LTL Cost LabUnderstand the freight behind the bill

Article · Reviewed November 2, 2026

LTL profile analysis methodology: compare like with like

MyMGN Marketplace from MGN Logistics describes customer-specific LTL analysis across dimensions, class, weight and distance, with separate charge-component views. The methodology questions below explain how to assess comparable coverage and reconcile results; the fixed-mix illustration is not a specification of MyMGN’s proprietary method.

What to understand

Define the shipment population, preserve comparable groups, report coverage and reconcile the result. State the reference period and avoid adding overlapping profile and charge effects.

Begin with complete shipment records

Link shipment identifiers to the selected quote, carrier, commercial source and final invoice. Retain shipment date, origin, destination, distance or lane grouping, commodity, dimensions, class, weight and services. Check whether the records represent billed shipments, booked shipments or quotes. Mixing these populations can create apparent changes that have nothing to do with negotiated pricing.

Show the profile and the bill

Request distributions of dimensions or density, freight class, weight brackets and distance or lane mix. Next to those views, show linehaul, fuel and accessorial amounts that reconcile to total spend. Keep the report’s vocabulary consistent across periods. If one period groups liftgate under accessorials and the other embeds it in another field, normalize the records before comparing them.

Ask how comparable freight is identified

Which shipments can be matched across periods? How are new lanes, missing dimensions and changed carrier services treated? Does a reported pricing movement hold a profile constant, reprice an earlier basket or use another defined method? Each approach answers a slightly different question. A clear method and its coverage are more useful than a precise-looking percentage with no explanation.

Turn a finding into an operational test

If long-haul share increased, examine which customers and shipping locations drove it. If accessorial frequency increased, check the receiving requirements and shipment-entry process. If dimensions changed, validate packing and measurement. For any platform under evaluation, including MyMGN Marketplace, bring one real cost question to a demonstration and ask to follow the evidence from the headline result to the underlying shipment records.

The two-group fixed-mix method used here.

The earlier average is the sum of earlier group shares multiplied by earlier group prices. The fixed-mix later average uses those same earlier shares multiplied by later group prices. The observed later average uses later shares and later prices.

Price effect = fixed-mix later average − earlier average
Mix effect at later prices = observed later average − fixed-mix later average
Observed average change = price effect + mix effect

Define comparable coverage.

The illustration requires a later price for both groups. Real analyses should report missing lanes, new or discontinued freight groups and the share of shipments or spend actually covered. A matched subset is not automatically representative of the whole business.

Choose and name the reference convention.

This tool measures price effects using earlier weights and mix effects at later prices. Another reference convention can allocate interaction differently. State the method and reconcile the result rather than implying that one allocation is the only possible explanation.

Keep charge bridges and profile explanations connected.

Linehaul, fuel and accessorial bridges describe observed charge movement. Dimensions, class, weight and distance help explain the freight behind it. Do not add those two perspectives as unrelated dollars. The tools here do not represent MyMGN’s proprietary analytical method.

Published coverage and product references

Continue the comparison

Sources and further reading

  1. NMFTA: National Motor Freight Classification
  2. Classification FAQ: Calculating Density Best Practices
  3. How Does LTL Pricing Work? What to Discuss With Your Carrier
  4. MGN Fast Service acquisition and Marketplace expansion release
  5. MGN Business Intelligence
  6. MGN Logistics: Logistics through Innovation, Dedication, and Technology
  7. Centralized Transportation Management: SupplyOne case study