How Much Does A Freight Brokerage Owner Make At 61 Loads/Month?
A freight brokerage owner can take home meaningful income only after gross margin covers overhead, payroll, acquisition spend, and reserves In the researched first-year assumptions, 735 annual loads at a $917 average shipper bill create about $992K annual commission revenue, or about $135 per load The model includes a $150K CEO / Founder salary, but commission revenue alone does not support that pay while also covering $1596K fixed overhead and $250K annual acquisition spend Treat these as planning assumptions, not guaranteed freight broker owner take-home
Owner income$125KNet margin23%Revenue for target pay$258KBusiness difficultyHard
Want to see the main freight brokerage income drivers?
1
Load Volume
61/mo
At a 61-load monthly base, every extra load spreads fixed costs over more gross profit, so volume is the main owner-income lever.
2
Margin per Load
$135
About $135 in commission per load is the core spread, so small pricing or mix changes move take-home fast.
3
Customer Quality
50-80
Enterprise repeat orders hit 50 and e-commerce hits 80 in year 1, so better accounts lift lifetime revenue without the same sales spend.
4
Carrier Network
67
$100K of seller marketing at a $1,500 CAC buys about 67 carriers, and deeper supply helps you place more loads with less friction.
5
Overhead
$810K/yr
Year 1 fixed costs and payroll total about $810K, so hiring and office spend can crush owner income before volume scales.
6
Cash Buffer
-$242K
Year 1 EBITDA is -$699K and cash bottoms at -$242K in month 17, so accounting profit is not the same as money you can pay yourself.
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Estimate owner take-home and the target-pay gap from revenue, margin, costs, reserves, and target pay.
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Planning note: Research-based planning estimate only. Actual owner income is not guaranteed salary, tax advice, or owner distribution advice, and results can change with revenue, margin, taxes, debt, and reinvestment needs.
How do you test the Freight Brokerage financial model?
Yes, a solo Freight Brokerage can make money, but only if the owner keeps overhead very low and books enough profitable repeat loads. This model is not solo-light because it already assumes $150K CEO/founder salary, $130K lead software engineer salary, $133K monthly fixed overhead, and $250K in first-year acquisition spend. Scaling can raise income through more buyers, carriers, and repeat orders, but it also adds payroll, software, compliance, support, and cash flow pressure.
Solo works when costs stay lean
Keep fixed overhead under control
Win repeat loads, not one-offs
Protect margin on each shipment
Stay close to cash timing
Scale adds income, then strain
More buyers can lift volume
More carriers can improve coverage
More staff raises payroll fast
Compliance and support get heavier
How much revenue does a freight brokerage need to pay the owner?
A Freight Brokerage needs about $3.8M in yearly net brokerage revenue to pay the owner, using a $917 average shipper bill, a $25 fixed commission, and a 12% variable commission. That nets about $135 per load, so fixed overhead matters fast. Add $1.596M in annual fixed overhead plus a $150K owner salary, and the booked freight needed can climb to about $26M a year.
Per-load math
$917 average shipper bill
$25 fixed commission
12% variable commission
About $135 net per load
Revenue needed
$1.596M fixed overhead
$150K owner salary
About $3.776M yearly net revenue
Near $26M booked freight volume
How many loads does a freight broker need to make money?
Profit comes from margin per load, not volume alone.
Repeat shippers stabilize loads and cut sales pressure.
Carrier quality protects spread, service, and retention.
Cash flow can lag profit without working capital.
Compare lean, base, and high-growth freight brokerage owner income scenarios
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Freight Brokerage Core Six Income Drivers
Load Volume And Repeat Shipments
Profitable Load Count
Income improves when the broker books more profitable loads, not just more activity. The first-year model assumes 735 annual loads, or about 61 loads a month, so owner pay depends on how many of those loads clear variable costs, support time, and reserve needs.
The risk is chasing low-margin freight. A busy book can still hurt cash flow if each load adds compliance work but not enough gross margin, so the real question is whether volume raises take-home income or just workload.
Track Repeat Lanes
Measure repeat orders by buyer type and lane. The repeat-order benchmark is 25 for small business, 50 for enterprise, and 80 for e-commerce buyers, so more repeat lanes should cut sales friction and make monthly load planning cleaner.
Here’s the quick check: if a lane does not clear variable costs and reserves, it is not helping owner income. Track load count, repeat rate, and margin per lane before adding volume, because higher booked freight only helps when the loads are actually profitable.
Margin Per Load And Brokerage Spread
Margin Per Load
Take-home in freight brokerage comes from the spread per load, not just booked freight value. With an average shipper bill of $917, the model shows about $135 of commission revenue per load from $25 fixed plus 12% of order value.
After 6% COGS and 12% variable expenses, contribution, the cash left after direct load costs, is about $111 per load. That means a carrier cost spike, weak pricing discipline, or a spot-market swing moves owner pay almost dollar for dollar. Higher freight value only helps if the margin holds.
Protect the Brokerage Spread
Track the full load math on every shipment: shipper bill, fixed fee, percent commission, carrier buy rate, COGS, and variable expense per load. The key test is simple: does each load clear $111 in contribution before overhead? If not, it is not helping owner income.
