Flash Scan · 1 day · Business Performance & Value Scan
Carrier Co. (fictional)
Asset-based truckload carrier · 1,200 tractors · US–Mexico
The question: Where is margin being created, lost or left unbilled?
Executive summary
An estimated $6.9M of recoverable EBITDA sits in four corridors and in the billing process — most of it reachable within 12 months without new technology.
- Situation
- Volume grew 14% in two years; EBITDA margin fell from 9.2% to 7.1%.
- Finding
- 62% of deadhead cost sits on four corridors; detention goes unbilled on 31% of delayed loads.
- Value at stake
- $14.8M EBITDA leakage identified; $6.9M recoverable in 12 months after risk adjustment.
- Recommendation
- Go: 15-day Focused Scan on the four corridors and the billing process, then pilot the backhaul change on one corridor.
Leakage severity
68
/100 · high
EBITDA leakage
$14.8M
3.9% of revenue
Recoverable value
$6.9M
12 months, risked
Deadhead
21.4%
of total kilometres
Diagnostic: where the company stands
Maturity against top-quartile practice, and the indicators that matter most
| Indicator | Today | Reference | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating ratio | 92.9% | Top quartile ≤ 88% | Act now |
| Deadhead | 21.4% of km | Top quartile ≤ 13% | Act now |
| Accessorial capture | 69% of eligible | Top quartile ≥ 95% | Act now |
| Tractor utilisation | 1,810 km / week | Top quartile ≥ 2,100 | Watch |
| On-time delivery | 93.8% | Top quartile ≥ 96% | Watch |
| Driver turnover | 54% / year | Peer median 72% | On track |
Where the value sits
EBITDA bridge, $M (12 months, risk-adjusted)
Value at stake by segment and lever, $M
| Pricing | Deadhead | Accessorials | Idle time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 0.9 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.3 |
| Industrial | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Automotive | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Food & beverage | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
Risks to the value
Likelihood × impact, scored 1–5
- 1Customer pushback on repricing3×4
- 2Backhaul capacity in two corridors3×3
- 3Billing data quality4×2
- 4Dispatcher adoption2×3
- 5Fuel price swing3×2
Prioritised roadmap
Sequenced by value, risk and time-to-value; colour shows the capability
- Bill detention and accessorials systematicallyCFOValue Discovery$2.1M
- Reprice the bottom 10% of lanesCommercial directorValue Design$1.6M
- Backhaul pilot on one corridorCOOValue Design$0.9M
- Roll out backhaul to four corridorsCOOValue Capture$2.5M
- Track realised margin in the Decision OfficeCFOValue Capture—
Top-quartile practice vs today
What the best operators do differently
Price every lane on true cost-to-serve
Margin is measured by customer and lane every month, not only on averages.
TodayLane margin is reviewed once a year.
Bill every accessorial automatically
Detention and surcharges are triggered by event data, not by driver paperwork.
TodayManual and incomplete.
Plan backhaul with the network, not the load
Corridors are balanced on purpose; deadhead targets exist per corridor.
TodayNo corridor targets.
Govern value after go-live
Every initiative has a baseline, an owner and a monthly realised-value review.
TodayNot in place.
Recommendation and next step
Go: 15-day Focused Scan on the four corridors and the billing process, then pilot the backhaul change on one corridor.
AI finding → validated by TLSC expert → executive decision