Where’s “my” freight?

May 27, 2019 at 01:47 PM CST
What a difference a few months makes. The highly anticipated truckload capacity crisis and the ensuing truckload rate party lasted from late 2017 through late 2018. Beginning in early 2019 – surprise – the rate party was over. It feels like carriers have quickly gone from the best party since deregulation in 1980 to potentially the biggest hangover ever! My firm has recently noticed a disturbing trend – freight that a shipper and carrier have reciprocally “committed” to tender and haul is now all or partially moving to the spot market channel. I see this empirically from analysis of clients’ freight networks, and anecdotally from visiting and talking to carriers. Why is this happening, what are the ramifications and is there a solution?

May 27, 2019 at 01:47 PM CST

What a difference a few months makes. The highly anticipated truckload capacity crisis and the ensuing truckload rate party lasted from late 2017 through late 2018. Beginning in early 2019 – surprise – the rate party was over. It feels like carriers have quickly gone from the best party since deregulation in 1980 to potentially the biggest hangover ever! My firm has recently noticed a disturbing trend – freight that a shipper and carrier have reciprocally “committed” to tender and haul is now all or partially moving to the spot market channel. I see this empirically from analysis of clients’ freight networks, and anecdotally from visiting and talking to carriers. Why is this happening, what are the ramifications and is there a solution?