Watch Tower · Applied Intelligence for your Business · Freight brokers

Goals and KPIs for freight brokers, with the assumptions written down

The goal: Cover more loads with fewer fall-offs, keep carrier files in order and know which customers and lanes actually make money.

We agree three to five goals with you, each with one KPI. Every KPI is written out: what it measures, the record it comes from, the period, where it stands today and the assumptions behind the number, plus the guardrails that mustn't get worse while you work on the goal.

Open the free demo A fictional company in your industry, opened in the Console. No card needed.

What you see

Home in the Watch Tower Console

An illustration of the Watch Tower Console's Home with sample data: the goal, three KPI cards with their trend and this week's review. — Your goal, the KPIs that show it and this week's review, on the first screen you open. An illustration with sample data. The demo opens a sample in your industry.

For owners and operations leads at freight brokerages

What it looks like for freight brokers

The KPIs, cards and questions below are examples of what we set up with you. The names and units are made up.

KPIs, with the assumption behind each

Gross margin per loadCustomer rate minus carrier pay, averaged per load, per week.Assumption: Accessorials counted on both sides when billed; quick-pay fees left out.

Fall-off rateLoads a carrier dropped after confirming, as a share of covered loads.Assumption: A fall-off is logged when the load is re-covered by another carrier.

Carrier files completeActive carriers with a current insurance certificate and authority check on file.Assumption: Active means a load covered in the last 90 days.

Cards on the work tracker

Chase the expired insurance certificate before the next tenderCarrier rep · due Today · Carrier: Ridgeback Haulers
Re-price the Atlanta–Charlotte lane after two fall-offsAccount manager · due Thu · Customer: Peachtree Supply
Close the open damage claim from load 88213Claims lead · due Fri · Load 88213

Records you already keep

Load board and TMS exports
Carrier packets, insurance certificates and authority checks
Customer rate confirmations
Claims and fall-off logs

Assets in the register

Customer accounts and their lanes
Approved carriers
Offices and the people who cover each desk

Questions your team can ask Bifrost

Which lanes had the lowest margin per load last month?
Which carriers fell off more than once this quarter?
Which active carriers have insurance expiring in the next 30 days?

Bifrost answers from the records in your own workspace and shows how each number was worked out.

How it runs

Goals and KPIs, step by step

Start from one goal or decision that matters this quarter.
Pick one KPI for it, from records you already keep.
Write down the definition, the period and every assumption behind the number, so anyone can check it.
Set the guardrails, then review the numbers with us every week.

The barriers this crosses

Intent: Why do I need AI at all? We start from the person's own goal, decision or task and show what changes for that goal, in their words.
Use: What exactly would I use it for? We name the specific uses by role and by industry: the decision, the calculation, the plan, the brief.

Rules and facts for freight brokers

What the records have to show

A broker of property must keep a surety bond or trust fund of $75,000 on file with FMCSA (forms BMC-84 or BMC-85).Source: 49 CFR 387.307, Property broker surety bond or trust fund
Brokers must keep a record of each transaction for three years, and each party to the shipment may review that record.Source: 49 CFR 371.3, Records to be kept by brokers

A summary for planning work, not legal advice. Check the source for the full rule and any state requirements.

Start

See it on a sample company first

Founding 10

$2,000 for setup and the first 3 months of Watch Tower, then $250/month. Ten places. We set up your team, goals and KPIs, asset register, map and work tracker with you, then review it with you every week.

Hardware implementation is quoted separately. Start with the demo; you can order from inside it.Open the free demo

Questions

Common questions

Our team lives in the load board. Why add a Console?

The load board covers loads. The Console holds the goals behind them (margin, fall-offs, carrier compliance), the actions each desk owns and a weekly review, built from the same exports.

Why write the assumptions next to each number?

Because a KPI people can't check is a KPI people stop trusting. Each number in your Console shows the record it came from and the assumptions behind it, so a manager and a dispatcher or foreman read it the same way.

We don't have clean data. Can we still set KPIs?

Yes. We start from the records you have and write down what's missing as an assumption. As the records get better, the KPI gets better, and the review tracks that too.

What does Watch Tower cost for freight brokers?

Founding 10 covers setup and the first 3 months in one payment, then a monthly price; the numbers are on this page and on the pricing page inside the demo. Hardware implementation is quoted separately.

Goals and KPIs in other industries