As a flying company with sufficient units that employ an internal transmission team, understanding how to measure its performance is very important. If your sender focuses only on choosing loads and connecting drivers, you have a great blind point in your process. Because in today’s market, Dispatch is not only related to movement – it is related to analogy. If your sender does not understand the appropriate main performance indicators, you fly blind while the wheels rotate.
Many small transport companies overlook this. They rent messengers to keep the trucks moving, but never train them to measure what already matters. For this reason you can run 2000 miles a week and still lose money. Or you think you are doing a great job – so that this breakdown or subsequent delivery costs you a contract.
Whether you are sending yourself or running a small team, this article breaks the main performance indicators must know each cold. Not only because it is a good job, but because if you want to expand, you have to manage the numbers – not by feeling.
Let’s divide it.
This is the basis. revenue for each mile is the primary performance indicator of transmission – and the most abuse is used.
Most messengers will tell you that they get “$ 2.50 mile”, but they are looking for a total rate – not net. They often include empty miles without realizing it.
Reform:
Follow the revenue loaded for every loaded mile, not the total miles. Then follow the total revenue for all miles. Why? Because both of them tell a different story.
If your loaded RPM is $ 2.50, but a course in your minute is $ 1.85, you have a DEADHEAD problem. This is the problem of sending.
RPM target (all miles):
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Dry truck: $ 2.00+
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Reefer: $ 2.30+
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Flat: 2.50 dollars+
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Hotshot: $ 2.00 – $ 2.20
If your sender does not see Deadhead like a falcon, then you burn diesel and margin loss.
Every empty mile is a silent killer. You wear the equipment, pay the price of fuel, and lose hours – without getting ten cents.
KPI:
Deadhead % = (empty miles ÷ total miles) x 100
Ideal goal: less than 12 %
If you are above 15 %, it’s time to have a serious conversation about guidance and planning.
An example of the real world:
We had a fleet running Texas to Atlanta. The sender continued to reserve returns from Safana – because he paid “better”. But Deadhead to Savanna eliminated profit. Once we tightened the issued strategy and the re -downloads are closer to Atlanta, the profit jumped by 14 %.
KPI #3- Performance on time
The trucks do not care about the distance you lead – they are concerned if you are on time.
However, many messengers do not follow access times constantly. Or worse than that, they rely on drivers to “register access” without confirming timetables.
KPI:
At the time specified % = (loads on time ÷ total loads) x 100
Objective: 98 % or better
And yes, 95 % is not good enough if you want to charge directly.
Professional advice:
Usually construction of ETA Documentation for the actual time in each load. If the driver includes the traffic, records late, or stops a non -tangible fracture – turn it on. Over time, you will discover patterns that help fix service problems before you cost you a customer.
You live in your time killing your hours, blocking your day, and destroying the driver’s morale. If your sender does not track the time when trucks are released in each charger or future, they leave time – and money – on the table.
KPI:
Time inhabits the time in the facility (from check -in)
Why do it matter:
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You can start negotiating the detention with the evidence.
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You can identify customer problems.
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You can train drivers on check -in/departure habits.
goal: Less than two hours
Long than that? Start documenting, charging and redirecting away from bad performance facilities.
Now here, the transmission and accountability collide with. Your sender may not pay bills – but they almost affect each cost decision with the loads they choose.
Fuel, fees, time, path, inactivity – all of this is affected by sending.
Your role:
Even if the sender is not doing mathematics, he must know the goal. For example:
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If the CPM tie in your fleet is $ 1.70, then get a $ 2.00/mile with 150 dead dead is a bad step.
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If the pregnancy contains NYC discharge and drivers, then a “rate” better reflects – it is a loss.
Professional advice:
Include your Minting in the monthly cost reviews. Let them see the numbers they affect. This turns them into business thinkers – not just downloading the planners.
This tells you how much the driver’s hours are used to generate revenue. The messengers should understand that time is your first assets – and the time is not expensive.
KPI:
Use of a % loaded = (loaded hours ÷ available hours) x 100
If the truck has 60 hours of driving, but only 30 are spent on downloading and transporting shipping, you have a problem with use.
Objective: 80 % or higher
repairs:
This scale tracks how quickly the driver turns from delivery to the next capture. It is very important in power only, River, and urgent charging.
KPI:
In turn time = time between delivery and the following receipt
Goal: less than 12 hours for OTR
The more tightly this number, the better your sending. Long delay? This is a weak prediction or a bad download strategy.
The gold standard. This is the results board that concludes everything your book does.
If the sender kills all other major performance indicators, he must appear here.
The targeted revenues (the trailer type):
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Dry truck: $ 5500 – $ 6500 a week
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Reefer: 6000 – 7000 dollars a week
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Flat: $ 6500 – $ 8,000 a week
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Hotshot: $ 4000 – $ 5500 a week
If you are constantly under these domains, reconsider the planning numbers for pregnancy, dead and use. This is where the leakage begins.
It is not a traditional KPI index, but one I do each sender’s path.
KPI:
% Of weekly shipping booked loading boards
Objective: less than 40 %
If your sender pulls 80-90 % of charging from the plate every week, this is not a sender – it’s a gambler. Download panels should be backup, not your organization.
Encourage your team to build relationships with brokers, target targets allocated corridors, and support direct awareness of the charger.
Your sender is the nerve center for your operations. But if they do not watch the numbers, they fly the plane without tools.
Main performance indicators are not just leaves – it’s your work pulse. Train your transmission team to live with it. Review it weekly. And tie for their performance. Because when your sender knows the numbers, they stop responding – and start leading the results.
KPI’s collapse that every back sender should know first on shipping waves.