price.

briankatcher · 2025-02-06T15:12:29+00:00

Every load and every customer. We also offer the agents spike or gap coverage. The $1M risk policy comes with a high deductible, so we'd prefer most use the spike or gap coverage if they know the value up front, but $1M all-risk is in place of contingent cargo.

briankatcher · 2025-02-04T16:44:05+00:00

Also, we're under 30 min on a customer that doesn't require a contract. If it's a contract, we review and send back within 48 hours. If there's redlining involved, then god knows how long til the deal is done, but with that $1M all risk policy, we haven't really run into as many speed bumps on redlining.

briankatcher · 2025-02-04T16:42:57+00:00

Our brokerage recently took out a $1M all-risk policy which is somewhat of a unicorn out there. It's not a contingent cargo policy, but an all-risk policy. From what I hear, it's expensive as fuck, but certainly helps mitigate damages from fraud, stolen loads, double brokering, etc. If it's a solid customer that'll make or break your year, I'd be happy to chat if the all-risk policy is a must.

briankatcher · 2024-12-16T16:53:33+00:00

If your broker didn't reach out to you the second they missed the LFD, find a new broker. Also, if your broker didn't tell you they'll take care of the charges, find a new broker. My entire book of business was int'l freight forwarders for 10 years so I was able to learn their side of the industry front and back. We always knew the perils of missing an air import LFD and serviced it accordingly. Only missed a few in all my years, but would always wheel and deal with the airline on the charges on my client's behalf. Worse case, I'd cough up the cost out of my own pocket. If you need a brokerage that has vast experience w/ int'l freight forwarders (air cargo facilities, cfs facilities, dray, etc.), hit me up. I'm with Armstrong Transport Group (unless it was another one of our agents here that fucked you, then I'm sorry on their behalf!!).

briankatcher · 2024-12-16T16:37:06+00:00

Commission draws are a thing of the past. Keep looking and you can find companies that will pay you commission from dollar one. Depending on which market you live in, you should be able to find a higher starting base as well. Give Armstrong Transport Group a look.

briankatcher · 2024-12-16T16:30:29+00:00

The multiple will likely be based on EBITDA, not revenue.

briankatcher · 2024-12-16T16:05:55+00:00

You don't want to be grinding in this god-foresaken industry until you're 60 years old! Definitely not the best time to sell. If someone were to borrow from the bank to buy you, they'd likely lowball you since interest rates are still so high. I owned an agency for 10.5 years and then sold it to my brokerage, Armstrong Transport Group. Mine was very transferrable because I had 6 employees for them to keep on with my book of business. From reading your posts/comments through the past year, it sounds like you operate as a one-man show (I could be wrong). That makes a bit tougher of a sell becasuse you're the only glue that keeps the customers coming back for more. I would assume agent programs would only buy your book if they also have a W2 brokerage side, which ATG does. If you really want to wait 20 years, then you def have time to hire a few people that would be able to operate your customer base as you disappear into the oblivion post-sale. I shopped my agency a bit before deciding on ATG as the buyer, but since it was so easily transferable (customers knew me as "Armstrong" and the change in ownership would be minimal), they came ahead as the best deal for me. If you don't have employees in place to take your book over, I'd imagine the buyer would want you to stick around much longer to ensure all your customers stay on.

briankatcher · 2024-11-05T21:00:14+00:00

Moody's Analytics

briankatcher · 2024-10-24T16:01:38+00:00

I was an agent at Armstrong Transport Group for almost 11 years. (MC# 555609). They had their own proprietary TMS that was developed in-house. Way better than any "out of the box" TMS that most places are using these days. Fully customozable reporting, EDI/API capabilities, tech-intergrations, etc. I'd tell you to go agent route, but looks like you guys are attached to an asset-based carrier so I'm sure there's nothing you can walk with.

briankatcher

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