The Load Letter

DAT says post-produce volume is holding while carrier count keeps thinning, so brokers pricing the fall like a soft market are about to eat the difference. We also cover the Class 8 registration forecast cut to 217,000 units, improving carrier credit quality that removes the desperation discount, Descartes buying broker TMS Tai for $100 million, consumer confidence slipping to 89.4 ahead of Q4 res...

Section 338 tariffs on Canadian imports hit 50% over the weekend with Canada promising to match, and the cross-border capacity coming loose is about to land cheap in domestic Midwest and Northeast lanes. We also cover Chris Spear's abrupt exit from the ATA and what a leadership vacuum means for broker transparency rulemaking, $131 million in Q1 cargo theft and why carrier vetting is now a sale...

Diesel has ripped ahead of the rest of the barrel to $5.26 a gallon, quietly squeezing your carriers and leaving most fuel surcharge tables under-recovering. We also cover a reefer market that's holding its premium, a still-spending but deal-hunting consumer steering freight toward discount and off-price channels, and network redesigns at Culver's and Kimberly-Clark that signal fresh lanes...

The White House pushed the 50% Canadian tariffs to Saturday the 22nd, giving brokers a narrow cross-border pull-forward window before volume risks falling off a cliff. We break down the Panama Canal's August 26th draft cut and what rerouted boxes mean for Southern California outbound, Fed minutes signaling higher-for-longer rates against diesel at $5.26, plus Pennsylvania's CDL-mill crackd...

Diesel hit $5.26 a gallon on $91.91 Brent while dry van and flatbed spot linehaul cooled for a second straight week, a fuel-up, rates-down squeeze that's about to reshape how your carriers answer the phone. We also cover a near-record July at the Port of LA and the SoCal outbound window it opens, Americold's new Atlantic Canada cold chain gateway at Port Saint John, proposed Mexican duties...

A supply-driven freight market is correcting fast in both directions, and brokers still quoting last month's numbers are already losing margin, so reprice volatile lanes daily. Inside: Tyson closing three more beef plants threatens origin-specific reefer capacity, BNSF's faster Phoenix, Dallas intermodal service pressures Southwest dry van lanes, ocean blank sailings set up premium drayage...

Diesel is sitting above $5.26 a gallon after the U.S.-Iran peace deal collapsed with the Strait of Hormuz still contested, and your carriers want that cost passed straight to you. We also cover the insurance squeeze thinning out small fleets, an FBI tax-fraud dragnet hitting owner-operators, rising cargo theft losses per incident, the tariff-and-nearshoring tug-of-war on the Mexico border, and the...

DAT's Dean Croke says spot rates are climbing while volumes fall, a capacity-driven market that will test your contract book before Q4 bid season, so reprice your losing lanes now. We also cover diesel at $5.26 as tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz spike crude, a post-produce reefer floor holding at parity with dry van, rising cargo theft losses and a SoCal rail heist, soft air cargo signa...

Spot rates are climbing even as freight volumes fall, DAT's calling it a capacity-driven market where carriers are exiting faster than freight, so leverage has shifted to the trucks and it's time to protect your best capacity instead of squeezing it. We also cover a Long Beach import surge about to need wheels, a produce market cooling off its peak but holding well above 2025, the de minim...

Contract truckload rates just posted the largest June-to-July jump on record for dry van and reefer, and they climbed while volumes fell, the clearest sign yet this is a capacity-driven market, not a demand one. We break down what that means for repricing your shipper lanes, plus $5.26 diesel squeezing your small carriers, Class 8 orders hitting a production ceiling ahead of peak, and a rich flatb...

Brent's 5% Strait of Hormuz surge pushed diesel to $5.26 a gallon, and spring-bid fuel surcharges are already stale on every long-haul lane. We also cover a near-four-year-high LMI signaling still-tight dry van capacity, Landstar quietly cutting 35,000 carriers from its network, the FMCSA locking in English proficiency rules, flatbed running hot at $2.83 as shippers pay more to move less, and...

Dry van spot is stuck at $2.38 because shippers are shifting long-haul freight to intermodal on a near-record rail-truck spread, but that freight is on a rubber band that snaps back to trucks the moment peak-season rail service breaks. We also cover diesel at $5.31 squeezing small carriers, accelerating cargo theft in SoCal, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta and Chicago, why carrier vetting is becoming a...

