The United States’ freight brokerage market size was valued at $1.1 billion in 2020 and is projected to hit $13.8 billion by 2028. Most industry experts agree that two factors are driving this growth: an increase in the number of licensed brokers and real-time technology. To remain competitive in an increasingly competitive freight brokerage market, you must be able to leverage current technology to your advantage to reduce operating costs, respond faster to shipper requests and enhance carrier networks. The good news, as Logistics Management’s Contributing Editor John Schulz noted in a recent webinar, is that real-time technology is more affordable and effective than it’s ever been. Technology is accessible and available to freight brokerages of all sizes and has become an essential part of the contemporary freight brokerage.
As you look ahead to the future of your own freight brokerage business, keep in mind these five essentials for building a better brokerage.
1. Use Real-Time Visibility Tech To Increase Standing with Shippers, Access Premium Loads
If you work in or own a freight brokerage or logistics business, you face significant pressure to deliver freight on time. You may be score-carded for on-time delivery and face penalties from a shipper if you can’t deliver on time. Freight brokers and 3PLs of all sizes can use real-time visibility technology to track freight digitally and stay ahead of potential service issues. The precision and accuracy of real-time visibility platforms like Trucker Tools’ can help you win core carrier/broker status with shippers and provide you with access to additional loads and/or premium loads.
“Trucker Tools’ load tracking is so easy to use that we always score very high on customer KPIs and scorecards,” said Omar Singh, Surge Transportation’s Founder and CEO. “We continually rank in the top on KPI score-carding, which always is a driver of additional opportunities.”
“Trucker Tools’ load tracking is so easy to use that we always score very high on customer KPIs and scorecards,” said Omar Singh, Surge Transportation’s Founder and CEO. “We continually rank in the top on KPI score-carding, which always is a driver of additional opportunities.”
2. Simplify Employee Workflows, Cover Loads Faster with Digital Freight Matching
With digital freight matching technology, you simplify your internal process for locating available capacity. Digital freight matching platforms like Trucker Tools’ reduce the time it takes for team members to identify and book available capacity with both in-network and out of network carriers. Rather than calling or emailing carriers to inquire about available capacity or posting to load boards, team members can quickly search for capacity by equipment type, date(s) and lane. Digital freight matching ultimately makes it easier for team members to do their jobs while increasing efficiency — which can go a long way in building a better brokerage for the future.
3. Offer Digital Load Booking To Enhance Carrier Loyalty, Expand Carrier Network
Carriers and the capacity they offer are an integral part of building a better brokerage. In this current capacity crunch that has no end in sight, however, it can prove difficult to keep carriers in your network. In many cases, you have to provide an exceptional experience to owner operators and carriers to keep them transporting your freight. One successful strategy that some brokers are employing is to offer digital load booking to preferred carriers. Technology such as Trucker Tools’ Book It Now® allows drivers and carriers to book your loads digitally 24 hours/day and seven days/week. You can use the added convenience of digital load booking to entice current carriers to keep working with you and to attract new carriers when you need additional capacity.
4. Leverage Artificial Intelligence, Automation To Keep Overhead Low While Growing
Real-time visibility platforms, digital freight matching and automated load booking technology all reduce the time and resources required to complete core tasks within your operations. The time and human resources saved by tracking loads and securing capacity with greater efficiency provides you with new growth opportunities that don’t require an increase in overhead. If, for example, you’d previously needed a team of five to manually track loads and now with digital load tracking you only need two employees on your track and trace team, you can re-assign those three team members to your carrier or shipper sales team to cultivate new business or move more load volume.
5. Win Shipping Bids with Accurate, Real-Time Tech That Differentiates You from Competitors
Shippers usually want proof that you can provide the real-time visibility and capacity required to meet their needs. If you use real-time visibility software like Trucker Tools’, you can easily provide documentation of your on-time delivery rate and meet most shippers’ consistency and compliance KPIs. With Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching technology, you don’t have to guess on rates in specific lanes when completing your proposals for new shippers. You can research new lanes and capacity with Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching platform to create accurate price quotes that are based on real-world capacity availability, a factor that can’t help but increase the strength of your proposal.
Learn more about Trucker Tools’ Best-in-Class Support. Schedule a free demo of Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching platform, real-time load tracking platform and Book It Now®.
