📊 Daily Market Intelligence Report
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
7:00 AM CST
📊 Top-Line Summary
On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, the domestic spot market maintains its upward momentum, with total available loads rising 3.1% overnight to 171,007 and the market average rate holding firm at $3.08/mile. High operating costs persist as the national AAA diesel average sits at $5.162/gallon, establishing a rigid cost floor that limits carrier deadhead and keeps capacity highly localized. Peak summer produce harvests in the Southeast and West Coast are driving intense temperature-controlled demand, while severe flash flooding in Texas and river flooding in the Midwest disrupt major transit corridors like I-10 and I-74. For freight brokers, these regional capacity imbalances and the widening spread between posted and paid rates across flatbed, reefer, and heavy-haul sectors present high-margin arbitrage opportunities.
⛽ Diesel Price Analysis
Diesel Historical Price Comparison
🌦️ Weather & Seasonal Intelligence
Current Major Weather Events:
- Flash Flood Warning (Southeast Texas (TX, Brazoria County)): Life-threatening flash flooding of creeks, streams, highways, and underpasses is occurring. This may disrupt local freight movement and delay transit along regional corridors.
- River Flooding (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas (LA, MS, TX, Lafayette, Vermilion, Webb, St. Tammany counties)): Minor flooding is forecast for several rivers, including the Vermilion River at Lafayette and the Sabine River near Deweyville. This could delay transit along the I-10 corridor and restrict local capacity as drivers avoid flooded areas.
- River Flooding (Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri (IA, IL, MO, Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Bureau, La Salle, Putnam, St. Charles, St. Louis counties)): Minor flooding is occurring along the Illinois River, affecting major transit corridors like I-74 and I-55. This could delay shipments and force carriers to take longer detour routes, tightening regional flatbed and dry van capacity.
- High Wind Warning (Wyoming (WY, North Snowy Range Foothills, Laramie Range, Southwest Platte County)): West winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 70 mph are expected along Interstate 80 between mile markers 240 and 290. These strong crosswinds pose a severe hazard to light weight or high profile vehicles, including tractor-trailers, and could delay transit or force temporary closures on this critical northern transcontinental route.
Weather Affected Corridors:
Weather Insight
I-10 reliability stays soft even after Texas conditions improve
Flash flooding around the Houston-Brazoria area is a same-day pickup problem, but the larger freight issue is a rolling Gulf Coast disruption. Southeast Texas improves Thursday, while Louisiana and Mississippi turn wetter through Friday and into the weekend, keeping the Houston-Baton Rouge-New Orleans corridor less reliable even after water recedes on the Texas side.
- Protect eastbound transit with wider delivery windows and same-day check calls on cross-dock freight.
- Expect carriers to price detention and reroute risk into Gulf Coast reefer and flatbed quotes, not just linehaul miles.
Weather Insight
Central Illinois flooding is a 24- to 48-hour turn-time hit
Heavy rain, gusty winds, and ongoing river flooding around Peoria make I-74 and nearby bridge crossings a productivity problem through Thursday rather than a single-weather-cycle delay. The sharpest impact falls on flatbed, heavy-haul, and appointment freight that cannot absorb bridge detours, per mit slowdowns, or late reloads.
- Quote extra transit on Peoria, Bloomington, and St. Louis-linked reloads.
- Do not count on same-day empty repositioning across central Illinois.
💰 Financial Market Indicators
- Diesel Futures: Crude oil prices fell below $80/barrel following the signing of the US-Iran MOU to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Friday. This is expected to pave the way for continued decreases in wholesale and retail diesel prices, though global inventory deficits will keep the downward trajectory gradual.
- Carrier Financial Health: High operating costs, anchored by the current AAA diesel price of $5.162/gallon, continue to squeeze carrier margins, particularly for owner-operators. However, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and falling oil prices offer some medium-term relief, though carriers remain highly sensitive to deadhead miles.
- Economic Indicators: The CSCMP's 2026 Annual State of Logistics Report highlights a 'structural reset' in the logistics market, where supply chain managers must treat volatility and disruption as the norm due to tariff complexities and geopolitical uncertainties.
📰 Impactful News Analysis
-
Amazon Disrupts LTL Market by Opening Internal Network to Shippers 🔗:
Amazon's entry into the LTL space represents a massive structural shift, directly challenging established giants like Old Dominion Freight Line. For brokers, this could eventually introduce a highly digitized, asset-backed capacity pool, forcing traditional LTL carriers to adjust pricing. In the short term, brokers should use this development to negotiate more competitive rates with existing LTL partners and prepare clients for a shifting LTL landscape.
