TL capacity

Werner Enterprises’ third-quarter result comes in ahead of analysts’ forecasts.

Management from truck broker Landstar sees no near-term letup in tight truck market fundamentals. The company’s fourth-quarter guidance brackets its EPS record set in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Knight-Swift Transportation’s third-quarter report provides an earnings beat, a 2020 guidance raise and a better-than-consensus first take at 2021 earnings as the carrier sees “strong freight conditions” continuing.

Data and commentary point to an earnings blowout for trucking companies in the third quarter with the likelihood of similar results in the fourth quarter. However, headwinds surrounding driver recruitment and retention present a hurdle to the rally.

Soaring demand and a lack of truck capacity have industry participants calling for double-digit rate increases in 2021. UBS transportation equities analyst Tom Wadewitz outlines his bullish call in a note to clients.

Transportation capacity has dropped to new lows and the precipitous rate at which pricing is increasing is expected to continue for at least the next 12 months, according to a September supply chain survey.

Cass data for the month of August shows significant acceleration in demand and rates but the comparisons to 2019 still lag other data sources.

Recent stabilization in truckload markets with a recovery expected later in the year were some of the takeaways from Wolfe Research’s investor conference.

Landstar has seen volume declines accelerate in recent weeks and management believes that a recovery is unlikely until the automotive and building products segments resume activity.

Virus-related demand headwinds bring fresh declines in February Cass data. Visibility into a potential trucking recovery is further clouded.

Outlook for future improvement to earnings is still hazy as Morgan Stanley analyst lowers fourth-quarter estimates for most transportation companies.

The biggest truckload carrier in the U.S. Knight-Swift cuts its fourth quarter 2019 earnings outlook again. The company plans to “revise” its first quarter 2020 guidance in January.