Understanding the Freight Shipping Landscape
The freight brokerage landscape is more crowded, and more digital, than ever. With 30,000+ licensed brokers and digital-first entrants like Uber Freight, standing out requires more than quoting low. Shippers now have more choices and are increasingly drawn to digital load boards and tech-savvy freight brokers that offer freight technology like system integration, real-time tracking, and data-driven insights.
Tools like TMS and CRM, once considered differentiators, are now baseline expectations for delivering the value, transparency, and performance today’s shippers demand. In this evolving freight landscape, success depends on positioning yourself as a true logistics partner, one who delivers reliability, actionable data, and real-time visibility.
How to Find Freight Shippers
In today’s market, carriers are frequently treated as interchangeable commodities. Shippers post loads, and they are quickly snapped up by brokers and carriers alike. Breaking that cycle and building long-term recurring relationships with shippers starts with making the right connections, and finding not just a shipper but an opportunity for a relationship.
A strong brokerage strategy is key to connecting with shippers and building relationships. To aid in your client search, here are some of the leading strategies successful freight brokers use to find shippers:
1. Leverage Online Freight Marketplaces
Freight marketplaces remain one of the best channels to find shippers. Here, you work in a once-off capacity, get your foot in the door, and then leverage that into an ongoing relationship.
- Load Boards – Shippers directly place load requests, which are picked up by carriers. Many try to circumvent freight brokers altogether by delivering scheduling and tracking as part of the service. Still, they are valuable resources for making connections. Some of the top load boards include:
- TruckSmarter
- TQL Carrier Dashboard
- 123 Loadboard
- Truckstop
- Brokered Loads
- DOFT
- CoyoteGo
- DAT One
- Trucker Path Truckloads
- Direct Freight Services
Many modern load boards are also freight-matching tools. However, you can explore additional options such as Convoy, Loadsmart, Vooma, and Cargofy. With freight matching, you’re automatically paired with shippers based on cargo, destination, and needs. Load boards and freight-matching tools act as real-time directories of shippers needing cargo moved. You can connect with them via the board or cold call them.
Takeaway: Initiate conversations with potential shippers to build lasting relationships. Look at brokering your first connection as a means of building a relationship. Bring your A-game and showcase the data, insights, and reliability that shippers can expect if they switch to a formal relationship with your brokerage.
2. Tap Into Industry Directories and Databases
Industry lists are registries of companies. Any industry list of companies that ship goods is a list of potential customers. You can buy shipper lists from agencies that compile thousands of companies into dedicated directories. Or, you can choose a target industry and location and set up a more tailored outreach approach. Some great examples include business lists of agriculture companies in your shipping zone, industry, importers, manufacturers, etc.
From there, consult government databases and business listings for businesses that meet those specifications. For example:
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Directories and Business Listings
- American Manufacturing Made in America Directory
Takeaway: Choose an industry and specialize. Figure out what you’re offering, build a pitch, and start cold calling. Don’t cast your net too wide, and instead, look for industries your carriers can serve. Consider location, and shipping needs (for example, speed, refrigeration or cooling required, certifications needed, type of transport), and find shippers with needs to match.
3. Harness the Power of Social Media
Social media is one of the best ways to find shippers. Given that LinkedIn hosts over 67 million companies and organizations, many of them have logistics needs requiring the shipment of goods from one location to another. Social media channels help you with:
- Directly connecting you with an audience
- Building brand visibility
- Starting conversations that showcase your expertise
Choose social media channels based on your industry niche and visibility goals. However, LinkedIn is the best option for most businesses.
Takeaway: Go where the shippers are. Pick an industry niche and join groups. Choose hashtags to follow and join conversations. Build authority by sharing industry insights, case studies, and thought leadership for your niche. Ensure that the content is relevant to your shippers. For instance, if you’re targeting agriculture shippers, they won’t want to read content about the logistics freight industry in general.
4. Network at Industry Events
Face-to-face networking can help you find shippers and build relationships. Trade shows and industry groups are prime venues to meet potential shippers face-to-face. What’s the catch? You’ll have to position your brokerage as relevant to those industry events:
- Pick a niche and align your carrier network, whether that’s reefers, mixed transport, or imports from China. You need a solid sales pitch for that industry, and you need to be consistent with every potential client.
