Five places trucking networks lose margin

Carriers and 3PLs often report healthy average margins while specific customers, lanes and services destroy value. Averages are the problem. The leaks only appear when cost-to-serve is measured at the level where decisions are made.

1. Deadhead and empty repositioning

Empty kilometres concentrate on a few corridors. Measure deadhead by corridor, not as a network average, and set targets where the imbalance is structural.

2. Unbilled accessorials

Detention, layover and surcharges are often earned but not billed because the trigger depends on paperwork. Event data from telematics and TMS can make billing systematic.

3. Below-cost lanes and customers

Contracts priced years ago can sit below today's cost-to-serve. A lane-level margin view usually shows a small group of customers absorbing a large share of margin.

4. Quote-to-price leakage

The price quoted is not always the price invoiced. Discounts, manual overrides and missing fuel adjustments add up quietly.

5. Asset idle time

Tractors, trailers and terminal capacity waiting for loads are a cost even when nobody sees them on an invoice.

The decision for you

Pick one corridor and one large customer. Rebuild their true margin with eight weeks of load and billing data. If the gap to your average is material, the rest of the network deserves the same look — that is exactly what a Margin & Operational Leakage Scan does.