Freight Brokerage, Atlanta-Based Non-Asset 3PL

$9.2M

Revenue

$1.5M

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is an Atlanta-based freight brokerage generating roughly $9.16M in revenue and $1.51M in adjusted EBITDA, which pencils out to a healthy 16.5% margin on the top line. A freight brokerage is a non-asset business: it matches shippers who have loads with carriers who have trucks, taking a spread on each move without owning tractors, trailers, or warehouses. That asset-light model means limited capex, no fleet maintenance, and the ability to scale on people and technology rather than steel.

The economics here are what matter. A brokerage doing $9M in revenue at a $1.5M EBITDA line is running well above the industry norm, where many shops grind at single-digit net margins on gross revenue. That margin profile suggests either strong lane density, sticky shipper relationships, or a lean operating team, all of which are worth confirming in diligence. Freight brokerage is a fragmented, roughly $90B+ US market dominated at the top by names like C.H. Robinson and TQL, with thousands of regional operators like this one filling the middle.

What makes this notable is the combination of scale and margin without asset drag. The buyer is effectively purchasing a book of shipper relationships, a carrier network, and an operating team. The durability of that cash flow lives entirely in customer concentration and the persistence of those relationships, which is the first thing a serious buyer needs to pressure-test.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong on paper: $1.51M adjusted EBITDA on $9.16M revenue is a 16.5% margin, well above the thin single-digit spreads most brokerages live on. That points to either premium lanes, disciplined carrier procurement, or a lean cost base, any of which is a real asset if it holds up under scrutiny.
The non-asset model is the reason to like freight brokerage as a category. There is no fleet to finance, no trailers to depreciate, and minimal capex, so nearly all of the EBITDA converts to cash and the business scales on headcount and software rather than balance sheet.
Freight is a genuinely recession-resistant function because goods still have to move even when volumes soften. Brokerages can actually see margins expand in loose capacity markets when carrier rates drop faster than shipper rates, which gives this business a natural hedge during downturns.
The market is enormous and fragmented, a $90B+ US brokerage market where thousands of mid-sized shops operate below the C.H. Robinson and TQL tier. That fragmentation creates both organic share to take and a clear path to bolt-on acquisitions for a buyer who wants to roll up lanes and shippers.

How to improve it

Map the shipper concentration in the first 30 days and build a retention plan around the top accounts. If the top five customers drive most of the gross margin, lock them into contracts or dedicated capacity commitments before the transition creates any relationship risk.
Invest in a transportation management system or upgrade the existing one to automate load matching, carrier onboarding, and rate benchmarking. Brokerages that digitize quoting and tracking win on speed and can add volume per broker without proportional headcount.
Push into higher-margin freight types such as LTL, temperature-controlled, or specialized/oversized loads. Diversifying beyond commodity dry van reduces exposure to spot-rate compression and raises the blended margin on every load booked.
Build a formal carrier scorecard and expand the vetted carrier network to improve capacity coverage and cut re-brokering. A deeper, higher-quality carrier bench lets the team say yes to more shipper loads and protects service levels during tight capacity.
Add a dedicated sales function with a documented outbound process if growth has historically leaned on inbound or founder relationships. Systematizing new-logo acquisition de-risks the business from the seller and creates a repeatable growth engine.
Implement tight days-sales-outstanding controls and consider factoring or a working capital line to fund carrier payments. Brokerage cash flow lives and dies on the gap between paying carriers fast and collecting from shippers slow, so cleaning up receivables directly protects the EBITDA.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize customer concentration above all else. Pull revenue and gross margin by shipper for the trailing three years, because a brokerage that looks like a $1.5M EBITDA machine can be one lost account away from a very different business.
Interrogate the adjusted EBITDA bridge line by line. Ask exactly what was added back to get to $1.51M, whether owner compensation, one-time items, or aggressive normalizations are inflating the number, and rebuild it to a defensible number a lender will underwrite.
Examine gross margin per load and how it has trended through the 2021-2023 freight cycle. Rates spiked and then collapsed in that window, so you need to know whether this margin is structural or a lagging artifact of a boom that has already ended.
Assess carrier and broker team dependency. Find out how much volume runs through the top brokers and whether shipper relationships belong to the company or to individuals who could walk, since in a people-driven brokerage the retention of key staff is the deal.
Confirm working capital dynamics and financing. Understand the receivables aging, any factoring arrangements, and how much cash is tied up funding the carrier-pay to shipper-collect gap, because that swing directly affects how much equity a buyer needs day one.
Verify years in business, licensing, and compliance since the listing leaves tenure unknown. Confirm the FMCSA broker authority, bond status, contingent cargo insurance, and claims history to make sure there are no regulatory or liability surprises.

Source

Originally listed on Sunbelt Business Brokers. View original listing →