Takeaway: Start conversations and be genuine. This is about building relationships, not making immediate sales. You’re not cold calling; you’re building warm leads.
5. Implement Direct Outreach Strategies
Your carriers are ready, you have a solid sales pitch, and you’re certain you can offer value to the next potential client – now it’s time to start direct outreach!
- Cold Calling – Despite its reputation, cold calling is still one of the most effective ways to reach new shippers. Rejection is part of the game, but persistence, professionalism, and authenticity go a long way. Have a clear sales pitch ready, focusing on unique selling points beyond just price. Highlight the value you bring through services like real-time tracking, fast carrier sourcing, and operational insights. Where can you help them save money, streamline shipping, or increase reliability? That’s your hook.
- Consultations – A free consultation is a low-friction way to start conversations with potential shippers. Use the opportunity to provide something valuable upfront – a shipping audit, cost-efficiency analysis, or a performance review. Come prepared with insights into how you can improve their operations. If you demonstrate real value and a deep understanding of their logistics needs, you’re far more likely to start building trust and eventually close the deal.
Takeaway: Talk to people. Don’t expect sales, but work to build relationships. A tiny fraction of outreach will convert, and that’s your customer base.
6. Use Referral Programs
Your current customers trust you, making them ideal advocates for referrals. Leverage those existing relationships to draw in more clients. Some ways to leverage customer referrals to find new shippers are:
- Build referral programs to offer discounts and incentives to existing customers
- Leverage social media to boost your reach by tagging your shippers in stories
- Use case studies with shippers to build reach and trust with your audience
If your clients tell their networks to work with you, those relationships start out with more trust.
Takeaway: Make it worth your current customers’ time to recommend you to their friends and business contacts.
7. Analyze Competitor Activities
Other logistics companies can be a great source of potential customers.
- Where are competitors selling? Who are their shippers? Keep up with their website, social media, and recent news, and you can learn more than you think. Study competitor shipper lists and target companies with unmet logistics needs.
- Monitor market trends. If market shifts reduce capacity for another carrier or create new opportunities, you want to know about it. Freight market intelligence tools monitor this kind of data automatically, so you stay in the know.
Takeaway: Look for emerging opportunities and unmet needs. Use tools to automatically monitor market trends wherever possible to save time.
8. Reconnect With Past Clients
Your former customers may also be an untapped resource. If you’ve brokered one-off shipments, that shipper might be a prospect. Tailor your pitch, reach out, and let that client know what you can offer them as their broker.
Takeaway: Extensively review past interactions with former customers and personalize follow-ups to build real relationships.
9. Explore Niche Markets
Everyone knows agriculture is one of the biggest logistics markets, but what about the smallest? Most brokers overlook small businesses and niche industries, leaving a valuable gap. Still, tailoring your offering to niche markets means narrowing the competition.
- Look for small businesses that need regular shipments, even if it’s not an FTL every time.
- Build custom offerings to meet niche industries. Think carriers with custom capacity, certifications, or load-carrying licenses.
Takeaway: A smaller niche market reduces competition and may allow your freight brokerage to stand out.
10. Partner With Third-Party Logistics Providers
Third-party logistics providers, or 3PLs, bring inventory and warehousing to hundreds of thousands of businesses across the United States. More importantly, they warehouse and store goods even for small businesses, while brokering the movement of goods from distribution centers, manufacturers, ports, and warehouses. They’re massive opportunities for freight brokers. Building a partnership with a 3PL will reduce the margin. However, you share resources and reduce the cost of acquisition for every shipper you work with.
Takeaway: Use 3PL to ensure a high volume of steady work across fixed routes so carriers stay busy.
11. Leverage Technology and Automation
The logistics industry is increasingly leaning towards automation. Automation helps in the following ways at every stage of shipper acquisition:
- Customer relationship management systems
- Automated marketing and outreach efforts
- Delivering unique selling points like data analytics, real-time tracking, etc.
For example, if you’re using an AI-powered tool to optimize routes and reduce costs and your competitor isn’t, you automatically have the upper hand. If you’re using advanced CRM to manage client relationships, you can spot opportunities sooner and solidify those relationships.
