Non-Asset Freight Brokers
Brokers without owned equipment matching freight to carriers.
Market snapshot
These figures describe Domestic Freight Brokerage (10.2.3), the segment that Non-Asset Freight Brokers sits within. They are not figures for Non-Asset Freight Brokers on its own.
Not sized separately. One classification covers freight arrangement of every kind. Domestic brokerage, international forwarding, customs work and ocean booking all sit in it together, so the figure belongs to the parent. Domestic brokerage is nonetheless the most contested of them: it is the segment digital entrants attacked first, because matching a load to a truck is the part of forwarding that looks most like software.
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Truckload/LTL brokerage margin (rate spread)
Key economics
- Recurring revenue
- Moderate
- EBITDA margin
- Asset-light; highly cyclical margins
- Capex intensity
- Low
recurring shippers; spot exposure
Characteristics
- Led by C.H. Robinson, TQL, Echo, Coyote.
- Highly cyclical; squeezed in the 2023–24 recession.
- Technology and carrier networks the key assets.
M&A deal context
Who’s acquiring
- Brokerage majors
- PE-backed brokerage platforms
- Digital-freight disruptors
What’s driving deals
- Freight-recession-driven consolidation.
- Technology and automation investment.
- Roll-up of fragmented brokers.
Find Non-Asset Freight Brokers acquisition targets
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