In the midst of the worst freight market in over a decade, we helped an OTR dry van carrier increase utilization by 150 loaded miles per truck per week.  Poor utilization is a complex puzzle with potentially hundreds of root causes.  Our team helped this carrier identify the biggest problems/opportunities, prescribe the highest-leverage countermeasures, and execute the plan at an accelerated pace.  We worked with sales, customer service, and planning to get a better understanding of the network needs and present it in an easy-to-read format that helped increase awareness and accountability and led to a record number of loads being booked.  We helped the team get into the doors of shippers they previously weren’t doing business with and helped them win big awards with these new shippers.  We taught the team about load velocity and helped them optimize pickup and delivery appointments.  We helped the shop increase equipment availability and uptime.  We also worked with the driver leaders and drivers to improve dispatch to get loads picked up and delivered faster and to help the drivers increase their weekly paychecks by running more miles.  Finally, with improved planning visibility and accountability, we helped the drivers return to work quicker after holidays and hometime.  Utilization improved, profitability improved, and driver retention improved – a real homerun!