User Guide

Role-Based Learning Paths

FreightMath for every role on your team.

6 role pathsFM ORUser Guide

Profitability data is only powerful when the right person acts on it. These learning paths show each role exactly what to look at, what questions to answer, and what to do with what they find. The primary metric throughout is FM OR (FreightMath Operating Ratio). New to any term? The FreightMath Glossary defines every metric and measure used in the platform — the composite measure that accounts for each load's full network impact: the load itself (Core OR), the freight that positioned the truck at origin (IB OR), and the outbound reload environment at destination (OB OR).

Choose your role

Six learning paths, one per role. Each covers what the role cares about, the dashboards and workflows to use, the KPIs to monitor, a four-rung skill progression, a recommended routine, common mistakes, and the Quick Start cards most relevant to the role.

Executive

Learning Path — Role 1 of 6

CEOs, Presidents, and VP-level leaders who need a clear, fast read on network profitability without wading through operational detail. Your job is to ask the right questions and hold the team accountable to the answers.

What This Role Cares About

  • Is the overall network profitable — and is it improving or deteriorating?
  • Which customers, lanes, or segments are dragging overall FM OR — and is it a Core OR problem, an IB OR problem, or an OB OR problem?
  • How does our profitability compare to industry peers?
  • Are the right operational and pricing decisions being made downstream?
  • What strategic actions need to be taken in the next 30–90 days?

Profitability Questions to Answer

  • What is our current network FM OR — and what’s the 12-month trend?
  • Which top 10 customers have a blended FM OR above 0.97?
  • What percentage of our analyzed loads (ANALYZED_FLAG = 1) are profitable vs. unprofitable?
  • Where does our FM OR sit relative to FreightMarks peer benchmarks?
  • Which segments are growing revenue but compressing FM OR — and is the driver Core OR, IB OR, or OB OR?

Dashboards & Workflows

Dashboard Reference

The pages listed below are documented in detail in the Detailed User Guide — including screenshots, metric definitions, and filter guidance for each view.

Home

Network-level FM OR KPI strip with trend line, load volume, revenue, and margin. FM OR is the headline metric — start every session here. The bottom row (Deadhead, Density, Velocity) are your leading operational indicators.

Historical Trends

Interactive dual Y-axis chart for trend investigation and YoY analysis. Plot any FreightMath measure over time. Toggle to Table view for a full snapshot across all key metrics. Your primary trend signal for long-range OR movement.

Areas of Profit SLC

Geographic view shaded by profitability and density. The density matrix shows load volume vs. OR — identifying where to grow and where to reduce exposure. The Area Overview table shows inbound, outbound, and broker OR by market.

Profitability Matrix SLC

Classifies customers and lanes into four zones: Desirable, Backhaul, Undesirable, and Flow Issues — using both Core OR and FreightMath OR. Toggle between by Bill To and by Lane views. Sorted by volume, top 20 by default. Your customer strategy view.

Price Impact SLC

Quantifies revenue upside by comparing current linehaul + fuel rates against lane average, peer group, and DAT benchmarks. Selects the most favorable benchmark and multiplies by LOH × load count. The dollar figure is your repricing agenda.

What If SLC

Scenario planning tool — model the OR and profit impact of changes to linehaul rate per loaded mile, deadhead per load, truck count, variable cost, overhead, and broker mile %. Results table shows Current vs. What If vs. Delta across all financial measures.

KPIs to Monitor

Primary
Network FM OR
Monthly
Trend
12-Month Rolling FM OR
Monthly
Benchmark
FM OR vs. Peer Quartile
Quarterly
Risk
% Analyzed Loads FM OR > 1.0
Monthly
Revenue
LH Revenue per Loaded Mile
Monthly
Customer
Top 10 Customer Blended FM OR
Monthly

Skill Progression

Recommended Routine

FrequencyTaskTime Required
MonthlyReview OR Summary Dashboard — network OR, trend, top 5 customer flags15 min
MonthlyReview Customer Profitability Ranking — flag any new entrants above OR 0.9710 min
QuarterlyReview FreightMarks benchmark position — where do we sit vs. peers?20 min
QuarterlyStrategic review with KSM advisor — profitability diagnosis and action plan60 min

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake

Reading a single period FM OR without the 12-month context. One bad month can be explained; trend direction is what drives decisions. Also confirm whether you are reading forecasted OR (intra-month) or actual OR (month-end recast) — presenting a forecasted OR as final is a common source of board-level confusion.

