AI for insights and analytics
The largest shipper on the board is backup freight at half the margin per load, and the tender file has said so all year. AI analytics reads the load, tender, carrier and claims files, and answers the sales director's question: which shippers and lanes earn, and which are quietly slipping.
These are the questions freight brokers ask. Each one maps to a measure our tools compute from your files. The AI model chooses the measure and explains the result; the arithmetic is done by our code, and every total is checked.
| The question | The measure behind it | What comes back |
|---|---|---|
| What do we really make per load, by shipper? | Margin per load | Revenue less carrier cost, claims absorbed and detention, per load, by shipper and lane. |
| Are we the primary carrier or the backup? | Primary tender share | Loads where we were first call over loads tendered, by shipper, with the ones where we are second or third. |
| Where are we rejecting tenders, and why? | Tender acceptance and rejection | Rejection rate by shipper and lane, with the reason codes and the loads that followed. |
| Which shippers and lanes have gone dormant? | Dormant shippers and lanes | Shippers and lanes past their own load gap, by prior revenue, with the rep. |
| How is our spot quoting doing? | Spot quote win rate | Quotes won over quoted by lane and rep, count and value, with the lost quotes listed. |
| Are we over-exposed to one carrier on a lane? | Carrier concentration per lane | Share of loads by carrier per lane, with the lanes above the threshold. |
Every figure below was computed by a tool from the rows and checked before it was shown. The lines sum; the percentages match; each line opens to the rows that make it.
Where is margin per load lowest, after claims and detention?
Margin lost to absorbed detention, claims and backup freight totals $1.1m this year across 3 desks, against gross margin on the same loads. Dry van desk accounts for $610k, 54% of it.
| Dry van desk | $610k | 54% of the total |
| Reefer desk | $340k | 30% of the total |
| Flatbed desk | $180k | 16% of the total |
| The 3 lines sum to | $1.1m | 0 unexplained |
Which dry van shippers?
3 shippers account for $550k of the $610k lost on the Dry van desk, 90% of it. On the largest we were second or third call on 60 percent of tenders and rejected 28 percent of them.
| Northstar Foods | $290k | 1,200 loads; $148 per load; 60% backup |
| Grange Consumer Goods | $170k | detention absorbed on 41% of loads |
| Pinewood Paper | $90k | two cargo claims; rejection rate 31% |
| These 3 are | $550k | 90% of Dry van desk |
What does the desk do with the anchor account?
Renegotiate the tender position or the rate, and stop absorbing detention without a charge. The rep takes margin per load and tender share to the shipper; the desk lead reviews rejections weekly.
| Dry van rep, Northstar | Take tender share and margin per load to the quarterly review | This month |
| Desk lead | Review tender rejections and detention weekly | Weekly |
| Sales director | Rank shippers by margin per load, not revenue | Monthly |
Each measure has one formula, one source and one meaning. They are computed per rep and lane and in total, and every one carries an identity that must hold before it is shown.
| Measure | Formula | From | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lane share per shipper | Loads moved for the shipper on the lane ÷ shipper's estimated loads on the lane | Load file; shipper volumes stated or from bid data | Lanes where you are a minor carrier |
| Primary tender share | Tenders received as first offer ÷ tenders received, by shipper and lane | Tender log with sequence | First call or backup |
| Margin per load | (Revenue − carrier cost − accessorials and claims) ÷ loads, by shipper and lane | Load file; payables | Freight that moves and earns nothing |
| Tender acceptance and rejection | Tenders accepted ÷ tenders received; rejections by reason, by lane | Tender log | Lanes being lost; capacity tightening |
| Spot and contract mix | Spot loads and margin ÷ total, by shipper | Load file with rate type | Exposure to the spot market; shippers who only call in a crisis |
| Carrier concentration per lane | Largest carrier's share of loads on the lane; carriers used | Load file | Lanes that depend on one truck |
| Shipper concentration | Top ten shippers' share of margin; largest shipper | Load file | Dependence, by margin not revenue |
| Spot quote win rate | Quotes won ÷ quotes given, by shipper and lane, with response time | Quote log | Shippers using you as a price check |
| Dormant shippers and lanes | Shipper lanes with no load in k × their own typical interval, by prior margin | Load file | Freight that stopped without a conversation |
| Pay and collect gap | Days to pay carriers − days to collect from shippers, by shipper | Payables; receivables | Shippers the brokerage is financing |
Each measure is worked through, with the export it comes from and what to drop, in Sales KPIs for freight brokers and 3PLs.
From your question and the measures declared for freight brokers and 3PLs, the model picks the one that answers it, and the period and comparison the question implies.
Deterministic code reads the rows, computes the measure, and checks the identities below. The same question on the same data gives the same answer, every time.
The AI model writes the sentence around the result, naming the rep or account behind it. It states no figure that is not in the result, and every figure links to its rows.
| Loads | Load revenue − carrier cost − accessorials = margin; sums to the ledger |
| Tenders | Tenders = accepted + rejected + expired |
| Quotes | Quotes = won + lost + no response |
| Carriers | Carrier shares on a lane sum to 100 percent |
The exports freight brokers already produce. Column names are mapped once and the mapping is reused. A file is the way in; scheduled delivery and connections to your systems come with the plan, and every source is listed here.
An answer is a list with an owner and a cadence, or it is a chart nobody works.
| Measures | Owner | Cadence |
|---|---|---|
| Tender rejection; dormant lanes; spot win rate | Sales reps; desk leads | Weekly |
| Margin per load; primary tender share | Sales director | Monthly |
| Carrier concentration per lane | Head of carrier sales | Monthly |
| Lane share; shipper concentration; pay and collect gap | President; finance | Quarterly |
Because a nine percent margin on a large shipper can be 148 dollars a load after detention and claims, while a smaller shipper earns 310. Per load is what the desk lives on. The tool computes it from the load, carrier cost, claims and detention files, and shows the deductions as lines.
From the tender file: the position we were offered in the routing guide, and whether we accepted. Primary tender share is loads where we were first call over loads tendered, by shipper. A large account at 40 percent primary is backup freight, and the figure says so.
Loads with revenue and carrier cost, the tender file, claims and detention, and the quote log for spot. Lane and shipper come with the loads. Column names are mapped once, and a file that lacks a field is reported rather than guessed at.
Yes, against the shipper's own load gap on that lane rather than a fixed period. A lane that ran weekly and has been silent for a month appears with the prior revenue and the rep, while a seasonal lane that runs quarterly does not.
Margin per load · Primary tender share · Tender rejection rate · Lane share · Carrier concentration · Dormant account
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Bring a few thousand rows. The data map opens next, every column mapped once, and the first question is answered in minutes. Free, in your browser, no account.