New antidumping duties on Canadian and Mexican van trailers collide with four-decade-high demand, signaling tighter, pricier drop-and-hook capacity over the next two quarters. We also cover Daimler's 2029 U.S. assembly plant and the lanes it will create, a PACCAR recall pulling small-carrier trucks off the road, organized theft rings targeting high-value freight, the SMB shipping trap as a bus...

Washington just dropped antidumping duties on Canadian and Mexican van and reefer trailers, quietly raising your carriers' cost to add capacity, while U.S. diesel exports hit a record and keep the pump near $5.31. We break down the spot board, a cooling-but-strong LMI, tight used Class 8 supply, expanded DHS trucking enforcement squeezing cheap carriers, and a middle-market cash crunch that sh...

Summer freight is softening and van spot rates are sliding, but capacity is quietly leaving underneath, so this briefing walks brokers through holding rate discipline while flatbed still pays nearly 40% above last year. We also cover Cassandra Gaines' new BAVRA Standard for grading brokers before the tender, a Texas ruling that keeps liability pressure downstream, Homeland Security expanding C...

Shippers moved less freight in Q2 but paid sharply more, and the culprit was tightening truck capacity, not fuel, signaling a capacity-led squeeze dressed up as a soft market. We break down Schneider's warning that driver capacity cuts run through year-end, a four-year-high manufacturing PMI feeding flatbed and LTL, and where dry van, reefer, and open deck rates sit today. Plus the states'...

Oil fell nearly 5% overnight, and while diesel still sits at $5.13, relief is coming in the next 10-14 days, a quiet margin opportunity on spot freight if you don't hand it straight to carriers. We also cover Daimler shuttering its Portland truck plant and what it signals for capacity, a Louisiana CDL bribery scheme that should make you tighten carrier vetting, and Tyson's profit cut as a...

Oil tumbled nearly 7% over the weekend after U.S., Iran strikes paused, so diesel and your fuel surcharges are about to follow, adjust your surcharge math now before you overprice bids or hand back margin. Also inside: a new Detroit border crossing set to speed up Ontario-to-Midwest cross-border freight, Asia-to-U.S. ocean rates up 234% since February and the port-drayage wave headed for your dome...

Knight-Swift and Trucking Info both point to the same trend: a supply-driven capacity crunch is set to accelerate starting in September, and brokers who lock in carrier relationships now will be the ones who benefit come peak season. This episode also covers a dry van demand shift into overlooked lanes, a sharp reefer capacity reversal, flatbed opportunity tied to the AI data center buildout, the...

Brent crude jumped nearly $3 overnight on the Iran conflict, and brokers need to revisit fuel surcharges before carriers force the issue. Also in today's briefing: capacity-driven (not demand-driven) tightening means pricing this market as fragile, DAT flags a surprise demand pocket in dry van, flatbed brokers get a business development lane from AI-driven data center construction, Tropical St...

Ten nights of strikes on Iran just pushed Brent above $90 a barrel, and diesel at $4.80 is still catching up, so fuel surcharge language needs updating now. We also break down new 50% Section 338 tariffs hitting Canadian freight in 30 days, the case for July being a Goldilocks market as contracted freight gains on the load board, parcel fuel surcharges pushing shippers to shop mode-shift savings,...

California reefer capacity tightened across six growing districts in a single week, already driving double-digit rate jumps in the Northeast, and brokers quoting last week's numbers are already behind. The Cass June data shows a telling disconnect between softening volumes and rising linehaul rates, with permanent capacity loss explaining the gap heading into Q3. Also covered: diesel at $4.58...

The spring import surge is transitioning, LA posted its busiest June ever, but ocean rates are softening and a domestic freight hangover is building for import-heavy shippers. California reefer flipped tight across six districts simultaneously, Northeast rates are already moving double digits, and ATRI's record carrier cost numbers explain why flatbed is holding firm at $2.69 a mile. Also cove...

Iran's threat to block energy exports sent Brent crude up sixty-three cents in a single session, and with diesel already at $4.58 and Q3 fuel costs projecting higher, brokers need to get in front of shipper FSC conversations before the market moves further. Also in today's briefing: the Port of Long Beach posts its third-busiest June on record, flatbed spot leads all modes at $2.69 on stro...

Brent crude surged nearly 15% in two days and diesel is at $4.58 a gallon, and brokers need to check FSC table alignment on contract lanes before carriers come knocking. Manufacturing backlogs are at their highest since late 2022 as businesses stockpile ahead of a volatile second half, setting up a capacity tightening story for Q3. Also covered: the Gordie Howe Bridge opens July 27th and what it m...