Mistake

Treating high-OR customers as automatically disposable. A customer with a poor OR may still be critical for backhaul balance, network density, or strategic relationships.

Mistake

Waiting for quarterly reviews to surface profitability issues. Monthly reviews catch deterioration before it compounds into a structural problem.

Mistake

Benchmarking against the wrong peer group. Confirm with your KSM advisor that the FreightMarks peer set matches your operational profile (fleet size, lane density, asset type).

Sales Leader

Learning Path — Role 2 of 6

VPs of Sales, Account Executives, and Business Development leaders who manage customer relationships and volume growth. Your job is to grow revenue without degrading FM OR — and to use ABC cost data to defend rate positions and build the case for increases. When a lane’s FM OR is elevated, the first question is always whether Core OR is the driver — if IB OR or OB OR is the problem, a customer rate increase won’t fix it and you’ll lose credibility bringing it to the table.

What This Role Cares About

  • Which customers and lanes are profitable — and which are quietly losing money?
  • Which customer relationships are at risk due to unsustainable rate structures?
  • How to defend a rate increase conversation with cost evidence, not just market talk
  • Which new lanes or customers would strengthen network profitability
  • Which RFPs are worth pursuing vs. likely to add volume without margin

Profitability Questions to Answer

  • What is the blended FM OR for each of my top 20 accounts — and for each account, is the FM OR elevation driven by Core OR, IB OR, or OB OR?
  • Which lanes within my key accounts have OR above 1.0?
  • What is the minimum rate needed to bring a red lane’s Core OR to target — and is Core OR actually the driver, or is it IB/OB OR?
  • Which customers are growing volume but compressing our margin?
  • What does the cost-to-serve look like on the lanes in this RFP?

Dashboards & Workflows

Customer Profitability Ranking

Ranked list by blended OR. Your pre-call preparation list.

Lane Detail — Rate Analysis

Cost-to-serve breakdown and rate floor for any lane. Export as PDF for customer conversations.

Export to BidRight

Push ABC cost floors into RFP bid pricing. Ensures every submitted rate has a margin floor.

Segment Comparison View

Compare OR trajectory across customer groups or segments. Spot which accounts are drifting.

Rate Increase Workflow

  1. 1

    Identify the target lane or account

    Filter Customer Profitability Ranking to accounts with blended FM OR ≥ 0.97. Sort by load volume to prioritize Power Lane volume first — a high-FM OR account running mostly Power Lane freight is a higher-priority conversation than one with scattered Spider Lane volume.

  2. 2

    Diagnose the FM OR driver before building the rate case

    In Lane Detail, check Core OR, IB OR, and OB OR separately. If Core OR is the primary driver of elevated FM OR, a rate increase is the right lever. If IB OR or OB OR is dominant, the issue is in the positioning or reload environment — repricing the load rate may not resolve FM OR and could damage the customer relationship unnecessarily. Only build the rate case when Core OR confirms it.

  3. 3

    Build and export the rate case

    Once Core OR is confirmed as the driver, open the Rate Analysis panel. Review the cost-to-serve waterfall — variable CPM, overhead allocation, and the rate floor that targets your minimum FM OR. Export the lane summary PDF. The ABC cost breakdown is far more defensible in a customer conversation than a market rate argument: “here is what it costs us to run this lane” is a factual statement, not a negotiating position.

  4. 4

    Set the target rate and confirm FM OR improvement

    After the conversation, record the new rate, effective date, and volume commitment. Revisit in 90 days and pull Lane Detail to confirm Core OR — and therefore FM OR — improved on the repriced lane. If FM OR is still elevated after a successful reprice, IB OR or OB OR may now be the dominant driver; escalate to Operations for a network-level fix.

