Choosing the right freight broker can make or break your shipping performance. The ideal provider brings transparency, dependability, and the resources needed to keep your freight moving safely and on schedule.
So, how do you choose a freight broker? By knowing what your needs and non-negotiables are, vetting thoroughly, and making your final decision on more than just price.
It sounds simple, but once you're comparing broker to broker, it's easy to get overwhelmed.
ATS Logistics, a freight brokerage and sister company of Anderson Trucking Service (ATS), knows the brokerage business inside and out. We're here to help shippers move their freight quickly and cost-effectively — and to share our expert knowledge to help you pick the right providers for your transportation network.
In this blog, we'll provide our top tips for assessing a brokerage's fit. You'll come away with real strategies for vetting new brokers for your network effectively.
Key Takeaways for Shippers
- Before starting your search, assess your business's priorities and needs.
- Don't just take a broker's word for it — verify licensing, insurance, and compliance credentials.
- Consider the size and quality of the carrier network.
- Evaluate communication style, responsiveness, and transparency.
- Ask about technology and visibility tools that support tracking and reporting.
- Build a relationship based on trust and shared business goals.
1. Assess Your Business's Needs
In your search for your best-fit freight broker, your first step should actually be a step back. Strong shipper-broker relationships start witheEvaluating your own shipping operation to understand your business's needs, preferences, and long-term goals .
Every company moves freight differently. Some need consistent, high-volume capacity; others depend on flexibility for seasonal surges or one-off shipments. Take time to document details like:
- Typical shipment sizes and frequency
- Common lanes, regions, or customer delivery points
- Equipment requirements (Dry van, flatbed, reefer, etc.)
- Service expectations (Speed, visibility, or specialized handling)
- Budget parameters
By outlining the specifics of your supply chain's needs, you'll have clarity into what a "good fit" truly means for your business.
Without this step, even the best freight broker may fall short of your expectations — not because they’re unqualified, but because your goals weren’t clearly defined.
Knowing what you need allows you to evaluate brokers objectively, ask smarter questions, and choose a partner that aligns with your priorities rather than just offering the lowest rate.
A broker who understands your shipping profile can offer strategic insights, anticipate challenges, and design capacity solutions that grow alongside your business.
2. Verify Longevity & Compliance
Experience is one of the most valuable and competitive qualities any freight broker can have. Look for brokerages that have longevity in the industry — preferably on the order of decades, like ATS Logistics' 30 years in the business.
Freight brokerages that have stood the test of time have proven they have the operational strength and financial stoutness to withstand unpredictable markets, downturns, and changes to technology.
It also speaks to their reliability and, in some ways, trustworthiness. In the digital era, it's easier than ever for anyone with an email address and phone number to set themselves up as a broker. If you opt for a brokerage that has been operating since 1989 over one that opened in 2019, you're less likely to find yourself working with an under-resourced, under-experienced broker.
Speaking of trustworthiness: a trustworthy freight broker is a freight broker that meets federal compliance standards. For any broker you're considering for your network, start by confirming that they’re licensed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and maintain an active surety bond.
These credentials protect shippers from financial risk and ensure that your broker operates legally and ethically.
Compliance is mandatory. The best freight brokers go beyond minimum requirements, maintaining carrier vetting programs and continuous safety monitoring to protect your freight and your brand.
3. Assess Network Size & Quality
A freight broker’s carrier network directly impacts delivery performance and pricing flexibility. The best freight brokers maintain strong, diverse carrier relationships across modes and regions, giving them the capacity to adapt quickly to market changes.
When evaluating freight brokers, ask:
- How many carriers are in your network?
- How would you describe the mix of carrier types in your network?
- Do you have many carriers in your network that specialize in my business's freight type, industry, and equipment types?
- How do you vet carriers before adding them to your network?
- Are there standards of safety, performance, or reliability carriers in your network must meet or exceed?
- How often do you re-assess their carriers? What criteria do you use?
- Walk me through the process of matching my freight to a truck. What kind of processes do you follow internally to find the most qualified carrier for my freight?
These questions will help you understand the broker's network makeup, quality, and approach to coverage.
4. Evaluate Communication & Transparency
Clear communication separates a good broker from a great one. You should never wonder where your freight is or who’s handling it. A professional freight broker provides proactive updates, explains rate structures, and resolves issues before they become problems.
Your initial contact with a broker early on in your vetting process will be a good glimpse into how that brokerage handles communication. If they're hard to get ahold of or evasive in their responses, those aren't great signs.
Don't be afraid to ask plenty questions — or for proof. Good freight brokers will gladly to share their performance metrics, on-time delivery rates, and customer testimonials.
You can even ask to be connected with an existing client similar to your business, so you can talk with them about how the broker handles disruptions or communicates during high-pressure situations.
Pay special attention to how the client says the broker plans for contingencies; proactive risk management can be a significant benefit to working with a broker, but only if the broker is actually practicing it!
The insights you glean from these conversations will help you determine if the broker in question can provide the communication and information you deserve, with consistent follow-through, accountability, and adaptability.
5. Vet Their Tech
In the digital age, the freight market moves at lightning speeds, and your transportation network is only as fast as your least tech-savvy provider.
At minimum, a broker should use a modern transportation management system (TMS). These systems help brokers track shipments in real time, optimize routes, and prevent costly delays.
As you reflect your business's needs and wants from a freight brokerage, spend some time considering your technological preferences:
- Is real-time freight tracking important to you?
- What about self-service tools? Do you want to be able to manage your shipments directly in a digital customer portal, or do you prefer a more hands-off approach?
- Do you require EDI capabilities?
Once you know what tech is important to you in a freight broker, you can prioritize those providers that offer them.
Ultimately, your best-fit brokerage will have a proven investment in combining deep industry expertise with cutting-edge technology to match each shipment with the right carrier at the right time.
6. Look for Long-Term Potential
In the dating world, they call it an LTR — a long-term relationship. In the world of vetting freight brokers, an LTR is exactly what you should be looking for.
Your best-fit broker will focus on the long-term with your company, not just short-term transactions.
They'll take the initiative to build a strong, sustainable relationship and an easy rapport with you over time. They'll use this long-term relationship to develop a deep understanding of your business's cycles, operations, seasonality, goals, and freight.
With this dyed-in-the-wool knowledge of your needs and goals, your broker can better tailor their service to your business as it grows and become a natural extension of your logistics team.
Look for a freight broker that has processes, practices, and goals that align with your own. When combined with a robust network of trusted carriers and a proactive, modern approach to technology usage, that's a recipe for a perfect match.
Start Your Search with Confidence
A brokerage you can truly rely on is a valuable resource in the transportation industry. Finding them doesn't have to be complicated or stressful. If you:
- Begin the process with a clear understanding your business's needs and preferences
- Engage in thorough, multi-point vetting
- Look at your options through the lens of a long-term shipper-broker relationship
. . . by the end of your vetting, you'll likely find that the choice is obvious.
When making any major decision for your business, it's helpful to have a rubric by which to evaluate your options. That's why we created our free, downloadable Freight Brokerage Selection Checklist.
It's an easy-to-follow tool to help you confidently identify brokerages that can deliver the value, reliability, and peace of mind you deserve.
