What Metrics Should Your Freight Brokerage Be Measuring?

May 15, 2025

What Metrics Should Your Freight Brokerage Be Measuring?

Research shows the freight brokerage market will reach $90.7 billion by 2031. To thrive in this dynamic, expanding industry, smart brokerages use metrics and data to drive performance and profits.

But what are the key metrics your freight broker business should manage? Besides your financial health checks, it’s important to measure operational efficiency, marketing, and service performance. To highlight what matters, our guide gives a rundown of metrics every brokerage should measure, plus calculation formulas.

Financial Metrics

Let’s look at the essential financial KPIs to track.

Gross profit margin percentage

Your gross profit margin percentage is a quick snapshot of top-line profitability. It tells you how much you’re making from your brokering activities before accounting foroperating expenses and overheads like rent, salaries, marketing, and administration costs.

Here’s the calculation:

Gross profit margin = [(Shipper revenue – Carrier cost) / Shipper revenue] x 100%

A margin below 10% is tight and may not be sustainable. In good times, you can aim for 20% but may need to bear 12%-15% in a tighter market.

Income per load

Income per load calculates the average revenue generated per shipment. This metric provides insight into individual deal value and overall rate strategy. It helps you assess your pricing tactics and understand market competitiveness.

Calculation: Average income per load = Total brokerage revenue / Total number of freight loads

A good income per load depends on your client list, market region, niche specialty, and size of your freight brokerage business. It can range from $250 to over $1,000.

Accounts receivable turnover

Accounts receivable (AR) turnover is a key metric that shows how many times you collect your receivables (debtors) in a year. A receivable turnover of 12, for example, shows that you collect your book every 30 days on average.

Calculation: Accounts receivable turnover = Net credit sales (shippers) / Average accounts receivable

You don’t want this number to fall too low (below seven, for example). However, there is also a balance because you may need to grant extended credit to good customers for their business.

Accounts payable

Accounts payable (AP) turnover is the straightforward measure of how many times you settle your payables (creditors) in a year.

Calculation: Accounts payable turnover = Net credit purchase (carriers) / Average accounts payable

To be cash positive, you want your creditors’ turnover to be lower than that of your debtors. Balancing a low AR T/O with a reasonable AP T/O ensures timely payments and a healthy cash flow. The goal is to keep both shippers and carriers happy.

Operational Performance Metrics

These metrics reflect your effectiveness in securing and managing shipments.

On-time delivery rates

On-time delivery is the holy grail in the freight industry. This figure reflects how reliable your service and carriers are.

Calculation: On-time delivery rate = Total on-time deliveries/ Total shipments x 100%

Obviously, everyone wants 100%, but real-world complications make this unrealistic (luckily, most shippers understand this). Consistently achieving 90 %+ goes a long way to meet customer expectations and earn loyalty.

Shipment transit time

Faster and predictable transit times are crucial to maintaining strong customer relationships and reducing costs caused by delays.

By spotlighting carrier performance, this measure also helps to separate quality truckers from less reliable players.

Load acceptance rate

Load acceptance rate measures the percentage of offered loads accepted by carriers. If transporters are declining your load offers, you may need to adjust pricing strategies, payment period, and general carrier support.

Calculation: Load acceptance rate = (Number of loads accepted/ Number of loads offered) × 100%

A rate above 90% confirms strong carrier relationships and support.

Load-to-truck ratio

Even without owning trucks, freight brokers need to understand this indicator. The load-to-truck ratio is a real-time picture of how many loads need moving compared to the trucks available.

This information shows competition for trucks, which influences rate negotiations. It also helps you to make decisions around scheduling and possible rerouting.

The ratio is: Number of loads / Number of trucks

Tracking this metric provides useful supply and demand data. It can assist in your business forecasting and strategy.

Marketing Performance Metrics

Proactive freight brokers conduct ongoing evaluations of their sales and marketing efforts, including:

Number of new sales leads

New leads start your business pipeline flowing. Recording leads allows you to gauge the reach and effectiveness of your lead generation activities.

Lead conversion time

How long does it take to convert a new lead into a customer? Monitoring and understanding conversion times enables you to refine sales and engagement processes.

Calculation: Lead conversion time = Total time taken to convert leads / Total number of leads converted

Quote conversion ratio

Quote conversion rate is the percentage of quotes that become a booked shipment. It speaks to the effectiveness of your pricing and sales strategies.

Calculation: Quote conversion rate = (Total number of quotes resulting in bookings / Total number of quotes issued) x 100%

Customer Satisfaction Metrics

The best freight brokerages ensure that customer service is at the heart of their mission. Here are performance indicators to employ.

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

Research shows that after a positive customer service experience, 90% of customers will do further business with you. This underscores the importance of obtaining customer feedback to monitor satisfaction levels and improve client experiences.

Calculation: CSAT % = (Number of satisfied responses / Total responses) × 100%

Aim for 80 %+.

Customer retention rate

Your retention rate reveals how successfully you keep clients. It’s well known that retaining customers is more cost-effective than acquiring them, emphasizing the importance of this area.

Calculation: Retention rate = [(Number of customers at the end of the period − New customers acquired during the period)/ Number of customers at the start of the period] x 100%

In a competitive market, a retention rate of 70–80% is considered solid.

Response time to client inquiries

When clients reach out with rate requests, load updates, or other urgent issues, a prompt response is often the difference between a great outcome and a poor one.

Reverting quickly and consistently earns you a reputation for service quality. It fosters client goodwill and can win new business.

Set internal goals, e.g., actioning all inquiries within one hour. You can track response times with CRM tools, shared inboxes, or ticketing systems.

Practical Tips for Effective Performance Tracking

Here are some top tips to manage your performance metrics effectively.

Automate data collection: Use a modern transportation management system (TMS) and data analytics platform to capture and analyze performance data in real time. According to the 2025 MHI and Deloitte report, 55% of supply chain leaders are increasing their technology and innovation investments. There’s no doubt that automation and data-driven decision-making are the future of the freight logistics industry.
Benchmark against industry standards: Compare your metrics to industry averages. This will identify areas for improvement and highlight unrealistic targets.
Engage your team: Involve your team in KPI setting and review processes to create buy-in. A committed team is more likely to strive for success.
Review and adjust regularly: Freight market conditions and market trends evolve constantly. Revisit your key performance indicators regularly to check they remain relevant.

FAQs

1. What is a good margin for a freight broker?

Broker margins average between 12% and 18%, although this is subject to quite wide fluctuations. Freight brokers may earn 30% on some loads and 2.5% on others.

2. How do you benchmark costs?

To benchmark costs, collect relevant data from sources like financial reports, industry benchmarks, and internal records.By analysing this data, you can uncover trends and patterns that reveal potential cost inefficiencies.

Next, compare your findings against industry standards or similar businesses to identify performance gaps and uncover opportunities for cost savings or improvements.

3. What is Return on Capital Employed for freight brokers?

Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) measures how efficiently a brokerage uses its capital to generate profits. It’s calculated as: ROCE = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ Capital Employed × 100%. A higher ROCE means better financial performance and resource use.

Moving Forward

By tracking and acting on essential metrics, freight brokerages enhance operational efficiency. They also strengthen shipper and carrier relationships, margins, and cost management.

The 90-Day Freight Broker course covers all the financial, operational, sales, and service skills that modern brokering demands. It is the most comprehensive freight industry training available online, designed to give future brokers a vital competitive edge.

Explore 90-Day Freight Broker now to learn how it fits your goals and ambitions.

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