Even with a rumored increase in freight, the industry has a long way to go before demand catches up with capacity, and maybe even longer before rates start reaching a reasonable level again. Under these circumstances – when you need all the freight you can get – does it really matter how profitable the freight is?

Some of our clients are chasing that very issue right now, and they're discovering something very interesting – that many of the shippers that may not be very profitable right now, have a share of lanes that actually are profitable – and are, at the very least, worth protecting. That means that even if the shipper is showing a less than desirable level of profitability, it's possible to try to get more of the good stuff, resulting in improved profitability, even when it may seem impossible to get a rate increase.

I'll admit that with the freight availability levels we're seeing today, chasing freight has nearly become a sanctioned Olympic event. Certainly, very few carriers aren't out there trying to find anything they can to keep the wheels rolling and meet payroll and fuel costs. Everyone knows how necessary and how dangerous this can be, but when these decisions are made strategically, it's even more critical to keep track of your profitable business and make sure you protect it.

I don't mean to suggest that this is simple to do – without the proper tools it can actually be quite difficult. It's not a simple matter of rate, miles, utilization, or deadhead. It's ALL those things and many more that determine the actual profitability of a load. And, included in that list is how the load is moved by operations and the driver. Using sophisticated software allows you to understand your network, make better decisions, and manage overall profitability better.

So, what's the bottom line? You need to know which freight you have that's worth protecting, make a plan to protect it, and start making plans for how to improve the marginal and less desirable freight as well. But, it starts by knowing what loads you're doing profitably, what loads you're doing poorly, and what loads may never get much better than they are right now.