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Leveraging technology to optimize your broker business
In this unpredictable time, capacity on the DrayNow platform is at some of the highest levels seen since our inception three years ago. The average time a load lives on our platform before being taken by a carrier has been steadily decreasing, with the past month averaging at around 5 minutes across the entire platform.
There can be many reasons as to why capacity is so loose. Our source of capacity primarily consists of thousands of 1-2 truck owner operators that aren’t traditional drayage carriers, and are using our technology to find local freight. Along with intermodal, they may dabble in OTR, LTL, and port trucking just to name a few. In an uncertain period like the one we are currently living through, carriers are looking for options. As long as they have a tractor unit and authority, they can go wherever the business takes them.
As non-essential warehouses and stores shut down due to safety concerns, owner operators may have lost business with private companies that no longer have freight for them to haul. And with layoffs at larger carrier companies already starting to happen, the independent owner operator model may grow in the long run.
With loads getting covered at such a quick rate, now may also be a great time to test out our technology with your freight. Whether that consists of adding a new lane to the mix or playing with the rates on spot moves, it can be a quick way to get capacity and find a rate that works for both your business and the carrier. When the trip is taken and started by the carrier, you will also have real-time tracking capabilities on each step of the trip. And with markets in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, New Jersey and Memphis, there’s plenty of opportunity to leverage technology and get this transparency across the board.
As conditions on the platform change on a daily basis, so does pricing. The DrayNow TRUprice tool takes into account appointment times, how far in advance the load was posted, and carrier behavior on the platform, among other things. Having such reactive pricing feedback, powered by technology, in your hands can benefit your bottom line and change your perception of what is and isn’t competitive at the moment. So, your $600 rate might not be valued as competitive one day, but by tomorrow, that same trip at the same price could get picked up off the platform in a short amount of time.
It’s no secret that this crisis is causing a change in the way that everyone is living their daily lives and conducting business. From the intermodal freight broker to the independent owner operator, everyone is feeling it. If business just isn’t expanding like it used to, it may be a good time to look at opportunities for the freight you have and try out the technology that will get you immediate capacity and real-time visibility on each trip from start to finish, so that you can focus your time and energy elsewhere.
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