Takeaway: Build a tool stack to leverage automation for customer relationships, trend monitoring, quotations, and data analytics across carrier activities.
Challenges in Finding Reliable Shippers
Today’s freight shippers have more choices and opportunities than ever. Digital freight services like Uber Freight allow shippers to simply select a carrier like getting an Uber. Many shippers also work with anywhere from 3-8 freight brokers, so loads are transactional rather than recurring and relationship-based.
| Challenge | Status Quo | Problems | Key Actions | Wisor Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fragmented Market | 30,000+ brokers, 700,000+ carriers create overwhelming choice for shippers | Shippers pick cheapest carriers via job boards; little brand loyalty | Provide insights and data to nurture long-term shipper trust | Smart matching and quoting to help stand out in a crowded, commoditized market |
| Transparency Issues | Loads are split across 3-8 brokers or carriers, creating data silos | Limited visibility and high reliance on expensive tracking tools | Offer real-time tracking and service-level transparency | One dashboard for real-time tracking, quotes, performance, and historical data |
| Capacity Constraints | Most carriers have less than10 trucks; hard to fulfill larger shipper needs reliably | Creates “first-come, first-serve” chaos on load boards | Build lasting carrier relationships and guarantee capacity where possible | AI-based capacity matching and rate intelligence for stronger carrier-shipment fit |
| Wisor’s Edge | Unified quoting, smart CRM, and real-time visibility for better shipper acquisition | |||
What Freight Brokers and Forwarders Need from Shippers
Building relationships with shippers is a two-way street. Shippers need to offer consistent volume and clear communication. You’ll also have to connect your TMS and CRM to their FMS or other technology platforms – validate that’s an option before signing the contract.
- Consistent Work Volumes – One-off or intermittent loads are fine but won’t allow you to deliver real value to the shipper over a load board. Look for consistent shipping volumes so you can optimize, reduce costs, and improve route planning and margin over time.
- Communication – Automating document transfer is one of the basics of freight forwarding. Still, your client needs to have documentation ready and in their system on time, every time. You need consistent communication to deliver good service.
- Tech Compatibility – Make sure you can connect to your shippers’ freight or transport management systems so you can pull their data, shipping needs, and documentation.
How Wisor Can Help Find Freight Shippers
Wisor offers an intelligent, efficient way for freight forwarders to find, engage, and retain shippers, going beyond the limitations of traditional TMS platforms. Unlike other tools that only digitize operations, Wisor leverages automation, AI, and CRM-powered workflows to give you a strategic edge. It’s designed to drive better decisions, improve margins, and operational efficiency by combining quoting, rate management, tracking, and customer relationship management into one streamlined platform.
Here’s how Wisor’s all-in-one freight operating system gives you a distinct competitive edge:
- Nina, Your AI Quoting Assistant: Wisor’s proprietary Nina Bot automates quoting with real-time pricing, drastically reducing response times and boosting win rates.
- Built-In CRM: Manage shipper relationships with a system designed specifically for freight forwarders – track interactions, follow-ups, and deals in one place.
- Advanced Matching Algorithms: Wisor automatically connects your available capacity to the most relevant opportunities using real-time data and historical trends.
- Real-Time Shipment Visibility: Empower shippers with live tracking, exception alerts, and ETA predictions. No more relying on third-party apps.
- AI-Powered Insights: Spot missed revenue, optimize routes, and identify capacity trends before your competitors do.
“Since onboarding Wisor, we’ve cut our quoting time by 70% and doubled our monthly conversions. It’s become our single source of truth.” — Isline Logistics, Wisor Customer
Conclusion
Freight brokers and forwarders deliver value to shippers by leveraging carrier networks to offer fast, cost-effective, and hassle-free shipping. At the same time, freight brokers can now offer supply chain value through technology with algorithms, real-time tracking, and data insights to improve operational efficiency. This is increasingly important as digital-native newcomers offer analytics and tracking as a default.
Today’s shippers expect and need analytics as part of a brokerage service. Once in that system, freight brokers can use automated load matching, AI algorithms for route and cost optimization, and process automation to deliver more value.
Want to see how Wisor helps you quote faster and close more deals? Try it free for 14 days or book a 15-minute strategy call.
