September 26, 2025
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Every RFP feels familiar. You send out your lanes, brokers return bids, you pick the lowest rates, and by midyear, finance is asking why freight spend is 10% over plan. The truth is, the old checklist: licensed, bonded, insured, doesn’t surface the issues that drain budgets and damage service in 2025.
Detention, fraud, rate volatility, invoice disputes, and exception firefighting are the real costs. And yet, many shippers don’t push brokers hard enough on these pain points.
The brokers that matter today aren’t the ones who promise trucks. They’re the ones who can prove they manage the work behind the freight. Here are the questions that reveal the difference.
According to the American Transportation Research Institute, detention costs grew 18% year-over-year in 2024. For many shippers, that’s the fastest-growing line item in transportation spend.
Most brokers still coordinate appointments with Outlook inboxes and spreadsheets. The result is delays, missed windows, and cascading detention charges. At scale, appointment scheduling generates thousands of back-and-forth emails a week.
Forward-looking providers have started experimenting with automation. We’ve seen AI agents that handle 80% of truckload appointment scheduling, freeing operations staff to focus on exceptions instead of inboxes. You don’t need your broker to be building AI, but you should expect a clear process: How do they prevent detention, how do they escalate with facilities, and how do they measure dwell?
Every broker says “we cover your lanes nationwide.” The only thing that matters is data. What was their tender acceptance last quarter in lanes like yours? How often did they fall off tenders? Which carriers did they actually use?
In 2024, DAT iQ tracked spot market swings of 15–25% on some lanes. Without dependable coverage, you’re pushed into those swings. A broker who can’t produce lane-level data is gambling with your spend.
Track-and-trace is commodity. What matters is how a broker handles exceptions. If a load is late to a Walmart DC, a ping on a map won’t save you from OTIF penalties, which can reach 3% of invoice value.
A strong broker has documented escalation playbooks by receiver and can show you how they handled real exceptions last quarter. Some are even using AI to reduce the noise: one project cut 80% of the “status chasing” emails by surfacing true risks in dashboards automatically.
The question isn’t “do you offer visibility?” It’s “how do you keep exceptions from surprising me?”
In a volatile market, a static annual contract is a trap. FreightWaves reported that shippers who stuck to annual pricing in 2024 faced the biggest overruns when the spot market spiked.
The right brokers now run mini-bids, balance contract and spot dynamically, and provide sensitivity tables: what happens to your spend if the market shifts 15% up or down? If your broker only quotes you today’s number, you’re on the hook for the swings.
According to the Transportation Intermediaries Association, billing disputes add 2–3% to freight costs annually. For lean logistics teams, that’s wasted time better spent elsewhere.
Ask your broker how they validate proof-of-delivery before billing. Do they measure invoice accuracy? Do they commit to resolving disputes within a set timeframe? Some are now automating POD validation, cutting errors and accelerating payment cycles.
A clean back office isn’t just convenient, it’s a sign of operational discipline across the board.
Double brokering and fraud have exploded, costing shippers more than $100M annually according to the FMCSA. Mid-market shippers, big enough to be attractive, small enough to lack dedicated compliance teams, are prime targets.
Don’t settle for “we check Safer.” Ask to see a broker’s carrier compliance checklist. Do they continuously monitor insurance, authority, and safety scores? Do they flag high-risk carriers before tenders go out? A flimsy answer here is a red flag.
Not all freight is created equal. Food and beverage shippers need FSMA-compliant reefer handling. Automotive requires plant sequencing and drop trailers. Electronics and aerospace depend on chain-of-custody protocols.
If a broker says “we can handle it all,” push for proof. Do they have vertical SOPs? Can they share case studies in your sector? Industry context is the difference between hitting OTIF targets and explaining missed shelves or production line stops.
Quarterly business reviews shouldn’t be slide decks. They should show lane-level scorecards:
If your broker can’t provide that data consistently, improvement is impossible.
The checklist for freight brokers hasn’t disappeared. Licensing, bonding, and insurance are still the floor. But in 2025, the bar is higher. Shippers need partners who can:
Use these questions in your next procurement cycle. They’ll separate brokers who simply cover freight from those who can protect your supply chain and your budget.
And if you’d like to explore how some of these practices, from appointment scheduling automation to POD validation, are being tested in U.S. freight today, you can read more in our freight insights or schedule a conversation.
How does Nuvo help shippers reduce detention fees?
Detention often comes from poor appointment scheduling. Nuvo uses AI to streamline pickup and delivery scheduling, cutting down on back-and-forth emails and helping freight move through facilities with fewer delays.
What steps does Nuvo take to prevent double brokering?
Double brokering has become a major risk in U.S. trucking. Nuvo combines strict carrier compliance checks with access to a vetted carrier network, ensuring shippers work only with trusted partners.
How does Nuvo improve invoice accuracy?
Disputes often start with missing or mismatched paperwork. Nuvo automates proof-of-delivery (POD) validation and integrates documents directly into our system, reducing billing errors and keeping back-office work simple for shippers.
What does Nuvo mean by “visibility” in domestic freight?
Visibility isn’t just about tracking a truck on a map. With Nuvo, exceptions are surfaced quickly, reducing the need for status-chasing and helping shippers stay ahead of problems before they turn into penalties or missed windows.
How does Nuvo support spot vs. contract freight strategies?
Market swings make it risky to rely on only one pricing model. Nuvo helps shippers balance spot and contract freight rates with data-driven benchmarking and flexible procurement strategies.
