In the brokerage world, everyone is looking for more volume, more freight and more money. Unfortunately, it isn’t going to magically appear on your board — you have to know how to find it. Using SONAR, brokers can see which markets in the country have had an increase in volumes year over year, in addition to tracking rejection changes in certain markets and identifying rate changes on specific lanes.
SONAR tender data and TRAC (Trusted Rate Assessment Consortium) spot rates can really set you apart from the competition when talking to your customers. The core SONAR tender indices — Outbound Tender Volume Index, Outbound Tender Reject Index, Outbound Tender Market Share and Headhaul Index — are four primary data sets you can use on a daily basis to make better decisions. All of these indices contain data as far back as 2018, enabling you to see daily changes as well as historical yearly patterns and trends.
The Outbound Tender Market Share (OTMS) data set can be used to see which markets in the country are having an increase or a decrease in market share. On the tree map watchlist below, you can see this index with a yearly change filter selected, making it easy to identify which markets have had a positive increase (the green boxes) and which markets have had a decrease (the red boxes). Markets with a positive change in their market share have gained more market share in the past year by increasing outbound volumes from that market. These markets highlight an opportunity to solicit more freight from customers, increase load count, and improve margins and revenue.
After looking at OTMS, the next best step is to look at the Outbound Tender Reject Index (OTRI) for specific markets. The OTRI data set shows the percentage of freight that is being rejected outbound from a given market. Compared on the chart below are the rejection rates for the Phoenix, San Francisco, Lakeland and Detroit markets over the course of one year. All of these markets saw a great deal of volatility during this period. When the rejection percentage for a market increases, you will see more freight on the spot market, and shippers are more likely to pay more, leading to increased margins. When the rejection percentage decreases, you will see less freight on the spot board, less rate volatility and more stability around your negotiations.
Being able to track the rejection rate on a daily basis gives you the opportunity to take advantage of markets you may not have previously considered.
The TRAC spot rates in Market Dashboard are another great resource at your disposal to see the trend of actual rates paid to carriers from brokers as of the day prior. The TRAC spot rates are calculated from a number of broker customers who share their rates with us daily and are inclusive of fuel costs.
Market Dashboard users can see the change in TRAC spot rates over the past 7 days, 28 days and an even longer history within the chart view. This helps users stay ahead of these ever-changing rates in the spot market so they can make more proactive decisions.
Are you looking to learn more about SONAR and how you can leverage this data in your company? Click here to schedule a demo and to start your journey to transparency!
