Most freight brokerages say they can handle whatever the market throws at them. Nearly two-thirds report feeling resilient despite rate swings, volume drops, and cash crunches, according to new research from FreightWaves and OTR Solutions.
Digging deeper into the numbers, however, a different story emerges. About 68% of surveyed brokerages experienced financial stress over the past year. That gap between confidence and financial reality suggests there is a disconnect in how brokerages run their day-to-day operations.
While brokerages identify financial stability and strong relationships as the cornerstones of resilience, many have overlooked how back-office operations directly impact their ability to maintain both.
The scale of the manual burden
For brokerages with skeleton crews handling back-office operations, manual tasks represent a significant constraint on growth and efficiency. Time spent on routine data entry and invoice verification cannot be redirected toward relationship building, strategic planning, or revenue-generating activities. The opportunity cost compounds over time, creating a widening gap between brokerages that have modernized their operations and those still relying on legacy approaches.
When back office tasks are not automated, staff can spend hours every week focusing on checklist items that could be outsourced to technology, including tasks like invoice disputes and payment issues. This can drain resources and create an environment where teams are not able to optimize operations because they are too busy putting out fires.
“We see small back office teams doing heroic work week in and week out, and we wanted to shed a light on the real cost of that manual burden. When teams have to spend their time chasing PODs and reconciling invoices, they have less time for the true high value work that’s needed in this heightened age of fraud. Automation is not about replacing people. It is about giving them the ability to leverage their best human characteristics,” said Clayton Griffin, President of OTR Solutions.
The automation gap persists
The research also uncovered a striking gap between partial adoption and full implementation of automation. While 54% of brokerages report mostly automated accounts payable processes, only 2% have achieved full automation. The picture looks even more challenging for accounts receivable, where just 2% report full automation and 43% describe their processes as only partially automated with many manual steps remaining.
This gap matters because Accounts Receivable directly affects the cash flow challenges that brokerages identified as their primary vulnerability. The timing mismatch between paying carriers quickly and waiting weeks or months for customer payments creates inherent risk. Brokerages that still manually process invoices, track down PODs, and chase customer payments face slower cash conversion cycles, more errors, and greater exposure to delayed payments.
Solutions like OTR’s Epay Manager address these challenges by enabling brokers to collect and process carrier invoices, manage disputes, schedule carrier payments, and bill customers in one centralized platform. The system’s Audit Proof Invoicing feature virtually eliminates the need to manually audit carrier invoices for rate and delivery information, directly tackling the manual invoice review burden that affects nearly half of brokerages. By consolidating Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable functions in a single platform, Epay Manager reduces the operational reliance on email and disconnected systems that slow cash conversion cycles.
“When you automate the invoice journey and close the loop between payables and receivables, errors fall and the order-to-cash timeline shrinks. That shows up directly as cash stability and stronger relationships with carriers and shippers. The measurable wins are fewer disputes, faster payments, and fraud kept out of the process, which is exactly what resilient brokerages need as they scale,” said Griffin.
The measurable impact of getting it right
Brokerages that have implemented back-office automation report concrete benefits. Nearly 46% cite fewer errors and reduced fraud, while 44% point to faster payment and order-to-cash cycles. These improvements directly address the financial stability that brokerages ranked as the most important contributor to resilience.
Reducing errors matters beyond internal efficiency. Invoice mistakes damage carrier relationships, delay payments, and create disputes that consume staff time and strain partnerships. Accelerating order-to-cash cycles narrows the dangerous gap between payables and receivables that creates cash flow pressure. These benefits compound over time, strengthening both the financial position and the relationship capacity that brokerages depend on.
Brokerages using automation reported reduced administrative costs, freeing staff to focus on higher-value activities. When back-office employees spend less time on manual data entry and invoice verification, they can redirect attention toward exception handling, relationship management, and strategic initiatives that drive competitive advantage.
With over 20 years of refinement and a track record of managing more than $7 billion in carrier payables and processing over 500 million invoices, platforms like Epay Manager demonstrate how purpose-built solutions can deliver results at scale. The integration of AI-driven automation and working capital solutions backed by OTR Solutions provides brokerages with both operational efficiency and financial flexibility.
Why the gap remains
If automation delivers measurable benefits, why do adoption rates remain relatively low? The research suggests several factors at play. Implementation costs create barriers, particularly for smaller brokerages operating on thin margins. Integration complexity poses challenges, especially when new tools must connect with existing TMS platforms and other systems. Change management requires time and attention that small teams struggle to spare.
Some brokerages report having no plans to adopt digital payment management tools. Some remain committed to traditional processes that have served them well in the past. Others face uncertainty about return on investment or lack clarity on which solutions will deliver real value versus empty promises. Choosing the right technology partner with a proven track record can help brokers avoid disappointing rollouts and ensure successful implementation.
However, the competitive landscape is shifting. As more brokerages adopt automation and realize efficiency gains, operational standards rise across the industry. What provides a competitive edge today may become a baseline requirement tomorrow. Brokerages still operating with predominantly manual processes risk falling behind not just in efficiency but in their ability to attract talent and meet customer expectations for digital capabilities and real-time visibility.
The path forward
The research points toward a clear conclusion. The brokerages that will thrive through the next market cycle are those that recognize automation as a strategic enabler of the fundamentals they already value. Financial stability depends on efficient cash management and accelerated receivables. Strong relationships require staff bandwidth for communication and problem-solving rather than routine data entry.
For brokerages calculating the cost of modernization, the research suggests also calculating the cost of remaining the same. Continued reliance on manual back-office tasks means stressing small teams that are already stretched thin and sacrificing long-term productivity to avoid the short-term discomfort of implementation.
“The real question is not whether you can afford to modernize. It’s whether you can afford continuing to take the risk embedded in these bad systems. Brokerages that combine relationship excellence with operational excellence will move through the next cycle with confidence, using the processes and technology required to keep operations, cash flow, and financial controls on track,” said Griffin.
True resilience flows from the combination of strong fundamentals and operational excellence. The backbone of the resilient brokerage is not technology alone, nor purely relationship-driven service, but the strategic integration of both.
For an industry where most players experienced financial stress in the past year, closing the automation gap represents not just an efficiency opportunity but a survival imperative.
Click here to read the full report and dive into the details.
