When the bouncer won't let you in: new carriers and the irony of diligence

March 6, 2024

In a previous blog post, we talked about the dangers of carrier identity theft and fraudulent carriers looking to ensnare unsuspecting shippers desperate to move freight. To combat that, there are some industry best practices that can be used as an extra layer of security, like a bouncer at the door of a nightclub.

Here’s the problem: if you are a new (legitimate) carrier coming on the scene, but you don’t have a big footprint in the industry yet, there’s a chance that people who are being careful about not getting mixed up with fraudsters may avoid your company because they just don’t know you yet. “You’re unknown, I’ve never heard of you, I’ll pass.”

Concerns around fraud are legitimate of course, but when those concerns are misplaced, they can turn into missed opportunities for you as a new business owner because you just can’t get past the bouncer at the door. So what can a new carrier do about it? Let’s look at the problem a little closer to get at that.

Being diligent

In terms of what shippers or brokers can do to avoid getting scammed, the basics will always make sense. Here’s some of the advice given:

• Is there a small or non-existent social media footprint? That’s just the sort of thing that might signal that it’s a fraudster—however, it’s also something that a brand-new carrier would be missing as well. The owner may have a longer personal internet footprint, but that likely won’t be the case for the business.
• Rely on known relationships or references: someone operating on the wrong side probably won’t have these, so they should be easy to sniff out—however, they’re also the kinds of things that a new company would lack as well.
• A scammer might be using a generic Gmail or private cellphone number: a corporate email or a landline phone number is usually what you’d find with an established player, and not with a fly-by-night organization—however, a new legitimate carrier might also be relying on a generic email address and their cellphone number, too, just to watch their initial startup costs.

There’s the issue: each of these fraudster red flags might also apply to brand new legit carriers. So if a shipper or broker is following anti-fraud advice diligently, they may actually be overlooking or passing on the chance to work with you as a new carrier. It makes sense for them to follow this advice (to protect themselves), but it makes things that much harder for you when you’re trying to break into the industry.

What can a new company do?

Distinguishing your new company from illegitimate or fraudulent players will require some serious trust-building, and most of that will come from delivering solid, reliable customer service over time. But there are a few things you can do in the meantime, while you’re building that longer-term relationship.

• Website
  Sure, fraudsters are likely to put up a bare-bones website to try and look legit, but you can distinguish yourself here by filling out the details of who you are and what you offer. Right now isn’t the time to worry about SEO or other metrics—just focus on capturing what you’re all about. Remember to highlight what others don’t: bad actors will focus on (bogus) rates and speed, so if you’re going to mention those, remember to focus on other commitments as well—how seriously you take safety, for instance. Here’s a great example of someone exposing a safety gap in the industry and using that as a marketing opportunity to demonstrate how serious he is about it.
  (Note about your website: don’t post images of your insurance certificates to prove you are legit—that’s just the sort of thing that a scammer would look for to steal your identity!)
• Social media
  This is the big one. If a customer is going to take you seriously at all, the first thing they are going to do is an internet search for your name. What you need is to be recognizable and to show up in a bunch of different places, like on social media. Start LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media platform accounts for your business and get to work posting things. Even better, consider starting a YouTube channel so people can actually see who you are—interview your staff, do a walkthrough of a new truck or just talk about you. If they can put a face to the name you’ll be that much less likely to be thought of as suspicious.
• Industry associations
  Joining local or state associations will allow you to build those face-to-face connections that can really help your business turn a corner. Branding association membership on your website or even name-dropping people you’ve met at meetings can build trust that you are as legit as you claim. Feel like you don’t have time to go to monthly meetings? Remember that this isn’t taking time away from your business—brand-building is part of your business. And when that starts to translate into new and more customers, you’ll be glad you invested that time.
• Testimonials
  In theory, if you’ve started a company, you have a customer or two. Consider asking them for testimonials that you can post on your website—if they have a good social media footprint themselves, now you can piggyback on their recognition, too. Don’t have any? The point of testimonials is to establish your reliability, but if you don’t yet have customers who can vouch for you, try highlighting a different value: brag about your safety and training. Quick visuals with stats often work best, so indicate the number of hours per month you spend on training, or the number of training modules completed, your endorsements, etc. Those kinds of things will highlight your reliability.

Figuring out the nuts and bolts of running a successful business isn’t easy in the first place, and being seen as potentially suspicious complicates that even more. And while shippers and brokers should be diligent about watching out for bad actors, those efforts can make it doubly difficult for new carriers to be taken seriously. With a little extra networking as well as social media and reputational savvy, you can set yourself apart from the fraudsters—and the bouncer can wave you right in.