Freight Brokers: Scaling Up in 2025? Here’s What’s Actually Working

Freight brokers are gearing up for another tough year, with industry leaders like J.B. Hunt signaling that the long-awaited recovery might not hit until 2026. That’s right: another year of soft demand, excess capacity, and tight margins.

But brokers aren’t sitting around waiting for the market to fix itself. FreightCaviar polled industry professionals to find out how they plan to scale operations in 2025, and the results were clear: brokers are doubling down on tech, automation, and efficiency to stay ahead.

The Freight Market: Still Stuck in Reverse

If you were hoping for a freight rebound this year, J.B. Hunt’s latest warning might have been a reality check. The industry giant expects a 20-25% drop in first-quarter operating income, citing weak demand, too many trucks on the road, and global uncertainties.

Meanwhile, Cass Freight and ATA data aren’t painting a better picture. North American freight volumes are still sliding, and truck tonnage isn’t gaining traction.

What this means: The bounce-back isn’t coming just yet.

How Brokers Are Scaling in a Down Market

Instead of waiting for rates to recover, brokers are playing offense. According to a FreightCaviar poll, here’s how they plan to grow in 2025:

• Adopting New Tech (38%) – AI, machine learning, and automation tools are at the top of the list for brokers looking to cut manual work and improve efficiency.
• Doubling Down on Automation (38%) – If it’s repetitive, brokers want it automated. Load matching, invoicing, and tracking are prime areas where automation is slashing overhead and speeding up cash flow.
• Hiring More Employees (18%) – While automation is key, some brokers are still scaling their teams to handle customer service and high-touch operations.
• Other Strategies (6%) – This includes diversifying freight mix, expanding service offerings, and getting creative with shipper relationships.

The lesson? Brokers who invest in efficiency now will dominate when the market rebounds.

Just look at J.B. Hunt—they’ve been pouring resources into tech and capacity, ensuring they’ll be positioned to grab market share when things turn around. The smartest brokers are following suit, tightening their operations now so they can scale fast when demand picks up.

The Back-Office Problem: 260 Hours Lost

What better area to start adopting new tech and double down on automation than the back-office, which is often utilizing outdated and manual workflows that make it inefficient

📌 42% of brokers say their teams spend at least an hour a day auditing paperwork—that’s 260 hours per year lost on manual back-office tasks.

📌 93% of brokers still handle invoice disputes over email and phone, wasting hours chasing down documentation.

📌 1 in 4 brokers say over 25% of their invoices require manual issue resolution before they can even get paid.

That’s a massive time drain that directly impacts profitability.

The Solution? Back-Office Automation

This is where tools like Epay Manager, powered by OTR Solutions, come in. Freight brokers are turning to invoice automation, streamlined payment processing, and fraud-proof financial workflows to eliminate the bottlenecks slowing them down.

✅ 98% reduction in billing inaccuracies – Say goodbye to endless disputes.

✅ 3x to 5x more invoices processed per team member – Less manual work, more efficiency.

✅ 50% reduction in back-office costs – More profit, less overhead.

Here’s the truth: If your back office still runs on emails and spreadsheets, you’re leaking time and money—just when you need both the most.

Want to Scale in 2025? Start Here.

Freight brokers who win in 2025 will be the ones who fix inefficiencies now, so when the market turns, they are ready to scale fast. 

Schedule a demo with Epay Manager and see how it can cut costs, eliminate invoice headaches, and give you back your time.