A reverse RFP allows a carrier to define the freight it needs before approaching shippers, using network balance, lane density, margin, and driver domiciles to guide a targeted procurement and sales plan.
In roughly 500 RFPs reviewed during the two years preceding the article, rate increases were rare. Most shipper bids reduced carrier compensation. At the same time, falling volume and reluctance to reduce tractor counts created more low-density spider lanes and greater dependence on brokered freight.
When carriers recruited drivers in those spider markets, the temporary deviation often became a permanent addition to the prescribed network. The FreightMath premise remained: density builds efficiency, efficiency builds velocity, and velocity builds profitability.
The Reverse RFP Concept
Shippers have increased the frequency of rate discovery and are using machine learning and artificial intelligence to reduce freight spend in both weak and strong markets. The difference between spot and contract freight continues to blur.
Most carriers do not have a strategic freight-procurement plan. The lanes they win through shipper RFPs simply become the network. A reverse RFP turns that process around: the carrier first defines the freight that fits its costs, margins, core competencies, and driver domiciles, then asks shippers for those specific opportunities.
The plan does not need to be shared as a formal RFP. It is an internal framework for directing every business-development decision.
Reverse RFP Prerequisites
- Reasonable Microsoft Excel skills.
- Standardized geographic areas for lane pairs and balance analysis.
- An understanding of key variable costs per mile.
- A unique identifier distinguishing brokers from shippers.
Step 1: Evaluate the Network for Imbalances
Network balance means having comparable load volumes into and out of a defined area, with pickup and delivery timing that supports driver hours of service and velocity. Perfect balance does not exist, but the difference between relative balance and area chaos can be measured.
The first step is to select a period—KSMTA recommends 12 weeks—and extract every order delivered during that time. Required fields include:
- Order ID.
- Customer.
- Broker or shipper identifier.
- Origin and destination geography.
- Chronology for every stop.
The resulting freight ledger shows loads entering and leaving each area. It reveals oversold and undersold markets and highlights locations where broker freight or deadhead is being used to fill customer-freight gaps.
Step 2: Evaluate Network Connections
After assigning standardized origins and destinations, count loads by lane and by shipper or broker. Each unique lane should also show its percentage of total volume.
This identifies power lanes and spider lanes. Power lanes are typically a small number of dense routes—often single digits—that account for approximately 25% of freight volume. Spider lanes can include hundreds of unique routes while also accounting for roughly 25% of volume.
The distinction matters because dense power lanes tend to produce above-average profitability, while low-density spider lanes are commonly associated with below-average returns.
Step 3: Estimate Margins
The carrier needs an activity-based cost model that assigns cost to each load, dispatch, mile, and period of time under dispatch. Variable cost categories include:
- Driver compensation, benefits, and payroll taxes.
- Fuel.
- Maintenance.
- Insurance.
- Variable on-road expenses.
Apply those cost-per-mile values to every order and connect the empty movement associated with the load.
Calculate Revenue by Lane
Sum shipper and broker revenue for each lane. Compare the two because broker freight commonly produces a lower rate.
Apply Loaded and Empty Costs
Multiply the applicable variable and fixed costs per mile by all loaded and empty miles required to service the lane.
Calculate Margin
Subtract total lane cost from total lane revenue. The result identifies lanes that support the network and lanes weakened by low volume, imbalance, or heavy broker dependence. A single lane may contain both profitable and unprofitable shippers or brokers.
Step 4: Build a Target-Lane Plan
The analysis should lead to specific action.
Identify Key Market Areas
Find regions where the carrier is underutilized, oversold, undersold, or too dependent on broker freight.
Develop Target Lanes
Create a list of freight connections that would add density, replace broker loads, or connect strong parts of the network.
Refine the Offering
Define the service level and competitive price for those lanes. Recruiting and sales activity may also need to shift toward the target markets.
The reverse RFP is not simply a report on weak freight. It is a procurement plan that tells the sales organization which shipper-controlled lanes would improve network balance and profitability—and which existing connections the carrier should be prepared to leave behind.