KPIs to Monitor

Account Health
Customer Blended FM OR
Monthly
Risk Flag
Power Lane Accounts Above FM OR 0.97
Monthly
Volume
Revenue per Customer
Monthly
Lane
Red Lane Count per Account
Monthly
Pipeline
Core OR on Quoted Lanes
Per Bid
Trend
FM OR Improvement Post-Reprice
Quarterly

Skill Progression

Recommended Routine

FrequencyTaskTime Required
WeeklyReview Customer Profitability Ranking for accounts above OR 0.97 — flag new entrants10 min
MonthlyDeep-dive lane-level OR for top 5 highest-OR accounts — identify repricing targets30 min
Per BidExport lanes to BidRight before submitting any RFP — confirm rates are above cost floor15 min
QuarterlyReview OR improvement on lanes repriced in the prior quarter — validate the change landed20 min

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake

Agreeing to rate holds or volume discounts without first checking lane-level Core OR and FM OR. A concession on a lane where IB OR is the problem doesn’t solve the FM OR issue — it just locks in a below-floor rate on a lane that was already being hurt by positioning costs.

Mistake

Chasing volume growth without watching blended FM OR. A customer who doubles their volume at a 1.03 FM OR is compounding the problem, not solving it. And because FM OR captures network positioning effects, doubling volume on a weak-IB corridor makes the IB OR problem worse for every other lane feeding into that origin area.

Mistake

Using only market spot rates to justify rate increases. The ABC cost breakdown gives you far stronger footing — “here’s what it actually costs us to run this lane” is more defensible than “the market moved.”

Mistake

Dismissing high-OR customers without checking whether they provide strategic network value (backhaul balance, density in a key lane cluster). Always discuss with operations before making a strategic call.

Pricing Analyst

Learning Path — Role 3 of 6

Pricing managers, rate analysts, and revenue optimization specialists who own the rate structure. Your job is to ensure every lane is priced at or above its true cost-to-serve — and to use FreightMath as the authoritative source of cost truth for every pricing decision. Rate floors in FreightMath are derived from the ABC cost model and target a minimum FM OR, not just breakeven. Understanding what feeds those floors — GL data via MapLedger, CPM rate drivers, and the Overhead Workday Model — is the foundation of accurate pricing.

What This Role Cares About

  • The true cost-to-serve on every lane: fuel, driver pay, maintenance, fixed overhead
  • Which lanes are priced below cost and by how much
  • How to set rate floors that ensure minimum acceptable margin
  • Cost driver movement — when CPM rates shift, all rate floors must be updated
  • RFP lane profitability modeling before submission

Profitability Questions to Answer

  • What is the fully-loaded cost per mile on each lane segment?
  • How has fuel CPM moved over the last 90 days — and which lanes are most exposed?
  • What is the rate floor needed to achieve a 0.93 FM OR on a given lane — and is that achievable through rate alone, or does IB/OB OR need to be addressed simultaneously?
  • Which Power Lanes have the widest gap between current LH revenue and the ABC cost floor?
  • What would a 5% rate decrease on our top 20 Power Lanes do to network FM OR?

Dashboards & Workflows

Per-Mile Cost Driver Review

Fuel CPM, driver pay CPM, maintenance CPM by lane type. The foundation of every rate floor.

Lane Detail — Rate Analysis Panel

Cost-to-serve waterfall with suggested rate floor and margin sensitivity.

BidRight Integration

Push cost floors into bid workspace. Every RFP lane gets an ABC-backed minimum rate.

Cost Deviation Alert View

Loads where actual cost exceeded modeled cost by >15%. These expose rate floor miscalibration.