-
CSCMP State of Logistics Report Warns of Permanent Volatility and 'Structural Reset' 🔗:
The 2026 report emphasizes that supply chain volatility is no longer temporary but structural, driven by tariff complexity and geopolitical shifts. Brokers must position themselves as strategic consultants rather than transactional service providers. Emphasizing risk mitigation, flexible routing, and real-time capacity sourcing will be key to retaining high-value shipper clients who are bracing for ongoing disruptions.
-
Retailers Face Doubling of Ocean Contract Rates Amid Capacity Pressures 🔗:
Importers are facing a 'double-barrel reality' of rising ocean rates and capacity constraints, with India-USEC rates hitting a 20-month high. This ocean-side pressure is highly likely to trigger early peak-season domestic volume surges as retailers pull inventory forward to avoid further rate hikes. Brokers should proactively secure dry van and drayage capacity near major East Coast ports, particularly Savannah and New York/New Jersey, to capitalize on this influx.
-
Strait of Hormuz Reopening Triggers Oil Price Drop, Promising Fuel Surcharge Relief 🔗:
The signing of the US-Iran MOU to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Friday has already pushed Brent crude below $80/barrel. While retail diesel prices (currently at $5.162/gallon) will take time to reflect this drop, the downward trend will eventually ease carrier operating costs. Brokers should monitor fuel surcharge indexes closely, as falling surcharges will lower all-in spot rates, though carriers may resist rate concessions initially to recoup lost margins.
News Insight
Port pull-forward tightens drayage before it tightens linehaul
Retailers accelerating imports are likely to squeeze Savannah first at the port edge through chassis access, pre-pulls, and short dray-to-transload turns before the broader over-the-road van market fully reacts. Brokers that can pair port work with inland Memphis or Atlanta linehaul should hold margin better as shippers shift from rate shopping to cargo-clearing mode.
- Power-only and short-haul day-cab capacity near Savannah should firm faster than long-haul van capacity.
- Late-week spillover into inland warehouse markets across Georgia and western Tennessee is likely.
News Insight
Falling crude is not a same-week truckload discount
The break in oil prices matters, but it will not immediately reset spot truckload pricing while retail diesel still sits above $5.16 and carriers are buying fuel at current pump levels. Near-term negotiations are more likely to move through surcharge conversations than through lower base linehaul, especially on short regional freight where deadhead and delay costs still outweigh fuel relief.
🗺️ Regional & Lane Analysis
📍 Primary Region Focus: Southeast US
The Southeast is currently the epicenter of freight broker opportunity due to the convergence of peak summer produce harvests (blueberries, peaches, watermelons) and a surge in port import volumes. This has created a severe capacity squeeze, particularly for temperature-controlled equipment, driving reefer paid rates to a $0.34/mile premium over posted rates. Additionally, localized river flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi has disrupted key transit corridors like I-10, forcing routing adjustments and trapping open-deck capacity. This combination of high demand, tight capacity, and operational disruptions creates ideal conditions for brokers to capitalize on rate volatility and secure high-margin arbitrage opportunities.
🛣️ Key Lane Watch
Atlanta, GA → Miami, FL: This high-volume lane is experiencing intense seasonal pressure as peak Georgia produce harvests (peaches, blueberries, watermelons) compete for temperature-controlled equipment. Outbound capacity from Atlanta is highly constrained, driving reefer paid rates significantly higher. Dry van demand is also rising as retailers position inventory for the summer season.
Savannah, GA → Memphis, TN: This critical intermodal and over-the-road corridor is seeing a surge in volume driven by retailers pulling import cargo forward to preempt potential tariff increases and rising ocean contract rates. Flatbed and dry van demand is exceptionally strong as containers are drayed from the Port of Savannah and transloaded for inland distribution to the Memphis logistics hub.
Regional Insight
Atlanta-Miami reefer economics improve when the reload is sold first
Southbound reefer scarcity will stay elevated as Georgia fruit and watermelon loads compete with Florida grocery replenishment, so the cleaner margin play is to buy the lane against a planned northbound reload instead of chasing one-off coverage. Carriers will often soften the headhaul price when the return is secured in advance, even if the Florida backhaul is priced below market averages.
