The Load Letter

Cass says truckload linehaul rates are up 11% year over year and freight shipments finally turned positive after 42 straight months of decline, the leverage on your desk just shifted ahead of Q4 contract renewals. But diesel at $5.97 with Brent near $107 means fuel surcharge discipline decides whether that leverage turns into margin, and DAT's data confirms fall is peak season for double brokering and cargo theft right when you're covering loads fast with new carriers. Also in today's briefing: ocean peak cresting late into September and keeping drayage hot in Southern California, Savannah, and Houston, China crossing the halfway mark on soybean commitments as Midwest harvest capacity tightens, Volvo's autonomy timeline, FedEx Freight's sales leadership shakeup, and Driver Appreciation Week. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

A half-million-dollar copper load stolen by carrier impersonation was recovered in eight hours on telematics data alone, and that recovery is the clearest argument yet that vetting the MC number isn't vetting the truck. We break down driver-level verification as a sales differentiator, why automated yard visibility turns detention into a receipt that cuts both ways, how to sell decisions to shippers drowning in dashboards, and the packaging shift quietly rewriting your load counts. Plus diesel at $5.60 and what it means for your core carriers heading into October. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Diesel just topped six dollars a gallon for the first time ever, and every fuel surcharge schedule and deadhead-heavy lane on your board is about to get stress-tested. We break down why tender rejections holding at 13.5 percent after Labor Day gives you leverage on spot quotes, where the produce money is as Yakima tree fruit runs away with reefer rates, and what tariff pressure, Hyundai's nearshoring push into the Southeast, and Dell's parts scramble mean for your next sales calls. Plus El Niño winter risk on I-80 and I-70, and how to actually keep your carriers during Driver Appreciation Week. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Diesel futures crossed five dollars a gallon for the first time since 2022 with pump prices closing in on six, and that number reprices every quote, every carrier call, and every margin on your board. We also cover the Port of L.A.'s busiest three months on record and an NRF forecast that September could be the year's biggest import month, DAT spot moves showing Yakima tree fruit paying the richest reefer rates in the country while ag equipment softens the flatbed outlook, Sean O'Brien's early 2028 UPS strike talk and what shipper contingency planning means for your book, tariff-driven nearshoring building new Laredo and El Paso automotive lanes, and yard automation turning dwell data into a negotiating weapon. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Brent crude punched through $100 a barrel overnight and diesel is already at $5.60, which means every stale fuel surcharge table on your desk is quietly costing you margin and carrier relationships. We also cover dry van capacity trickling back while linehaul holds at $2.21, flatbed staying firm at $2.66 with an ag equipment slump forming underneath, and C.H. Robinson putting broker liability and carrier vetting on a public stage. Plus the sugar price-fixing suit pulling General Mills and Mars into procurement scrutiny, Kodiak's driverless timeline for Sunbelt lanes, and lingering runway limits at Miami International. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Brent crude hit a six-week high at $98.48 and diesel is sitting at $5.60 a gallon, with the usual post-Labor Day price break nowhere in sight, meaning stale fuel surcharge tables and fixed fuel caps are about to eat your margin. We also cover the Amazon cargo jet crash that has two runways closed at Miami International and what it means for South Florida reefer, an $155K Guinness heist with 880 barrels still missing and the carrier vetting flags it should trigger, a federal cartel cocaine case running on U.S., Canada freight lanes, and why toll data tells you more about a carrier's true cost per lane than any invoice. Plus what to watch as small carriers decide whether to park trucks heading into Q4. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Thieves pulled $31.8 million out of freight over Labor Day weekend, and they did it by breaching legitimate carrier accounts with real MC numbers and clean history, not by posing as fake carriers. We break down why 71% of those hits landed on the weekdays around the holiday, what a trucker protest over B-1 visas means for Laredo and El Paso capacity in the next 90 days, and how toll data is teaching carriers their true cost on your specific lane. Plus current dry van, reefer, flatbed, and diesel numbers, and why $5.65 fuel is making your problem lanes harder to cover than the spot averages suggest. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

C.H. Robinson's September Edge report projects double-digit spot rate increases across dry van, reefer, and flatbed heading into 2027, driven by contracting capacity, not demand, which means the contracts you sign this quarter need escalators. We also cover the White House whole-of-government push against trucking fraud, the hung jury in the Louisiana staged accident murder trial and what it means for carrier insurance costs, and the vanishing California reefer capacity that rates haven't caught up to yet. Plus GE Appliances reshoring dryer production to Kentucky, the Fruehauf trailer fire litigation, PlusAI's SPAC deal, and Amazon Shipping's steeper 2026 holiday surcharges. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Crude punching through $96 a barrel has pushed diesel to $5.65 a gallon, blowing up stale fuel surcharge tables and squeezing small carriers before your rate data catches up. We also cover flatbed load-to-truck ratios doubling year over year while linehaul lags, vanishing California reefer capacity ahead of Central Valley produce commitments, and FMCSA decertifying 110 CDL training schools in a fraud crackdown that slows new driver supply for the next year. Plus a cooling LMI against a strengthening service sector, Old Dominion's firming yield and the partial truckload play, Chobani's $1.2 billion Pennsylvania dairy plant, Class 8 pre-buying ahead of 2027 engine costs, and Temu's shift to U.S. domestic fulfillment. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Diesel hit $5.65 a gallon as renewed fighting in the Iran conflict pushed Brent past $94, leaving brokers with stale fuel surcharge tables exposed on every long-haul quote. We also break down a flatbed load-to-truck ratio that doubled year over year while rates lag, an $800,000 Texas grain theft ring that moved 176 loads before anyone caught it, and an FMCSA purge of 110 driver training schools that thins the carrier pipeline heading into produce season. Plus ISM warning signs on manufacturing demand, the H-2A English-language ruling out of South Texas, and what the Descartes, UPS, and DHL moves say about the squeeze on the middle. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com