KPIs to Monitor

Cost
Fuel CPM
Weekly
Cost
Driver Pay CPM
Monthly
Risk
Lanes Below Rate Floor
Weekly
Deviation
Cost Deviation >15%
Weekly
Accuracy
Rate Floor Accuracy Rate
Monthly
Margin
Revenue vs. Cost Floor Gap
Monthly

Skill Progression

Recommended Routine

FrequencyTaskTime Required
WeeklyReview Cost Deviation Alert View — flag loads where actual exceeded modeled by >15%20 min
WeeklyCheck fuel CPM movement — update rate floors on affected lanes if shift > $0.03/mile15 min
MonthlyFull Per-Mile Cost Driver Review — validate all CPM rates reflect current GL data30 min
Per BidExport RFP lanes to BidRight — confirm cost floors are loaded before building rates20 min
QuarterlyRate floor accuracy audit — compare predicted vs. actual Core OR and FM OR on repriced lanes. If Core OR improved but FM OR remains elevated, IB or OB OR is the residual driver.45 min

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake

Setting rate floors from the prior quarter’s cost data without checking whether CPM rates have moved. Fuel and driver pay CPM can shift meaningfully within a quarter — always use the most current baseline.

Mistake

Treating the ABC rate floor as the target rate rather than the minimum. The floor targets a specific Core OR — typically 0.93–0.95 — but FM OR will be higher or lower depending on IB OR and OB OR. Your bid target must produce an acceptable FM OR after all three components are considered, not just clear the Core OR floor.

Operations Leader

Learning Path — Role 4 of 6

VP of Operations, Director of Operations, and fleet managers who own cost performance and service execution. Your job is to identify where operational inefficiency is driving cost above the model and to make dispatch, equipment, and driver assignment decisions that improve lane-level FM OR. Operations owns two of the three FM OR components: when deadhead drives up empty miles, IB OR and OB OR worsen. When detention inflates load costs, Core OR rises. Both show up in FM OR, and both require operational fixes, not pricing fixes.

What This Role Cares About

  • Which lanes or load types are generating the highest cost deviation?
  • Where are driver-related costs (deadhead, detention, layover) inflating Core OR — and where is deadhead creating weak IB OR or OB OR at the area level?
  • Which operational behaviors are most correlated with poor lane profitability?
  • How does equipment type or driver assignment affect cost-to-serve?
  • Where should capacity be redeployed to improve network OR?

Profitability Questions to Answer

  • Which load types or customer lanes have the highest cost deviation from the model?
  • Are specific drivers or driver groups generating above-average costs on the same lanes?
  • Where is deadhead mileage concentrated — and is it avoidable?
  • Which lanes would improve network FM OR if we reduced volume — especially Spider Lanes with persistently high FM OR?
  • What would happen to FM OR if we redeployed capacity from our worst-performing lanes to our best Power Lanes?

Dashboards & Workflows

Cost Deviation View

Loads where actual cost exceeded modeled cost. Your operational diagnostic tool.

Lane FM OR Distribution

FM OR tier breakdown across Power, Repeat, and Spider lanes. Red Power Lanes are the highest operational priority — they carry the most volume and create the largest IB/OB OR drag on adjacent lanes.

Driver Group Segment View

Core OR breakdown by driver group. Driver assignment affects loaded miles, empty miles, and detention exposure — all of which feed Core OR, which rolls into FM OR.

Per-Mile Cost Driver Review

Fuel, maintenance, and driver pay CPM by segment. Identifies where operational cost is running above model.

KPIs to Monitor

Efficiency
Deadhead % of Total Miles
Weekly
Cost
Maintenance CPM
Monthly
Deviation
Loads with Cost Deviation >15%
Weekly
Network
Red Power Lane FM OR Count
Monthly
Driver
Cost per Driver Group
Monthly
Mix
% Power Lane Volume with FM OR > 0.97
Monthly

Skill Progression

Recommended Routine

FrequencyTaskTime Required
WeeklyReview top 10 cost deviation loads — categorize root cause and assign corrective action20 min
WeeklyCheck deadhead % — flag any week where deadhead exceeds baseline by more than 2 points10 min
MonthlyDriver Group Segment View — identify any driver group running 5%+ above network average cost20 min
MonthlyLane OR Distribution review — flag concentration of red lanes by geography or customer30 min
QuarterlyCapacity redeployment review — model shift from lowest-OR to highest-OR lanes45 min

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake

Reviewing cost deviation without categorizing root cause. A deviation caused by chronic customer detention is a sales problem; one caused by driver routing is an operations problem. They require different interventions.

