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Within frequent contracting, there’s plenty to be confused for between spot freight and small fleets using direct shipping.

Typically, what will happen is that the first round is sent to asset-only carriers, while the second round widens the scope to include brokers, as with a recent change in the market, it has become plenty more difficult to compete alongside large-carrier players and brokers. In addition, there’s been better recognition of four-truck fleets, from many satisfied customers.

The growth in complexity that shows for shippers is well displayed in going to market with freight to display a larger percentage of freight within the spot market. However, in low volume freight markets, spot market freight’s share show about 11% of all freight that has been moved. All of this was illustrated with a chart that displays plenty of flipping of the wide freight market of freight in shipping favor, wherein the percentage of loads head straight to the spot market with higher percentage, of at least 20% of total volume. Shippers have great usage of the spot market, given that they show loads heading directly to the spot market, through brokerage partners, while there are loads on low-volume lanes wherein contracts do exist but aren’t necessarily well-used. All of these counting as “routing guide failures.”

For plenty of shippers, contracts on those low-volume lanes are nonsensical when you compare them to high contract failure rates, while plenty of shippers try to rid themselves of such contracts, given that they produce about 50% to 60% of lanes, just to “ride the market” however they can.

Carriers themselves are going to benefit from this as the market turns back in such favor, even though many projections can’t themselves see it happening before the Springtime of next year to begin with. In any case, there is an uncanny ability to shift encounters with shipping teams on the spot market towards long-term relationships for lanes that need better dynamics.

When there are specific lanes to run, and specific shipping teams that move freight to and fro that lane, it is to their benefit that those loads are taken and service well over time to generate a direct customer.

What tends to be often overlooked in trucking tends to be the significance of people skills. To be solo on the road often requires so many interpersonal skills. That’s something of a secret that most trucking entities won’t immediately reveal to you. Regardless if a customer is a broker or a shipper, there’s a need to treat those people as similarly to royalty as possible, given that the same courtesy applies to direct clients as well. Steady relationships are meant to pay off for steady freight, regardless of where it arrives from. Building that type of relationship to designate where the trucks can go for loads full of “dignity” towards all customers, matters, regardless if it’s brokers or shippers. Everyone deserves an iota of respect when you’re conducting serious business. That’s the only way you can get ahead in your business.