- Thursday through Saturday should be the tightest pickup window as produce volume builds into weekend deliveries.
- Use northbound dry or temp-protected freight to widen the carrier pool when reefer reloads are thin.
📊 Analyzing Today's Load Board: Rate Spreads and Volume Surges
Today's real-time load board data reveals a highly active spot market, with total available loads rising 3.1% overnight to 171,007. This upward momentum is driven primarily by the open-deck and specialized sectors, while dry van and LTL partial volumes experienced minor contractions. The market average rate holds firm at $3.08/mile, matching the level seen one week ago and indicating a stable but elevated pricing environment.
The most lucrative opportunities for brokers today lie in the reefer and flatbed sectors, where significant rate spreads exist. Reefer available loads sit at 7,702, with average paid rates commanding a substantial $0.34/mile premium ($3.43 paid vs. $3.09 posted). This premium is a direct result of peak summer produce demand, which forces shippers to pay top dollar for temperature-controlled equipment. Conversely, dry van capacity shows a $0.07/mile broker advantage ($2.68 paid vs. $2.75 posted), suggesting that while van capacity is readily available, brokers can secure favorable margins by negotiating aggressively with carriers who are eager to keep their wheels turning amidst high fuel costs.
🔧 Carrier Financial Pressures and the Impact of Falling Fuel Prices
Despite the recent drop in crude oil prices following the Strait of Hormuz peace deal, carriers are still operating under intense financial pressure. The national AAA diesel average of $5.162/gallon remains a rigid cost floor, severely limiting a carrier's willingness to deadhead for loads. This high-cost environment has kept capacity highly localized, as owner-operators and small fleets cannot afford to run empty miles without substantial compensation.
However, the projected decline in diesel prices over the coming weeks could shift carrier behavior. As fuel costs ease, carriers may become more willing to accept longer deadhead runs to secure higher-paying freight, particularly in tight regional markets like the Southeast. Brokers should use this transitional period to lock in capacity on longer-haul lanes before carriers adjust their pricing expectations downward. Additionally, keeping a close eye on carrier compliance and vetting remains critical, as financial distress during this 'structural reset' can lead to an increase in fraudulent double-brokering schemes.
🌐 Macro Freight Pulse: Strait of Hormuz Reopening and the CSCMP Structural Reset
The global logistics landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, as highlighted by two major developments this week. First, the signing of the US-Iran MOU to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Friday has sent shockwaves through energy markets, pushing Brent crude below $80/barrel. While this promises eventual relief at the pump for domestic carriers, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' (CSCMP) 2026 Annual State of Logistics Report warns that supply chain managers must view volatility as the permanent norm. The report emphasizes that tariff complexities and geopolitical uncertainties are driving a 'structural reset' in how global networks operate.
Domestically, this is manifested in retailers bracing for a doubling of ocean service contract rates, prompting them to pull import volumes forward. This front-loading of cargo is already straining drayage and over-the-road capacity near major East Coast ports. Brokers must synthesize these macro signals to anticipate domestic capacity shifts, advising clients to secure long-term capacity now before peak-season demand collides with these structural supply chain adjustments.
Strategic Takeaways
High-Signal Additions
- Treat Gulf Coast transit risk as a multi-day pricing factor, not a same-day weather surcharge.
- Near Savannah, secure drayage and power-only capacity before long-haul van coverage becomes the bottleneck.
- Buy Southeast reefers as roundtrips wherever possible; one-way spot coverage will stay expensive into the weekend.
- Hold the line on immediate fuel concessions until retail diesel and surcharge indexes actually move lower.
🔑 Executive Signal Summary
The spot market is firmer, not looser.
- Total available loads are 171,007, up 3.1% from 165,824.
- The national average rate is $3.08/mile, unchanged from one week ago, even though total loads are below the 181,037 seen then.
- Read-through: more freight is showing up, but usable capacity is still tight where it matters.
Brokers still have buy-side leverage in only two main pockets:
- Dry van: $2.75 posted vs. $2.68 paid = $0.07/mile broker advantage
- LTL (Less Than Truckload)/Partial: $1.80 posted vs. $1.66 paid = $0.14/mile broker advantage
Carrier leverage is clear in every premium execution mode:
- Reefer: $3.09 posted vs. $3.43 paid = $0.34/mile carrier premium
- Flatbed: $3.57 posted vs. $3.75 paid = $0.18/mile carrier premium
- Heavy haul: $3.68 posted vs. $3.94 paid = $0.26/mile carrier premium
- Specialized: $3.21 posted vs. $3.38 paid = $0.17/mile carrier premium
Open-deck is still where the market’s center of gravity sits.