Watch fast-moving spot lanes first, because they can erase spread fast. Here’s the quick math: $917 × 12% + $25 = $135, then subtract 6% COGS and 12% variable costs. Tight quote rules and better carrier rate checks protect cash without needing more volume.
Carrier Network Quality And Capacity Access
Carrier Network Quality
Carrier sourcing drives how fast loads get covered, how often service fails, and how much spread you keep. With $100K of seller acquisition spend at $1,500 CAC, the model implies about 67 carrier or seller accounts, with a 50% small fleet, 30% mid carrier, and 20% large logistics mix. That mix matters because weak vetting raises uncovered loads and margin leakage.
In Year 1, carrier vetting and compliance cost 35% of revenue, so this driver hits profit fast. Better capacity access lowers rebooking time, protects customer retention, and keeps more loads inside the planned spread. If service failures rise, owner pay falls even when booked volume looks fine.
Vet Faster, Lose Less Spread
Track coverage speed, uncovered loads, service failures, and margin by carrier tier. Here’s the quick math: if vetting and compliance stay near 35% of revenue, the network has to earn that cost back through fewer misses and better price control, not just more carrier names.
Use the 50/30/20 carrier mix to test coverage by lane and shipper type, then drop weak accounts fast. One clean rule helps: no vetted carrier, no margin-safe load. That keeps support costs down and protects the owner’s take-home cash.
Cash Flow, Factoring, And Reserves
Cash Timing And Reserves
Freight brokerage can show profit and still leave the owner short on cash. With first-year payment processing at 25% of revenue and carrier vetting at 35%, plus factoring, bad debt, and reserve holds, distributable cash is lower than accounting profit until shippers pay first.
Here’s the quick math: owner draw depends on the gap between shipper collections and carrier payouts. A load can book about $917 in shipper bill and roughly $135 in commission revenue, but if carriers are paid before cash arrives, working capital has to cover the gap.
Control Receivables Before Owner Draw
Measure days to collect, days to pay carriers, factoring cost, payment fees, and reserve balance on every load. Use this rule: cash in minus carrier payables minus fees minus reserve top-up equals what is left for owner draw.
Track unpaid shipper receivables weekly.
Match carrier pay dates to cash dates.
Hold reserves for late pay and bad debt.
Use factoring only if margin survives.
If collection lags or pay terms stretch, hold back owner draws. Faster cash conversion raises take-home income faster than more booked freight.
Operating Overhead And Staffing Structure
Operating Overhead And Staffing Structure
Fixed overhead of $133K a month comes out before owner distributions, so it sets the floor your freight brokerage must clear just to keep cash available for pay. That base includes $5K rent, $15K legal and compliance, $2K software, $3K cloud hosting, $700 insurance, $800 utilities, and $300 supplies.
Visible payroll also matters: $150K CEO / Founder and $130K Lead Software Engineer. Add 8% digital advertising and content plus 4% customer support, and the real test is whether monthly gross profit can cover both operating cost and founder pay without starving cash. Overhead protects service and compliance, but weak load margin turns that protection into a drag.
Measure Payback Before You Add Cost
Track overhead against gross profit per load, monthly load volume, and recurring revenue. Here’s the quick check: if a new hire, tool, or ad push does not lift load volume, retention, or spread enough to cover its cost, it lowers owner income. Payback should be visible in the same month or tied to a clear, short forecast.
Watch fixed cost as a monthly run rate.
Separate founder pay from operating payroll.
Test ad spend against booked loads.
Cap support cost at service need.
Keep one rule: every growth dollar must earn its keep. If compliance, hosting, or staffing rises before revenue quality improves, cash for owner draw gets squeezed fast. Build the staffing plan around the loads you can profitably serve, not the headcount you can justify on paper.
Customer Mix And Shipper Retention
Customer Mix Drives Repeat Revenue
Customer mix shapes how steady owner income feels. With a first-year mix of 40% small business, 30% enterprise, and 30% e-commerce, the same sales effort can produce very different cash flow because repeat order counts are 25, 50, and 80. Enterprise also has the highest average order value at $1,500, so more retained enterprise and e-commerce shippers lowers acquisition pressure and smooths monthly load volume.
The main risk is over-relying on spot customers. Spot freight can fill holes, but it makes demand choppy and pushes effective CAC up because every month needs fresh selling. The key inputs are customer mix, repeat orders, average order value, and spot share. More repeat lanes mean less churn pressure on revenue and more room for owner pay.
Track Retention by Shipper Type
Measure retention by cohort, not as one blended number. Watch repeat loads, average order value, and spot share each month. If enterprise and e-commerce accounts are staying active long enough to reach 50 and 80 orders, CAC gets spread over more shipments, which supports margin and cash flow.
Use account plans for the best shippers: renew pricing before churn, document repeat lanes, and forecast loads by customer type. If spot freight starts taking over, shift sales effort back to retained accounts and drop low-margin business. That protects gross margin, cuts support waste, and leaves more cash for owner draw.
