Today’s Pickup: Brokers see revenue boom in January

Good day,

Carriers are not the only ones benefiting from the current freight environment, so are freight brokers. According to the DAT Broker Benchmarking report from DAT, brokers posted record volumes and revenues in January. The result was unusual operating profits for the time of year when softness typically eats into profits.

According to DAT, there was 41% increase in the number of loads moved in January compared to January 2017, and those loads generated 26% more revenue. Costs, though, were up, adding 70% to labor expense and 24% to non-labor expense, DAT said.

The data for the benchmarking report is created from DAT Keypoint.

The firm reported that operating profits were 7.4% in January and revenue per employee great to a record $77,481, besting October 2017’s $77,204. This even as brokers added 11% more employees since October. Load counts were up 7% in January and revenue per load reached $1,617 in January, another record.

Did you know?

According to the National Retail Federation, the nation’s biggest ports saw a 13.7% increase in container traffic in February on a year-over-year basis.

Quotable:

 “CBP will consider trade benefit incentives for e-commerce marketplaces and small package carriers, similar to the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT). CBP will explore all aspects of the e-commerce supply chain for partners in a known shipper program. To maximize participation and include the majority of the volume in the supply chain, CBP will focus on trading modes such as marketplaces and carriers.”

– U.S. Customs statement on how it will get companies to voluntary comply with new cross-border e-commerce rules

In other news:

California ports see record traffic in February

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach saw record traffic in February as container traffic grew across the board. (Wall Street Journal)

Customs lays out plan for cross-border e-commerce

U.S. Customs officials have developed a plan, including enhanced data collection, to help it deal with the growing cross-border e-commerce shipping segment. (American Shipper)

Blockchain can aid in the fight against fake medication

A blockchain-enabled supply chain can aid in the fight against fake medications, which are estimated to make up 30% of the pharmaceutical market and kill 1 million people per year. (The Loadstar)

Walmart to add home delivery of grocery items

Walmart has announced it will jump into the grocery home delivery arena in 100 cities by the end of the year. (Wall Street Journal)

U.S. Rep. Graves sees benefits to vehicle miles tax

Saying that a vehicle miles tax “seems to capture all users,” U.S. Rep. Sam Graves says it needs to be considered as a funding mechanism. (Transport Topics)

Final Thoughts

Just like their trucking counterparts, brokers saw a boost in revenue, loads and profit in January during a time that they usually don’t. The most interested aspect of the DAT Broker Benchmarking report, though, may be the news that brokers have expanded their payrolls by 11% since October to handle the influx of freight now and going forward.

Hammer down everyone!

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