TL pricing

Schneider sees truckload tide turning

Schneider National noted some green shoots across the modes it serves and said truckload demand has returned to normal seasonal patterns.

The Green Bay, Wisconsin-based multimodal transportation provider said Thursday it started seeing spot rates exceed contract rates (typically the requisite precursor to a positive inflection in contract rates) around last Thanksgiving, with the trend accelerating from that point into 2025. Schneider’s customers have been, “more receptive to rate restoration,”...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/schneider-sees-truckload-tide-turning

Truckload carriers: ‘Normal seasonality,’ no market inflection yet

“Normal seasonality” was the best truckload carriers could muster when describing the current freight environment at an investor conference this week. While freight demand is seeing more typical ebbs and flows from month to month, which is an improvement from a year ago, the fluctuations are occurring at a low starting point – the trough of a prolonged freight recession.

“This is seasonality similar to what you would have seen in 2019 where it wasn’t a strong market but you at least saw seasonal...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckload-carriers-normal-seasonality-no-market-inflection-yet

Werner Enterprises sees better days ahead

The truckload industry’s downturn is “closer to the end than the beginning,” Derek Leathers, Werner Enterprises’ chairman and CEO, told investors Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Industrials Conference in Chicago. He’s encouraged that spot rates held the uptick from May’s International Roadcheck, when some operators parked equipment to avoid safety checks by law enforcement, but said the market still hasn’t reached an inflection point.

The company continues to see rate pressure in the current bid...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/werner-enterprises-sees-better-days-ahead

Truckload carriers hopeful but not calling cycle turn yet

Following dismal first-quarter results, heads of two of the nation’s largest truckload fleets provided constructive market commentary at a Wednesday investor conference. That said, the long slog back to market equilibrium continues as the industry slowly purges the excess capacity added during the freight boom.

“By no means am I here saying I think we’re at a turning point or an inflection point, but I do believe, just like it took a long time to get this low and we stayed this low for this...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckload-carriers-hopeful-but-not-calling-cycle-turn-yet

Schneider National cuts 2024 outlook, notes some positive trends

Schneider National slightly missed first-quarter expectations and cut its full-year earnings outlook by nearly 25%. It noted some improving trends on a Thursday call with analysts but concluded it’s “not calling an inflection in the market.”

The most surprising takeaway from the call was the disclosure that truckload contract price renewals were positive for the first time in six quarters. For contracts renewing in the period, pricing increased by a low-single-digit percentage.

The company said...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/schneider-national-cuts-2024-outlook-notes-some-positive-trends

For-hire trucking sees ‘green shoot’ in August

A Wednesday report from ACT Research showed the trucking cycle may be “approaching [a] turning point.” All five components of ACT’s For-Hire Trucking Index showed improvement from a carrier’s perspective during August, with volumes logging a large turnaround.

ACT’s volume index jumped 12.3 percentage points to 54.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis from July to August.

A reading above 50 indicates growth while one below 50 implies contraction. The report was quick to caution that the measure is one...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/for-hire-trucking-sees-green-shoot-in-august

Knight-Swift reels in 2023 outlook after poor Q2

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Knight-Swift Transportation significantly lowered its 2023 full-year outlook Thursday, citing the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/knight-swift-reels-in-2023-outlook-after-poor-q2

Carriers punt on rest of 2022, hopeful for market normalization in ’23

Large carriers have given up on any material improvement in freight demand for the rest of the year. However, some are beginning to call for normal seasonality in 2023 with market tightening as soon as the middle of the year.

No surprise, there is no peak season

Appearing at Baird’s annual global industrial conference in Chicago, management from J.B. Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) said an inventory correction is continuing to play out throughout its customer book. An extant overhang of merchandise was...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/carriers-punt-on-rest-of-2022-hopeful-for-market-normalization-in-23

Landstar’s Q2 misses mark; revenue per load steadies

A Landstar trailer being pulled by a red tractor

Freight broker Landstar System has seen pricing moderate since the spot market’s decline early in the second quarter. Revenue per mile for dry van loads hauled by its business capacity owners (BCOs) fell 6% sequentially in both April and May but has held steady since. The metric excludes fuel surcharges and is only off 13% from the February high.  

Landstar (NASDAQ: LSTR) reported second-quarter earnings per share of $3.05 Wednesday after the market closed, 20 cents below the consensus estimate...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/landstars-q2-misses-mark-revenue-per-load-steadies

Knight-Swift positioned to perform in H2; LTL provides spark in Q2

A Knight Transportation sleeper van on the highway

Knight-Swift Transportation announced better-than-expected second-quarter results Wednesday after the market closed. The company saw revenue and margin improvement in each of its operating segments, with the less-than-truckload unit providing the biggest upside surprise.

Knight-Swift (NYSE: KNX) reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.41, 6 cents ahead of the consensus estimate and 43 cents higher year over year. The result included a 16-cent-per-share mark-to-market adjustment tied to an...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/knight-swift-positioned-to-perform-in-h2-ltl-provides-spark-in-q2

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