Mistake

Dismissing a high-FM OR lane as a “pricing problem” without running the OR diagnostic. If Core OR is elevated, check cost deviation for operational drivers first — detention, deadhead, or driver assignment may be the cause. If IB OR or OB OR is elevated, the fix is a network positioning change, not a customer reprice. Operations, pricing, and sales share ownership of FM OR.

Dispatcher / Load Planner / CSR

Learning Path — Role 5 of 6

Dispatchers, load planners, and customer service representatives who interact with freight at the load level every day. Your decisions have the most direct impact on load-level profitability — and FreightMath gives you the data to make those decisions with cost visibility. Every load a dispatcher accepts affects Core OR directly. Every empty mile generated affects IB OR and OB OR at the area level. CSRs interacting with customers on service issues, detention, or pricing inquiries benefit from knowing the FM OR profile of the freight they are managing. Together, this role group shapes FM OR from the ground up.

What This Role Cares About

  • Which loads are likely to run above modeled cost — and why?
  • Which lanes have consistent cost patterns vs. high variance?
  • How to sequence loads to minimize deadhead and improve per-load margin
  • Which customers consistently cause detention or service cost inflation
  • How to flag loads in real time that are trending toward a cost deviation
  • CSR: What is the FM OR profile of the customer I'm speaking with — are their lanes profitable, at-risk, or being actively repriced?
  • CSR: Is this customer's detention or service behavior visible in FreightMath data — and does it support or challenge what they're telling me on the phone?

Profitability Questions to Answer

  • What is the Core OR and FM OR on this lane — is it a consistently profitable Power Lane, or a known Spider Lane money-loser?
  • Does this customer have a history of detention events that inflate cost?
  • If I accept this backhaul, does it improve my driver’s loaded/empty mile ratio — and does the destination create a strong or weak OB OR reload environment for the next assignment?
  • Which loads from today’s board have the best OR profile?
  • Where are my highest-cost deviation loads coming from this week?
  • CSR: Before committing to a service exception or rate accommodation, what does FreightMath show about this customer's lane-level OR and load history?

Dashboards & Workflows

Dashboard Reference

Full page descriptions and screenshots for every view below are in the Detailed User Guide.

Bill To by Lane SLC

Ranks bill-to customers by load volume with OR, deadhead, velocity, and length of haul. Conditional formatting highlights stronger and weaker OR. Trend chart pairs weekly volume with FM OR and Core OR. Use this to quickly check the profitability profile of a customer before accepting a load on an unfamiliar lane.

Lane by Bill To SLC

Lane-level OR lookup organized by origin-destination pairs. Know the profitability profile of any lane — including Power Lane vs. Repeat vs. Spider classification — before accepting it. Red lanes (FM OR > 1.0) on a Power Lane require supervisor flag; on a Spider Lane require a deprioritize-or-exit decision.

Power / Driver by Segment SLC

Evaluates individual power units and drivers at the segment level. Detailed segment table shows trip records with departure time, movement status, O/D, miles, revenue, and labor group. Filter by driver ID to see your team’s OR, miles, and loaded vs. empty breakdown. The loaded/empty color coding instantly shows where empty miles are accumulating.

Quality Control — CSR Reference

Exception-based monitoring showing loads with $0 linehaul, excessive dwell time at origin or destination, and unusually high Core OR. For CSRs: the excessive dwell time and high Core OR exception panels surface the customers and loads generating service cost inflation — useful context before customer conversations about service expectations or detention disputes.

Revenue / Volume Change SLC — CSR Reference

Period-over-period view by customer and lane showing volume change and OR impact. For CSRs handling account management or growth conversations: see which customers grew volume and whether that growth improved or worsened FM OR — essential context for understanding whether to encourage more freight from a given account.

Daily Profitability Checklist

  1. 1

    Review yesterday’s cost deviation loads

    Check the Cost Deviation View for loads from the prior day that came in >15% above model. Note any customers or lanes that appear more than once — these are pattern problems to escalate.

