We call them freight cycles, but the term implies a regularity the data doesn’t support. Since 2000, the domestic transportation market’s turns have looked less like clockwork and more like a series of random shocks
The new index from SONAR shows that carriers have been trying to get rate increases since before the market turned, now they are getting what would have been the equivalent of a few years worth in one.
Many expected a recovering truckload market after months of rate inflation. The data suggests the opposite.
The Northwestern harvests are crushing capacity, but only temporarily. The Midwest’s sustained tightness tells a more meaningful long-term story about capacity.
Trucking spot rates once again are rising as demand falls, but insufficient capacity is not the only culprit this time.
Rates are once again a poor indicator of demand in the maritime space. Comparing data on the Mediterranean and trans-Pacific lanes highlights this.
Fuel costs are possibly one of the most misunderstood items in transportation. Its impact on carriers is uneven and more nuanced than most expect.
Container import activity has been steady throughout the summer with no sharp shifts in inventories. Recent history suggests that will change.
Tender volumes have gone nowhere for two years. Rejections have tripled. The data says this cycle has been defined by capacity leaving the market — not by surging freight demand.
Container import demand has been elevated but stable. Why are rates volatile?
Shippers appear to be using intermodal as pricing spreads near all-time highs, but there are risks to this looming later in the year.
A quiet indicator of supply chain strategy shifts, the tender lead time is telling us many things about how shippers are feeling about transportation markets.
J.B. Hunt’s strong earnings were largely driven by a historic growth in intermodal usage.
Container import bookings are riding a prolonged wave as new tariffs are reviewed. How much of this is tariff induced and what does it mean for domestic transportation markets?
Trucking’s tightness could last well into 2027, if not further.
LTL revenues appear to be strengthening in Q2, but is this a product of fuel or something more structural?
Supply chain adaptations have led to diminishing distances for truckloads. The shrinking length of haul has mitigated some of the recent market capacity shortfalls.
Rising costs and stubbornly high transits could further challenge supply chains in the second half of the year.
The unanimous Supreme Court ruling on broker liability will carry a cost that is yet to be determined.
Trucking is about to encounter its next biggest seasonal disruptor of the year in the form of increased inspection rates. What does that mean for the already tight market?
