Investing in the Future: Key Processes for Freight Brokers to Adopt in 2025
The freight brokerage industry is at a critical juncture. Over the past two years, the industry has lost 5,409 brokerages, with the total number of brokerages sitting at just 25,334 as of the end of 2024. While year-over-year declines are slowing, the lingering effects of these closures highlight the challenges brokers face, including fraud risks, inefficiencies, and volatile costs. To thrive in 2025, brokers must embrace smarter tools and streamlined processes.
By adopting a unified strategy, brokers can address these challenges head-on. Advanced platforms for carrier vetting, pricing, automation, and communication offer more than just solutions—they provide the foundation for a more efficient, secure, and profitable brokerage. The choices brokers make now will determine their ability to succeed in the year ahead.
1. Reduce risk of fraud with carrier vetting
Carrier vetting is a cornerstone of operational success in 2025, offering brokers the protection and reliability they need to navigate a competitive and high-risk market. Evolving fraud tactics, such as double brokering and cargo theft, coupled with regulatory complexities, make a proactive vetting process essential. By ensuring their networks consist of legitimate, qualified carriers, brokers can safeguard their financial stability, maintain compliance, and build trust with customers.
To minimize fraud and maintain compliance, brokers should implement a few key best practices:
Validate carrier operating authority and safety rating through the FMCSA records.
Ensure the carrier has adequate insurance limits for the shipment they are hauling
Monitor carriers continuously for performance and compliance issues post-onboarding.
Utilize automated tools to flag inconsistencies and identify potential risks in real-time.
Highway equips brokers with the tools to handle these challenges effectively. Its real-time fraud detection capabilities analyze critical data points such as lane preferences, equipment capabilities, and insurance verification, along with other key operational metrics. Automated checks identify red flags early, enabling brokers to make swift, data-driven decisions and maintain a reliable carrier network. With Highway, brokers gain the confidence and clarity needed to navigate an increasingly complex landscape while prioritizing operational integrity and client satisfaction.
2. Optimize carrier networks with performance tracking
Service quality will set brokers apart in 2025 as shippers demand reliability in a competitive market. To meet these expectations and grow margins, brokers need a data-driven approach to monitor carrier performance. Key metrics like on-time delivery, bounce rates, and shipment utilization provide the foundation for building a network of dependable carriers who align with shipper needs.
ISO supports brokers with tools that provide deep insights into carrier performance. From tracking bad bounce rates and the associated costs to analyzing shipment utilization, ISO’s comprehensive scorecards and analytics help brokers pinpoint strengths and address risks. With ISO, brokers can proactively optimize their networks, ensuring they deliver consistent, reliable service while building trust with clients.
By adopting a service-first approach powered by ISO, brokers can improve efficiency, strengthen shipper relationships, and position themselves for long-term success in a competitive market.
3. Save time on AP and AR with freight factoring
Accounts payable and receivable are some of the biggest time wasters for freight brokers, with 78% saying their business would be more successful if they spent less time managing these tasks. Endless spreadsheets, manual follow-ups, and payment tracking often take brokers away from what matters most—building customer relationships and driving growth.
Denim’s factoring solution combines flexibility and automation to simplify cash flow management. Brokers can choose which loads to factor and set customized payment terms, ensuring capital is used only when needed. Automated invoicing sends bills as soon as proof of delivery is received, speeding up cash flow and preventing delays. The contractor portal keeps carriers informed with real-time payment updates, significantly reducing inquiries and allowing brokers to maintain positive relationships.
By integrating powerful tools like QuickPay management and advanced reporting capabilities, Denim helps brokers shift their focus from back-office tasks to growth. With automation driving efficiency, brokers can achieve operational excellence while delivering the reliability their shippers and carriers expect.
Spend less time on payments and more time on profits.
4. Boost profitability with AI-powered dynamic pricing
Effective pricing requires more than just knowing market rates—it’s about building a strategic process that balances profitability with competitive offerings. To stay ahead in 2025, brokers need to anticipate market shifts, analyze lane performance, and implement standardized pricing strategies that align with their goals. Best practices like leveraging dynamic pricing tools, monitoring market benchmarks, and setting custom pricing rules for specific shippers or conditions ensure pricing accuracy and maximize margins.
With Greenscreens’ dynamic pricing technology, brokers gain real-time insights and tools to adapt to changing market conditions. Features like customizable pricing rules allow brokers to respond to events like weather disruptions or adjust rates for specific shippers. By standardizing pricing processes and leveraging AI-powered data, brokers can improve profitability, reduce errors, and build trust with shippers—all while staying competitive in an ever-evolving freight market.
Freight brokers often face a mountain of repetitive tasks that pull them away from building critical relationships. AI agents like Fleetworks’ Felice and Fred are transforming the way brokers operate by automating these routine processes. These autonomous robots can handle everything from booking carriers and tracking loads to negotiating rates and collecting documents, all while operating across phone, email, text, and legacy systems with minimal human oversight.
The real value of AI agents lies in their ability to step in where brokers once relied solely on manual workflows. For example, when covering a tough-to-book load, Fleetworks agents can vet carriers through Highway, negotiate terms, and assign the load—all based on the broker’s pre-set business rules. They also reduce fraud risks, triage live-load issues, and even handle lumper comcheck requests, freeing brokers to focus on relationship-building instead of repetitive tasks.
To unlock the full potential of AI agents, brokers should test them at a small scale, carefully define their parameters, and partner with experts to ensure long-term reliability.
