More shippers on the phone. More lanes to quote.

The person who tenders freight depends on the shipper's size. At a mid-sized manufacturer, it may be a logistics manager or a shipping supervisor working off a routing guide. At a larger shipper, a transportation manager handles day-to-day carriers while a director of supply chain or procurement runs the annual bid. For 3PL warehousing and fulfillment, the buyer is often a VP of operations or an ecommerce operations lead.

Shippers hear "do you have any freight for us?" all day. We do not open with that. We open with a lane, a season or a problem:

• Lane: "We run a lot of reefer out of the Rio Grande Valley into Dallas. Is that a lane you ship on?"
• Season: "Most shippers we talk to are locking in Q4 capacity now. How did last year's peak go for you?"
• Problem: "When a tender gets rejected on a Friday, who do you call?"

Objections we plan for:

• "We have enough carriers." We ask which lane gives them the most trouble and offer a quote on just that one.
• "We only work with asset carriers." We note it and, if you have assets, lead with them. If not, we ask how they handle overflow.
• "Send me your rates." We ask for one real lane to quote. Rates without a lane mean nothing.
• "We're in a contract until the next bid." We ask when the bid opens and how to get on the invite list.

In freight, the first win is usually a lane to quote or a meeting with the person who controls the routing guide. Before we pass anything to your team, we confirm four things.

• Budget. Real freight spend on modes you serve: weekly loads, shipments or pallets, and whether they buy spot, contract or both. We do not quote your rates.
• Authority. Whether our contact tenders freight, sets the routing guide or runs the annual bid. If someone else does, we get the name.
• Need. A specific gap: rejected tenders, a lane with poor service, peak season capacity, a new facility, or a 3PL contract that is not working.
• Timeline. When the next bid or contract renewal happens, and whether there is spot freight to test now.

Your rep gets a CRM note with modes, equipment, top lanes, volume, current providers if named, and the problem in the shipper's words. That makes the follow-up call useful on the first try.

Not every good conversation produces freight this week. A shipper with an RFP in February is a strong lead in October. We log the date and set reminders so you are invited, not chasing.

Why referrals stop being enough

Freight referrals tend to come from shippers you already serve, and they usually point to similar lanes. If you want to grow a new lane, a new mode or a new region, you need a steady stream of new shipper conversations, and that is outbound.

Here is the kind of sequence we would test for a freight brokerage that runs dry van and reefer between Texas and the Southeast. Names are made up.

Touch 1, call (Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. Central): "Hi Carlos, Cynthia calling for Redline Logistics. We run a lot of reefer from Laredo and McAllen into Atlanta and Jacksonville. Quick question: is Southeast produce freight something your team ships?" If yes, we ask how many loads a week, what goes wrong today and who else they use.

Touch 2, email (same morning): Subject: McAllen to Atlanta reefer. "Carlos, thanks for the minute. If you send one lane you are not happy with, we will quote it today. No routing guide changes needed to test us."

Touch 3, call (following Tuesday): "Following up on the McAllen lane. Did you have a load this week we could cover?"

For a 3PL selling warehousing and fulfillment, the sequence looks different: more email and LinkedIn to operations leaders, a meeting booked to walk through order volume and SKUs, and timing tied to the peak season planning that starts in summer.

Peak timing matters. In 2026, NRF's Global Port Tracker showed the import peak arriving early, in summer, as retailers brought in holiday goods ahead of tariff changes. Shippers who planned capacity early were ready. We start outreach early so your name is on the list before peak, not after.