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March 21, 2000 9:30 AM, EST

ORLANDO, Fla. — The communications developments that have revolutionized the freight brokerage industry might also bury it.

At the annual convention of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, held March 9 to 11, brokers talked about the Internet and what it has done for them — and could do to them.

Load matching was a hot topic among exhibitors at the meeting, with a number of newcomers taking aim at market leader DAT Services. Some brokers expressed fear that increasingly complex freight-matching systems will allow shippers to post loads on the Internet and cut brokers out of the market.

“It could destroy the brokerage industry,” said Meyer Bolnick, vice president of King Cos. in Rogers, Minn., who added that shippers are already using the Internet to solicit competitive bids from carriers. He said large carriers are using the systems to pick up backhauls at low rates.

For the full story, see the Mar. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. .