  2. 2

    Check lane Core OR and FM OR before accepting today’s loads

    For any load on a lane you’re unfamiliar with, pull the lane FM OR in the quick reference. Red lanes (FM OR > 1.0) should be flagged to your supervisor before acceptance if pricing hasn’t confirmed a rate action is in progress. Also note whether the lane is a Power, Repeat, or Spider Lane — your supervisor needs that context to prioritize the flag correctly.

  3. 3

    Sequence loads to minimize deadhead and strengthen area OR

    Use lane FM OR alongside driver position to prioritize backhaul loads that reduce empty miles and land drivers in strong-OB OR markets. A slightly lower-rate backhaul that eliminates 200 deadhead miles and positions the driver in a high-OR reload area will improve FM OR more than a higher-rate load requiring significant repositioning into a weak reload market. Empty miles are not just a cost — they are the primary driver of IB OR at the area level.

  4. 4

    Flag detention and service escalations in real time

    When a driver is being detained beyond the grace period, document it immediately. Chronic detention customers inflate cost per load and should be escalated to Operations and Sales using FreightMath load detail as supporting evidence.

KPIs to Monitor

Daily
Cost Deviation Loads >15%
Daily
Efficiency
Empty Miles %
Weekly
Service
Detention Events per Customer
Weekly
Load Mix
% Loads on Red Lanes
Weekly

Skill Progression

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake

Accepting loads on chronically red lanes without flagging them. If a lane has had FM OR > 1.05 for three consecutive months, that is a pricing and operations problem that dispatchers should be surfacing, not silently absorbing. Note the lane tier when you escalate — a red Power Lane needs immediate attention; a red Spider Lane may be a deprioritize-or-exit decision for leadership.

Mistake

Optimizing for load count rather than load profitability. A day of 10 loads on green Power Lanes outperforms 14 loads mixed with red Spider Lane volume. Volume is a vanity metric; FM OR is the scorecard. And because empty miles between loads affect IB OR at the area level, the sequencing of those 10 loads matters as much as the loads themselves.

Finance / Revenue Management

Learning Path — Role 6 of 6

CFOs, Controllers, Revenue Managers, and FP&A analysts who own financial accuracy, GL integrity, and period-close reporting. Your job is to ensure the FreightMath model is fed clean data, that cost categories are correctly mapped via MapLedger, and that FM OR is a trustworthy input to financial decisions. FM OR is only as accurate as the GL data flowing through MapLedger and the analyzed load count from the TMS — both must be validated at every period close before FM OR is published or presented to leadership.

What This Role Cares About

  • Are GL accounts correctly mapped to FreightMath cost categories via MapLedger?
  • Is the load count in FreightMath reconciled to the TMS for each reporting period?
  • Do CPM rates reflect current GL actuals — or are they lagging by a period?
  • Is the FM OR output defensible enough to use in board reporting and investor materials — and is it clearly labeled as forecasted (intra-month) vs. actual (month-end recast)?
  • How does ABC-based FM OR reconcile to the traditional income statement OR — and can we explain the gap from overhead allocation methodology, not just “it’s a different model”?

Profitability Questions to Answer

  • Are there any unmapped GL accounts distorting the cost baseline this period?
  • Does the FreightMath load count match the TMS within 0.5%?
  • Have CPM rates been updated to reflect the most recent completed period’s GL actuals?
  • How does FM OR compare to the P&L OR — and can we explain the gap in terms of the Overhead Workday Model allocation methodology vs. traditional overhead spreading?
  • Which cost categories are running above budget — and which lanes are driving it?

Dashboards & Workflows

MapLedger — Account Review

GL account to cost category mapping. Run every period close to catch unmapped or reclassified accounts.

Data Integrity — Load Reconciliation

FreightMath analyzed load count (ANALYZED_FLAG = 1) vs. TMS billable load count. Must match within 0.5% before publishing any FM OR analysis — missing analyzed loads understate the OR denominator.

Per-Mile Cost Driver Review

Validate CPM rates reflect current GL actuals. Run quarterly — or whenever a major cost category moves.

OR Summary Dashboard

Period close validation — confirm network OR is consistent with P&L directional movement before reporting.

