3 Things Brokers Should Know About Booking Carriers

As a freight broker, making informed decisions when booking carriers is crucial to ensuring smooth operations, high service levels, and cost efficiency.

Data from the Isometric Technologies (ISO) broker network shows how much carrier selection impacts freight broker performance.

These insights can guide freight brokers to build stronger relationships, improve service levels, and minimize costly service failures. Here’s what the data shows: 

1. Service Matters to Enterprise Shippers

When it comes to service, the data is clear: carriers in the top 5% of shippers' networks by volume consistently outperform those in the bottom 50%. Top carriers had 17% better service scores on average, underscoring the importance of prioritizing high-performing service providers.

• Top 5% Carriers: Those carriers in the top 5% by shipment volume were 5% higher than the average ISO score*.
• Bottom 50%: The ISO scores of the bottom 50% of carriers by volume were nearly 12% below average. 
• Indispensable Carriers: That’s a 17% swing between those carriers that are indispensable to enterprise shippers and those whose performance results in them getting weeded out of the network.

*ISO Score is a composite measure of service, 0-100, factoring in weighted On-Time Pickup, On-Time Delivery, and Bounce Rate. 

2. The Correlation Between Carrier Utilization, Size, Mode, and Performance

The data highlights the importance of building strong relationships with fleets with less than 1,000 assets and increasing carrier reuse. When brokers established ongoing relationships with carriers, they saw stronger service levels. Smaller, frequently reused carriers often outperform other carriers. 

Increased Shipment/Carrier Rate: ISO brokers that increased the frequency of carrier use were rewarded with stronger service performance.

Focus on Mutually Beneficial Relationships: National carriers prioritize their largest customers. Focusing on smaller fleet carriers will lead to rewards in terms of service levels.

Equipment Type: Refrigerated trailers showed stronger service results in specific niches, emphasizing the need for targeted partnerships.

3. The High Cost of Bad Bounces: $170+ per Incident

Service failures, like bad bounces, come with a major cost. ISO data reveals that each bad bounce (a carrier falling off within 4 hours of the pickup appointment or window end) costs more than $170 on average, a financial impact that can quickly accumulate. This only includes the recovery rate for the load, so it does not factor in the overhead and opportunity costs associated with overworking a load. 

Unknown or new carriers were found to be 8% more likely to bounce a load, which is why building relationships with trusted carriers is so important. 

Minimizing bad bounces by selecting reliable carriers can save brokers from unnecessary financial losses. 

The graph above shows the network-wide performance for freight brokers by month, tracking bounce rates and bad bounce rates to highlight the financial impact of bad bounces over time.

If 5% of your loads have a bad bounce, and that costs you an average of $170/load, how much are bounces costing you in a month? A year?

Carrier Reuse Impacts Performance

This figure illustrates how frequently a carrier is used per month and its impact on performance in terms of bounce rate, with fewer shipments correlating to higher bounce rates and more shipments leading to stronger service performance. 

Building relationships with smaller fleets and increasing carrier reuse provides predictable margins and scalability, as well as strengthens service reliability. Establish ongoing relationships with smaller carriers to gain more reliable service and minimize performance issues.

Service Reliability is Key

The data from ISO highlights that there are many predictable factors when it comes to service performance, and service matters more than cost, especially to enterprise shippers. High-performing, reliable carriers consistently deliver better results, and building long-term relationships with these carriers can significantly improve your service levels while reducing costly failures like bad bounces.

Want deeper insights? Explore the full report from ISO on their website.

Ready to optimize your carrier strategy? Schedule a demo with ISO today and see how you can enhance your operations with data-driven decisions.