Carrier Sales Inconsistency Is Costing You Hundreds of Thousands

Carrier Sales Inconsistency Is Costing You Hundreds of Thousands

You’ve been there before.
A last-minute scramble to cover a load.
A carrier who bails just hours before pickup.
A client who says, “We’ve been moving more freight through another brokerage lately, your coverage just isn’t consistent enough.”

In the moment, it feels like just another frustrating day in logistics. But when you zoom out, those day-to-day issues begin to show a more troubling pattern. One that could be quietly costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

And it’s more common and more expensive than most brokerages realize.

Overpaying Carriers: How a Few Extra Cents Add Up to Six Figures

Let’s start with something simple: paying slightly above market rate.

It’s easy to justify: “We just need to get the load covered.”
But here’s the reality:

• The national average linehaul rate for dry van freight fluctuates around $1.90–$2.10/mile.
• Say you overpay by $0.06/mile on a 600-mile load—that’s $36 extra per shipment.
• Multiply that by 100 loads per week: $3,600 weekly overage.
• Annualized? You’re burning through $187,200 a year—just on minor rate inefficiencies.

And that’s not including fuel surcharges or accessorial fees.
This is just what happens when negotiations aren’t tight, and decisions are made reactively.

Overpaying isn’t the exception in reactive Carrier Sales, it’s the default.

‍

Missed Loads and Shipper Churn: The Domino Effect No One Measures

Every brokerage has missed a load.
Sometimes a carrier no-shows. Sometimes there’s a delay. Sometimes your team just can’t find coverage in time.

It’s part of the game, right?

But here’s the thing: shippers don’t think that way.
To them, a missed load isn’t an operational hiccup—it’s a broken promise. And broken promises come with a price.

‍

The Real Cost of Losing a Client

Let’s say one of your top shippers moves just 20% of their freight elsewhere due to coverage inconsistency.

• If that shipper accounts for $500,000 in annual revenue, that’s a $100,000 annual loss.
• And if that shipper was a referral source or had multiple lanes? The downstream impact compounds.

Even worse, clients don’t usually send warning shots. You rarely get a second chance after the trust breaks.

Inconsistent carrier sales doesn’t just lose you freight.
It loses you relationships. And in logistics, relationships are revenue.

‍

Reactive Coverage Is Costing You Time. And That Time Has a Dollar Value

Let’s talk about your team.

Your Carrier Sales reps are bright, hard-working, and knowledgeable.
So why are they spending 35% of their week chasing coverage instead of building your business?

Let’s do the math:

• 14 hours per week per rep, spent on last-minute coverage tasks
• Average loaded labor cost for a CS rep: $37/hour
• That’s $518 per week per rep doing reactive work
• If you’ve got four reps: $2,072/week → $107,744/year in wasted salary

And let’s be clear: this doesn’t include the opportunity cost, the new lanes they didn’t secure, the carrier relationships they didn’t deepen, the margin they didn’t improve.

Reactive teams stay busy. But they rarely move the business forward.

‍

Losing Good Carriers Is More Expensive Than You Think

Here’s what nobody talks about: carrier relationships are assets.

A reliable carrier who knows your lanes, your SOPs, and your expectations?
They’re worth their weight in gold. And when you lose them because of inconsistent communication, unpredictable volume, or poor treatment you pay the price in three ways:

1. Turnover Costs

• Onboarding a new carrier takes hours of paperwork, setup, and compliance vetting.
• Each turnover can cost $100–$250+ in admin time and soft costs.

2. Rate Disadvantages

• New carriers charge more because they don’t trust you yet.
• Loyal carriers often offer discounts for steady volume or fast pay terms.
• Losing loyalty = higher rates, again.

3. Service Risk

• Every new carrier is a gamble. Are they compliant? Do they show up on time?
• Every failed test damages your brand.

You wouldn’t throw away a great employee without a plan to replace them.
So why do brokerages lose top-tier carriers over solvable process issues?

‍

A System Problem Requires a Systems Fix

Here’s the truth:

The best-performing brokerages don’t have better luck.
They have better systems.

They’ve decided that Carrier Sales isn’t just a “get-it-done” function.
It’s a strategic role, one that deserves structure, consistency, and dedicated focus.

‍

What Do These Brokerages Do Differently?

✔ They stop overpaying.
They negotiate from a place of strength, not desperation, because their loads are planned and predictable.

✔ They retain their best carriers.
With clear communication, steady volume, and respect, they become a broker of choice.

✔ They free up their internal team.
Instead of coverage chaos, their reps are focused on building the business: adding lanes, improving margins, and growing shipper relationships.

✔ They build consistency and consistency builds trust.
And when freight moves smoothly, shippers stick around.

‍

Where Do You Go From Here?

At what point does Carrier Sales go from a necessary function to a growth bottleneck?

• How many hours is your team spending putting out fires instead of bringing in new business?
• How many reliable carriers have quietly stopped answering your calls?
• How many clients are just one late load away from switching brokers?

‍

A Better Way to Do Carrier Sales

We, at Superior, help brokerages eliminate the chaos in Carrier Sales.
We plug into your system with:

• 8+ years of Carrier Sales experience
• Access to 15,000+ vetted carriers
• Dedicated reps trained to negotiate, cover, and communicate
• Compatibility with any TMS or load board

With us managing coverage, your internal team focuses on growth, not grunt work.

You don’t need more hustle.
You need a system that makes hustle unnecessary.

‍

What’s the Cost of Doing Nothing?

This isn’t just about missed opportunities.
It’s about bleeding profits in slow motion.

And the worst part?
Most brokerages don’t realize it until margins are too tight, clients have already left, and top reps are burned out.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

→ Talk to our team today.
Let’s put the profit leak to rest—so your team can focus on scaling, not scrambling.

‍