Period-Close Data Validation Workflow

  1. 1

    Run MapLedger Account Review

    Navigate to MapLedger → Account Review. Filter for Unmapped status. Any GL account added or reclassified during the period must be mapped before period FM OR is calculated — a misclassified variable cost (e.g., booked as overhead) distorts Core OR on every load. Contact your KSM advisor for ambiguous accounts; incorrect OR category assignment is harder to explain after distribution than before.

  2. 2

    Reconcile analyzed load count to TMS

    Navigate to Data Integrity → Load Reconciliation. Compare the FreightMath analyzed load count (ANALYZED_FLAG = 1) to your TMS billable load export for the same period. Variance above 0.5% must be investigated before publishing FM OR — missing analyzed loads understate the revenue denominator and produce an artificially elevated FM OR reading.

  3. 3

    Validate CPM rates against GL actuals

    Open the Per-Mile Cost Driver Review. Confirm that fuel CPM, driver pay CPM, and maintenance CPM rates reflect the most recent completed period’s GL data. Note any categories that have moved more than 5% — document the change for the period narrative.

  4. 4

    Reconcile FM OR to P&L OR

    Compare the network FM OR from FreightMath to the traditionally calculated OR from your income statement. At the full-network level, FM OR and Core OR converge — small variance between them is expected and normal. The gap between FM OR and P&L OR is typically explained by the Overhead Workday Model (which distributes fixed costs by operational days rather than spreading them by revenue or miles) and period timing differences. Document the reconciliation methodology. A gap greater than 2–3 OR points requires investigation; beyond 5 points, pause publication and contact KSM.

  5. 5

    Publish period OR with data quality sign-off

    Once steps 1–4 are complete, the period OR is cleared for distribution. Document the validation steps in your period-close checklist and note any data quality flags that were resolved or outstanding.

KPIs to Monitor

Data Quality
Unmapped GL Accounts
Monthly
Reconciliation
Load Count Variance %
Monthly
Accuracy
ABC OR vs. P&L OR Gap
Monthly
Cost Integrity
CPM Rate Staleness (days)
Monthly
Trend
Cost Category Variance to Budget
Monthly
Baseline
Periods Since Last Baseline Review
Quarterly

Skill Progression

Recommended Routine

FrequencyTaskTime Required
MonthlyMapLedger Account Review — clear all unmapped accounts before period FM OR is calculated; verify no variable costs are miscategorized as overhead20 min
MonthlyAnalyzed Load Reconciliation — confirm ANALYZED_FLAG = 1 load count matches TMS billable loads within 0.5%15 min
MonthlyFM OR vs. P&L OR reconciliation — document and explain any gap above 2 OR points using Overhead Workday Model methodology and period timing differences30 min
QuarterlyFull Baseline Review — validate all CPM rates, document cost driver movement narrative60 min
QuarterlyKSM Advisor review — confirm model assumptions, overhead allocation, and period methodology60 min

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake

Publishing period FM OR before completing MapLedger Account Review and analyzed load reconciliation. Unmapped accounts or missing ANALYZED_FLAG = 1 loads distort FM OR in ways that are difficult to explain after distribution — and once leadership has seen a number, correcting it retroactively damages credibility more than a one-day delay in publication.

Mistake

Allowing CPM rates to go stale for multiple quarters. When fuel or driver pay moves significantly and the model isn’t updated, the OR output becomes directionally unreliable. Quarterly updates are the minimum cadence; monthly is recommended in volatile cost environments.

Mistake

Presenting FM OR and P&L OR in the same document without a reconciliation note. Leadership will notice the difference and ask — if you can’t explain it in terms of the Overhead Workday Model allocation methodology and period timing, the entire OR presentation loses credibility. The reconciliation memo is not optional when both figures appear in the same report.

Mistake

Deferring baseline updates to the KSM advisor without providing updated GL exports on time. The FreightMath model is only as current as the data you feed it. Finance owns the data pipeline (GL exports, TMS load extracts); KSM owns the model integrity and Overhead Workday Model calibration. Both sides must stay current — a one-quarter lag in GL data means CPM rates are stale and FM OR is unreliable for decision-making.