Anecdotal evidence and some qualitative research suggests that "favored shippers"—companies for which carriers prefer to haul freight—obtain better pricing and service. But do they? In this paper, Iowa State University researchers explain h, ow they sought to understand the voice of U.S. truckload carriers, how they quantitatively measured the effects of "favored shipper" characteristics on transportation costs, and what characteristics actually make shippers favored in the transportation marketplace.