Blog · Coverage and territory · Freight brokers and 3PLs
How a freight broker measures whether it is a shipper's primary provider on a lane or the fallback that gets the loads the primary rejected, from the shipper's tender data and the broker's own log: the broker's position in the routing guide, the share of loads tendered to it first, the acceptance it gives when it is first, the lanes where it is backup and wins most of what it sees, and the case to the shipper for moving up the guide.
A broker moves fifty loads a month for a shipper on a lane and feels like the shipper's carrier. The tender data says it is third in the routing guide and sees fifty loads because the first two reject sixty. This guide sets out primary tender share, the broker's acceptance when it is first, the backup lanes with a case for primary, and the primary lanes it is about to lose.
Per shipper, per lane, per period:
Position in the routing guide, from the guide or inferred from tender timing Primary tender share = loads tendered to the broker first ÷ the shipper's loads on the lane Acceptance when first = accepted ÷ tendered first Acceptance when cascaded = accepted ÷ tendered after a rejection elsewhere On-time performance on loads moved
Shipper identifiers only.
loads tendered to the broker = tendered first + cascaded, per lane
A tender with no timing and no cascade indicator is unclassified, counted, and excluded from the share.
| Shipper | Lane | Position | Primary tender share | Loads seen | Acceptance when first | Acceptance when cascaded | On time | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2207 | CHI to DAL | 3rd | 0% | 52/month | 94% | 97% | Backup; case for primary | |
| 2207 | ATL to MIA | 1st | 100% | 35 | 71% | 95% | Primary and rejecting; at risk | |
| 4471 | LAX to PHX | 1st | 100% | 15 | 96% | 98% | Healthy primary |
On Chicago to Dallas, the broker is third, sees fifty-two loads the first two refused, and accepts ninety-four percent of them on time. That is the case for primary, with the incumbent's rejection rate as the shipper's cost. On Atlanta to Miami, the broker is first and refuses three in ten, which is how a primary becomes a backup.
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Broker's acceptance when tendered | 94% |
| Broker's on-time | 97% |
| Incumbent primary's rejection rate, from the shipper's data | 38% |
| Shipper's cost of cascades | Days of delay; spot cover on the loads nobody took |
One page, per lane, to the shipper's transportation manager.
Volume read as position. Fifty loads a month, all leftovers.
Own rejections on primary lanes unwatched. The lane cascades to someone else and the broker learns at the next bid.
Cascade timing not captured. Position unknown; the case cannot be made.
Case without the shipper's numbers. The incumbent's rejection rate is the shipper's pain; it is on their data.
Mapped once, the tender log, the shipper's data where shared and the load ledger produce position, primary tender share, acceptance by tender type, on-time and the case per lane every month. Covirage builds this from the exports as they are. The freight page describes the setup, and the tender rejection guide covers the broker's own rejections that put primary lanes at risk.
From the shipper's routing guide where it is shared, which it often is in a contracted relationship; otherwise from the tender log's timing, because cascaded tenders arrive hours after the load was first tendered elsewhere. The report shows the source and the confidence.
Because volume on a backup position is volume the primary did not want: the hard loads, at the hard times, at the contracted rate. A broker that is backup everywhere is profitable on paper and running on the primaries' leftovers. Primary position on the right lanes is what a stable book looks like.
Acceptance rate when tendered, on-time performance on the loads moved, and cost of rejection to the shipper from the incumbent primary's refusals. All three from the broker's own log and the shipper's data where shared, on one page, per lane.