Best Time to Make Sales Calls to Freight Shippers.

Freight reps, before you make your next call to a shipping manager, take a moment to consider when you’re calling. The timing of your outreach can be just as important as your pitch.

Understanding the weekly schedule of freight shippers is key to improving your sales performance. Certain days and specific times within those days are more likely to lead to positive responses and productive conversations.

How Shippers Manage Their Week

To increase your success rate, you need to align your sales efforts with the typical work rhythm of a freight shipper:

Monday mornings are focused on freight that moved over the weekend.
Friday mornings are filled with urgency to finalize outbound shipments.
Midweek afternoons tend to be less hectic and more open to outside conversations.

Sales Calling Cheat Sheet for Freight Reps

Use the chart below to guide your sales strategy and improve your cold call and follow-up call outcomes.

Best Times to Call Freight Shippers

Day of the Week	Cold Call	Follow-Up Call
Monday Morning	Never - Shipper is focused upon freight moved over the weekend.	Not unless the shipper's freight moved over the weekend. - OK to update them.
Monday Afternoon	No - do follow-up calls	Yes
Tuesday Morning	No - do follow-up calls	Yes
Tuesday Afternoon	Yes	No - cold call instead
Wednesday Morning	Yes	No - cold call instead
Wednesday Afternoon	Yes	No - cold call instead
Thursday Morning	No - do follow-up calls	Yes
Thursday Afternoon	Yes	No - cold call instead
Friday Morning	Never - Shipper is focused upon ensuring that their freight moved over the weekend.	Never - Shipper is focused upon ensuring that their freight moved over the weekend.
Friday Afternoon	Yes - This is the BEST TIME	No - cold call instead

Top Takeaways: When to Call Freight Shippers

Avoid Monday and Friday mornings
Aim for Tuesday to Thursday afternoons
Friday afternoon is statistically the best time to cold call
Use mornings for follow-up calls, especially Monday–Thursday

Final Thoughts on Cold Calling Freight Shippers

Cold calling will never be effortless—but by calling at the right time, you significantly improve your odds of getting past the gatekeeper and into a real conversation.

Timing is a simple change that can have a powerful impact on your freight sales results.

Check out another blog post that includes our proven Free Freight Sales Cold Calling Script.

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