COLUMBUS, Ind. — The truckload market is fairly balanced as 2024 nears an end, but it is changing, according to the latest release of the Freight Forecast: Rate and Volume OUTLOOK report from ACT Research.
“Currently, with a significant capacity contraction by for-hire fleets and private fleet insourcing slowing, capacity has finally rebalanced enough for rates to start moving higher,” said Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s vice president and senior analyst.
“With DAT spot rates net fuel tracking 7% higher than a year ago in Q4, contract rates are rising modestly but consistently across DAT data, Cass data and fleets’ financial reports for the first time in three years,” he said.
In short, the freight market is expected to see better times ahead.
“The market is very close to balance. In 2025 the combination of normalizing equipment supply and a pre-tariff safety stock build are poised to drive higher for-hire freight demand and rates,” Denoyer said. “The big private fleet expansion of the past two years will likely still leave anyone looking for a boom disappointed, but the for-hire rate recession is finally over.
“The trajectory is quite different than the past two cycles, but after three years in loose territory, the truckload supply-demand balance is set to turn tighter in the coming months,” he concluded.
Linda Garner-Bunch has been with The Trucker since 2020, picking up the reins as managing editor in 2022. Linda has nearly 40 years of experience in the publishing industry, covering topics from the trucking and automotive industry to employment, real estate, home decor, crafts, cooking, weddings, high school sports — you name it, she’s written about it. She is also an experienced photographer, designer and copy editor who has a heartfelt love for the trucking industry, from the driver’s seat to the C-suite.