6. Improve efficiency with AI-powered communication management
Communication is the backbone of every freight brokerage, but managing it effectively is often a struggle. From overflowing inboxes to missed SLAs, inefficient communication can erode trust, decrease productivity, and even lead to lost revenue. By adopting a solution like Front, brokers can centralize and streamline their communication channels, turning a major operational hurdle into a competitive advantage.
Front’s AI-powered inbox management transforms the way teams handle messages. Instead of manually sorting emails or juggling multiple tools, brokers can automatically classify, route, and assign inbound messages with SLA enforcement. This ensures faster responses, eliminates duplicate replies, and prevents messages from slipping through the cracks. With all communication unified in one system, teams reduce context switching and improve productivity. As a result, brokers like EFW have reduced email volume by 80% while maintaining a 15-minute SLA even as their message volume grew fourfold.
Visibility into communication performance is another game-changer. With over 50 configurable reports in Front, brokers can measure metrics like first response time and message volume to identify bottlenecks and optimize workflows. These insights not only improve internal processes but also instill confidence with shippers by showcasing exceptional service quality.
Efficient communication management isn’t just about replying faster; it’s about building trust, boosting productivity, and delivering the kind of service that wins loyal clients. By automating workflows, ensuring visibility, and leveraging actionable data, Front equips brokers to thrive in a competitive market while keeping communication smooth, organized, and effective.
7. Reduce carrier drop rates with carrier scoring process
Carrier reliability is a key factor in maintaining smooth operations and satisfied shippers. However, unexpected carrier drops plague brokers, leading to frantic last-minute load recoveries, service disruptions, and strained shipper relationships. A data-driven approach to carrier selection is essential, moving beyond basic vetting to incorporate real-time performance scoring.
Carrier Assure provides an advanced scoring system to predict carrier performance and minimize drop rates. By analyzing behavioral and operational data, Carrier Assure assigns a risk score to each carrier, enabling smarter, more confident capacity selection. This score offers a multitude of benefits, including proven reductions in double brokering, theft, claims, and dropped loads.
By leveraging Carrier Assure’s predictive scoring, brokers can significantly reduce carrier drop rates, improve service levels, and maintain stronger relationships with shippers. Instead of scrambling to recover loads, brokers can focus on scaling their business with a dependable carrier network.
Learn more about Carrier Assure and see how it can enhance your carrier selection process.
Guide | Modernizing Freight Accounting
Download our complete guide to streamline your accounting and gain better financial insights with batch entry.
Guide | Questions Brokers Should Ask Their Factoring Companies
Guide | How to Compete with 3PLS
Guide | 5 Additional Revenue Streams
These proven strategies have the potential to boost your bottom line by $600,000, giving you the flexibility to reinvest and scale your brokerage.
Worksheet | Aging Invoice Tracker
Worksheet | Payments Tracker
Worksheet | Freight Market Sizing Worksheet
Expand into a new industry with confidence. Run the numbers to determine profitability with our market sizing worksheet.
Template | Profit & Loss Statement
Get started on your Profit & Loss Statement with our free template.
Schedule a Demo
Let's talk cash flow. Get started today!
Checklist | Holiday Preparedness
Guide | 8 Steps to Scale Your Brokerage
In 8 steps, you can scale your brokerage and grow your revenue! Download our guide now.
Guide | Evaluating Your Freight Tech Stack
Do you know how many softwares your team uses? This guide will walk you through all the steps to audit and implement your freight technology stack stress-free.
Guide | How to Build Freight Broker Credit
Work with the best carriers and get access to better financial rates with our free guide to freight broker credit.
Boost Your Business Through Cold Calling
Implement these expert cold calling strategies and see your business opportunities multiply.
Guide | How to grow your freight brokerage
Begin with a growth mindset and harness these expert strategies to elevate your freight brokerage.
Guide | Freight Finance Planning Quickstart
Growing your brokerage begins with a solid financial plan. This guide will show you how to write a financial plan that sets you up for success.
Checklist | Shipper Risk Information
Don’t get blindsided by inadequate credit limits. Collaborate with your factoring company to accurately assess your shippers' risk using our essential checklist.
Guide | How to Stop Working Off Shipper Lists Guide
Template | Accessorial charges
Ensure you and your carriers are always on the same page. Share this accessorial charges pricing sheet with your carriers before moving a load to avoid any surprises.
Scorecard | Factoring Company Switch
Is your factoring provider the right fit? Use our scorecard to see if it's time for a change.
Contact us to learn more and get detailed pricing.
Bringing It All Together: A Strategic Advantage in 2025
Achieving success in 2025 requires more than individual solutions—it demands a unified strategy. Tools like Highway for carrier vetting, Greenscreens for dynamic pricing, Denim for payment automation, Fleetworks for task management, and Front for communication create a seamless, efficient brokerage operation. Together, they reduce risk, enhance profitability, and streamline workflows, enabling brokers to focus on growth and stronger relationships with shippers and carriers.
By integrating tools like these, brokers can adapt to changing market demands, boost efficiency, and deliver exceptional service. The result is a connected, data-driven operation that’s built to scale and thrive.
Take the Next Steps Toward Process Innovation
These tools aren’t just fixes—they’re a strategic framework for long-term growth. Ready to streamline your operations and drive success? Request a demo today and discover how these solutions can transform your brokerage for 2025 and beyond.
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.
%20(1).jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
