Why Backup Coverage Depth Matters More Than Most Shippers Realize

Every routing guide looks strong in a soft market. The primary accepts, the load moves, and nobody thinks much about who sits in position three. Coverage depth stays theoretical right up until the day it isn't. For a lot of shippers, that day already arrived this year.

The market is testing routing guides right now

Tender rejections climbed to roughly 16.9% earlier this summer - more than double their trailing six-month average of about 8.28% - and were still near 14.9% across all modes at the end of July, after the normal post-Fourth of July easing. Dry van spot rates have been averaging around $3.50 per mile all-in.

This is not a seasonal blip. Analysts estimate the market is running roughly 10-15% undersupplied. Carriers largely aren't adding equipment, insurance costs keep climbing, and regulatory enforcement continues to pull unsafe drivers out of the pool. Capacity is being rationed, and carriers are choosing where to put it.

It shows up in the routing guide first. FreightWaves reported in June that contract rates set early in the 2026 bid season aren't holding, mini-bid activity has spiked, and some shippers have been forced to rebid their entire book. Spencer Frazier, head of sales and marketing at J.B. Hunt, put it plainly to investors at the Wells Fargo Industrials & Materials Conference:

     “The only reason that happens is because routing guides, once implemented, start to crumble.”

When guides crumble, freight falls to backups. Whether that's a non-event or a bad week depends entirely on what those backup positions are made of.

Depth is not a list of names

Most shippers measure coverage by count, specifically how many carriers are on the guide and how many are in the broker's network. Those numbers are easy to produce and rarely predict anything.

Real depth is narrower: the number of carriers who will take your freight, in your lane, at a market-realistic rate, on short notice, and run it to your standard. A list gives you phone numbers. Depth gives you trucks.

Three things that look like depth on a scorecard and aren't:

•        Backups quoted at contract rates they have no intention of honoring when the market tightens.

•        Carriers with paper coverage in a lane but no consistent equipment flow through that origin.

•        A position two that is functionally the spot board — no relationship, no history, no accountability if the truck doesn't show.

The real cost isn't the rate

When a tender falls down the guide, the rate premium is the visible cost and usually the smallest one. What shippers actually absorb is operational:

•        A missed pickup that pushes the load a full day and cascades into the delivery window.

•        A blown receiving appointment, then detention, then a redelivery charge.

•        Line downtime waiting on inbound components that were supposed to be there Tuesday.

•        OTIF exposure and chargebacks with customers who don't care why the truck was late.

And often the worst part: silence. The shipper hears about the failure from the receiver rather than the broker, which removes every option a few hours of notice would have preserved.

What to ask before the next rejection

Depth is built in advance, or it isn't built at all. Five steps for the next 30 days:

1.       Measure depth by lane, not by network. Ask a specific question: how many distinct carriers have physically hauled this lane for you in the last 90 days? Network size is marketing. Lane history is evidence.

2.       Stress test your most exposed lanes. Find the lanes where one carrier covers most of the volume, where the origin is capacity-short, or where a failure has downstream consequences. That short list is where depth needs to exist.

3.       Pre-approve backups while conditions allow it. Onboarding, insurance verification, and facility familiarity take time you won't have at 4 p.m. on a Friday. Qualify alternates now, and run a load or two through them.

4.       Separate acceptance from execution. First-tender acceptance says nothing about what happens after a rejection. Ask for on-time pickup and delivery performance specifically on backup-covered loads. That number tells you whether the depth is functional.

5.       Set an escalation clock. Agree in writing on how fast you're notified when a load is uncovered, who calls, and what information comes with it. A defined notification standard converts a surprise into a decision.

How TEN thinks about it

We build coverage depth before it's needed, not after a tender rejects: qualified alternates on the lanes that matter most, carrier relationships deep enough to produce a truck when the market is short, and a standard where you hear about a problem from us, early, with options attached.

If you're looking at your routing guide and you're not certain what sits behind position one, let's talk. Contact TEN about coverage depth on your most exposed lanes.

Promises Made. Promises Delivered.