We'll mystery-shop your quote inbox and tell you exactly how fast you really answer — and what it's costing you. Six realistic test emails over one week, then a one-page teardown. Free.
FREE · NO CARD · CONSENT REQUIRED — WE NEVER TEST A BROKERAGE THAT HASN'T ASKED.
Audits run only on inboxes you control and have signed off on, in writing, in the form below. We do not mystery-shop brokerages that haven't asked — not as a sales tactic, not "anonymously," not ever.
WRITTEN CONSENT ON FILE BEFORE A SINGLE TEST EMAIL GOES OUT.
Spread over seven days: a clean request, a messy phone-typed one, a lunch-hour flatbed, a 9:37 PM reefer, a 1:47 AM urgent, and a Friday-at-5. Fictional shipper personas, real-looking lanes. Your team replies — or doesn't — like any normal week. We hold the stopwatch.
TELLING YOUR REPS IS YOUR CALL. MOST OWNERS DON'T — IT KEEPS THE WEEK HONEST.
Reply latency per test, your after-hours blackout window on a 24-hour bar, and a margin-at-risk estimate with every assumption stated where you can argue with it. Lands in your inbox on day 8.
THE FULL FORMAT IS BELOW — SAMPLE INK, FICTIONAL BROKERAGE.
This is the exact report you get — run here against a fictional brokerage so you can read every line before you hand us an inbox. Scroll the document; sections B and C are below the fold.
Median reply (answered)
3H 44M
Slowest answered
64H 36M
Past 24h or never
2 / 6
Weekday dead air
15 / 24 HRS
Section A — Latency timeline · 6 test emails · tap a row for the thread
Test sent · fictional shipper persona
Reply received · 11:42 · latency 2H 28M
SOLID REPLY. 2.5 HOURS BEATS THE INDUSTRY MEDIAN — AND IS STILL ~2.4 HOURS BEHIND A 90-SECOND DESK.
Test sent · fictional shipper persona
Reply received · 16:05 · latency 1H 14M
WE TIME FIRST HUMAN RESPONSE, NOT FIRST PRICE — A CLARIFYING QUESTION COUNTS. BEST TEST OF THE WEEK.
Test sent · fictional shipper persona
Reply received · WED 08:58 · latency 11H 21M
THE SHIPPER SAID "TONIGHT." THE REPLY CAME AT 08:58. IN THE WILD, THIS QUOTE IS USUALLY ALREADY DEAD.
Test sent · fictional shipper persona
Reply received · 15:46 · latency 3H 44M
LUNCH PLUS A SHIFT CHANGE: THE MEDIAN TEST OF THE WEEK.
Test sent · fictional shipper persona
No reply within 48-hour cutoff
THIS IS THE EMAIL A FASTER DESK ANSWERS AT 01:49. NOBODY DID.
Test sent · fictional shipper persona
Reply received · MON 05/25 09:31 · latency 64H 36M
PICKUP WAS MONDAY. THE PERSONA HAD "BOOKED ELSEWHERE" BY THEN — EXACTLY LIKE A REAL SHIPPER WOULD.
BAR SCALE: √MINUTES, CAPPED — ON A LINEAR SCALE, T-06 WOULD RUN OFF THE PAGE. GREEN = ANSWERED IN HOURS · ORANGE = AFTER-HOURS / WEEKEND GAP · STRIPED = NEVER ANSWERED.
Section B — After-hours blackout window · composite weekday, all tests
HOVER OR TAP AN HOUR — AMBER = REPLIES OBSERVED · DARK = DEAD AIR
Replies were observed between 08:00 and 17:00 only. That is 15 dead hours every weekday — plus Saturday and Sunday dark end to end (see T-06). Quote requests do not stop at 17:00; answers do.
Section C — Margin at risk · assumptions stated, sliders yours
| Assumption | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Quote requests / day | 30 | YOUR INPUT (SLIDER) |
| Avg margin / won load | $250 | YOUR INPUT (SLIDER) |
| Requests arriving after-hours / weekend | 35% | ILLUSTRATIVE — MEASURED IN REAL AUDIT |
| Baseline quote win rate | 20% | ASSUMED — STATED, ARGUABLE |
| After-hours quotes lost to a faster desk | 60% | ASSUMED — STATED, ARGUABLE |
| Win-rate decay vs latency (3.7h median) | 6%/HR, CAP 45% | SAME MODEL AS PRICING PAGE |
30
$250
| After-hours misses (never or too late) | ≈ 328 LOADS/YR → $82,000 |
| Daytime latency decay (3.7h median reply) | ≈ 225 LOADS/YR → $56,000 |
| Estimated annual margin at risk | ≈ $138,000 / YR |
ILLUSTRATIVE MODEL — EVERY ASSUMPTION IS STATED ABOVE SO YOU CAN ARGUE WITH IT. THE REAL REPORT USES YOUR MEASURED LATENCIES AND YOUR INBOX VOLUME.
END OF SAMPLE REPORT · DD-RTA-SAMPLE · ALL BROKERAGES, SHIPPERS, AND NUMBERS ABOVE ARE FICTIONAL.
Verdict: dark after 17:00THE DOCUMENT SCROLLS — SECTIONS A, B, C. YOUR REAL REPORT IS ONE PRINTED PAGE.
Median reply time across our mystery-shop sample. The fictional teardown above lands in the fat middle of the pack — and the pack is slow. "Faster than half the industry" still means nearly four hours.
SOURCE: DEADHEADDESK RESPONSE-TIME STUDY (MYSTERY-SHOP SAMPLE). BAR HEIGHTS SHOW SHAPE, NOT A CENSUS. FOR REFERENCE: THE DESK DRAFTS IN ~90 SECONDS AND HOLDS EVERY DRAFT FOR REP APPROVAL.
Full distribution & methodology →Takes a minute. We send at most six test emails over one week, then one report. The inbox is never added to any list.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| DAY 8 | The one-page teardown lands in your inbox. That's the deliverable. It's yours either way. |
| DAY 9 | One email: "Want a 20-minute walkthrough of your numbers?" Yes gets a call. No — or silence — gets silence. |
| AFTER | Nothing, unless you reach out. No sequence, no "just bumping this," no retargeting. You will not enter a funnel. |
IF THE REPORT SAYS YOU'RE FAST, IT SAYS YOU'RE FAST — AND WE'LL TELL YOU NOT TO BUY ANYTHING.
No drip — promised$2,500, credited against setup. The Quote Agent drafts in about 90 seconds, around the clock — and your reps approve every send from day one. Auto-send is earned later, lane by lane, on your terms.
$7,500 SETUP · $2,000/MO INCL. 500 ITEMS · $1.50/ITEM AFTER · NO AUTONOMOUS SENDING ON DAY ONE.