The Freight Brokerage

How these numbers were built: agent and freight-agent wages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, SOC 43-5011, Cargo and Freight Agents); establishment counts and industry size come from the U.S. Census Bureau (County Business Patterns and SUSB for NAICS 488510, Freight Transportation Arrangement); brokered-share and industry outlook come from the Transportation Intermediaries Association; cost and profit shares of net revenue come from DAT’s broker benchmark; startup and insurance costs come from ZenBusiness and Insureon; financing terms and the size standard come from the SBA; and firm survival comes from the Census Business Dynamics Statistics. Every source below links to the underlying public material so you can check any figure yourself. Critically, revenue here is modeled as the margin captured between shipper pay and carrier pay, never the gross freight value. These are starting assumptions; the moment you enter a real brokerage’s loads, margin per load, agent split, and overhead, your numbers should replace ours. Figures are current as of 2025-2026 and refreshed as the sources update.

Every ratio here is on the model’s revenue basis, the margin kept between shipper pay and carrier pay (net revenue), never gross billings. DAT’s broker benchmark of more than 100 brokerages put labor (agents and staff) at 51% to 64% of net revenue, other operating costs at 16% to 20%, and operating profit at about 16% to 30% in early 2018; the owner cash flow band adds back the owner’s own pay. Startup costs come from a freight brokerage startup guide (ZenBusiness) and insurer data (Insureon). No primary source publishes an SDE study for small brokerages, so confidence is estimated.