Risk surface
Truckload & LTL
Domestic capacity, spot and contract pricing, LTL general rate increases.
-
Domestic Freight Is Calmer Than July—but Q4 Relief Still Looks Limited
Late-September freight signals suggest the domestic market has shifted from sharp summer repricing to a stubbornly elevated Q4 cost floor. Old Dominion's new 4.9% LTL increase, ...
-
Ocean Rates Were Supposed to Ease After Peak Season. Instead, Asia-U.S. Prices Are Staying High.
New mid-September benchmarks from Drewry and Xeneta show Asia-U.S. container rates still holding at unusually high levels, with East Coast pricing above $10,000 and capacity con...
-
Record Diesel Prices Are Now Hitting the Freight Invoice
A record jump in the DOE/EIA diesel benchmark is poised to flow quickly into fuel surcharges and all-in freight invoices, raising near-term cost and budgeting risk across U.S. s...
-
Senate Targets ‘Chameleon Carriers’ in New Bill, Putting Fresh Pressure on Freight Vetting and Cargo Security
A bipartisan Senate bill introduced July 28, 2026 would push FMCSA to better detect chameleon carriers at registration, signaling tougher scrutiny but leaving shippers, brokers,...
-
Intermodal Is Becoming Shippers’ Main Escape Valve From Tight Truckload—But the Risk May Just Be Moving Downstream
July 2026 earnings commentary, rail traffic data and market research all point to a stronger intermodal conversion cycle as truckload tightness and fuel costs push more freight ...
-
Fuel Is Now Broadening the 2026 Freight Cost Squeeze Beyond Truckload
Mid-July 2026 freight data from AFS Logistics, TD Cowen, FreightWaves and Tabi Connect indicates the domestic freight repricing cycle is broadening beyond truckload. Higher dies...
-
LTL Carriers Are Gaining Leverage as Truckload Tightens—and That Could Broaden the 2026 Freight Cost Squeeze
LTL carriers appear to be gaining pricing power in mid-2026 as truckload capacity tightens, with heavier shipments shifting modes and fuel and labor costs amplifying the effect....
-
Truckload Spot Rates Have Moved Above COVID-Era Highs, and July Is Showing the Tight U.S. Freight Market Isn’t Letting Up
Early July freight data suggests U.S. truckload pricing has moved into a broader repricing cycle, with spot rates above prior COVID-era highs, June pricing near record levels, a...
-
Dry Van Spot Rates Jumped 31% in May, Giving Shippers a Clearer Warning That U.S. Truckload Costs Are Repricing
Late-June market data shows the U.S. truckload cycle has moved from early tightening into more visible repricing. U.S. Bank and DAT reported dry van spot linehaul rates at $2.14...
-
Freight’s Recovery Is Exposing a New Weak Link: Drayage Capacity Is Becoming the Next Industrial Supply-Chain Risk
Freight demand is improving in June 2026, but the recovery is exposing a fragile point in the network: drayage and short-haul execution at the end of intermodal moves. Rising in...
-
Freight Costs Are Rising Again: Gulf Fallout, Early Peak Imports and LTL Repricing Tighten the June Market
Early June 2026 brought a broader freight repricing cycle as Gulf-related disruption, higher fuel costs, front-loaded import demand and firmer LTL pricing combined to push trans...
-
U.S. Truckload Is Entering a Cost Squeeze: April Capacity Drop and Q1 Spending Jump Raise the Stakes
New May 5 data suggests U.S. truckload has moved from simple tightening into a sharper cost squeeze. U.S. Bank’s Q1 Freight Payment Index showed spending up 12.9% quarter over q...
-
Air Freight vs. Hot Shot Trucking: How to Choose the Best Recovery Option for Urgent Industrial Shipments
This article explains why urgent industrial shipments should be evaluated on total door-to-door recovery time rather than mode labels alone. It compares dedicated hot shot truck...
-
Chameleon Carriers Are Reappearing in Tight Freight Markets—and Raising the Risk for Shippers and Brokers
Chameleon carriers use new identities to re-enter the freight market after safety, insurance or enforcement problems. Recent FMCSA modernization efforts, official cases and a hi...
-
North American Truckload Enters a Supply-Driven Tightening Phase as Rates Rise in Q2
Late-April market updates from TRAFFIX, ACT Research, Covenant Logistics and others suggest North American truckload is moving into a more durable tightening cycle in Q2 2026. T...
-
‘Trojan Driver’ Cargo Theft Scam Exposes a New Weak Point in Trucking Security
A new cargo-theft tactic reportedly places criminal operatives inside legitimate trucking companies as drivers, allowing theft to occur after normal carrier vetting has already ...
-
March Data Signals a Clearer U.S. Truckload Turn as Cass and DAT Show Tighter Capacity and Higher Rates
New March 2026 data from Cass and DAT strengthen the case that the U.S. truckload market is moving into a more constrained phase, with improving freight volumes, tighter capacit...
-
U.S. Truckload Market Tightens Fast as Covid-Era Pricing Extremes Return and Diesel Keeps Climbing
New April 2026 freight reporting points to a meaningful shift in the U.S. truckload market: capacity is tightening, spot rates are rising at the fastest pace since spring 2020, ...
-
Mexico Truckers’ Nationwide Strike Hits Key Freight Corridors, Raising New Risks for U.S.-Mexico Supply Chains
A nationwide truckers’ and farmers’ strike in Mexico began April 6 with planned blockades across multiple states, threatening the highway network that feeds the largest U.S.-Mex...