- Flatbed + heavy haul + specialized = 129,090 loads
- That is 75.5% of all available loads
- Those same segments account for 44,297 moved loads, or 81.4% of all moved freight
- Translation: truck positioning, service failures, and margin swings are still concentrated in open-deck and specialty execution.
Diesel at $5.162/gallon remains a hard behavioral floor.
- Falling crude matters later.
- Today, carriers are still pricing pump-cost reality, deadhead pain, and reload certainty.
Weather is hurting productivity more than truck count.
- I-10 Gulf Coast flooding
- I-74 / I-55 central Illinois flooding
- I-80 Wyoming wind risk
- These are turn-time, ETA, and reload problems—which is exactly where broker margin disappears if quoted loosely.
🧠 What the market is really saying
Headline load growth is not the same thing as easier coverage.
- When the market holds $3.08/mile with 171,007 loads, while one week ago it also held $3.08/mile with 181,037 loads, that usually means effective capacity is tighter than the board count suggests.
- In plain English: fewer trucks are willing to solve bad freight cheaply.
Posted-versus-paid spreads matter more than raw volume today.
- Van and LTL/partial are still tradable buy-side markets.
- Reefer, flatbed, heavy haul, and specialized are execution-led markets where replacement cost rises fast once a shipment becomes urgent.
OTRI (Outbound Tender Rejection Index) being elevated in the Southeast and Midwest matters.
- That tells you contract carriers are still rejecting enough freight to support spot pricing, especially in reefer and flatbed.
- Practical meaning: do not quote premium freight as if spot is a backup market with abundant cheap capacity.
Carrier psychology is hyper-local right now.
- At $5.162 diesel, the carrier’s real questions are:
- Can I reload quickly?
- Will weather break my next turn?
- Will I get stuck at a bad receiver?
- How much unpaid repositioning is hidden in this load?
- Brokers who answer those questions clearly will buy better than brokers who only talk rate.
Shipper psychology is the bigger trap today.
- Some customers will see more available loads and assume trucks are easier.
- That is the wrong read in reefer, flatbed, heavy haul, and specialized.
- Your job today is expectation management: explain that board activity is rising, but executable capacity is still lane- and mode-specific.
🚚 Mode-by-Mode Broker Playbook
🚛 Dry Van: Still the cleanest margin window, but probably narrowing
What the numbers say
- 24,209 available loads
- 5,180 moved today
- $2.75 posted / $2.68 paid
- $0.07/mile broker advantage
What it means
- Van is still buyable.
- But it is not soft—it is selectively favorable if you buy early and avoid ugly reload markets.
- Savannah pull-forward activity and produce-related truck diversion can tighten van faster than the national average suggests.
What to do today
- Pre-cover outbound regional freight before midday
- Shorten quote validity on same-day freight
- Prioritize warehouse-to-warehouse loads with clean appointments
- Buy carriers that already have next-load visibility
Best use case
- Regional, fast-turn, low-drama freight
- That is where the $0.07/mile edge is most real.
🧊 Reefer: Premium-first quoting only
What the numbers say
- 7,702 available loads
- 1,510 moved today
- $3.09 posted / $3.43 paid
- $0.34/mile carrier premium
What it means
- This is the tightest mainstream execution market on the board.
- Peak produce from Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, California, New Jersey, and the Midwest is competing with grocery and cold-chain freight.
- The average premium already says “tight”; produce-origin lanes will often feel tighter than the national spread.
What to do today
- Quote replacement cost, not hope
- Verify commodity, temperature, pre-cool, and appointment tolerance before posting
- Sell roundtrip economics whenever possible
- Pair outbound produce with planned return freight before you go buy the headhaul
Margin math that matters
- On a 500-mile reefer load, the current average carrier premium is $170 before detention, layover, or temp-risk costs.
- That is why underquoting reefer by “just a little” becomes a money-loser fast.
Best broker posture
- Service-first, claims-avoidance first, reload-planning first
- Cheap reefers are often expensive outcomes.
🪵 Flatbed: Strong demand, firm pricing, little forgiveness
What the numbers say
- 75,410 available loads
- 26,360 moved today
- $3.57 posted / $3.75 paid
- $0.18/mile carrier premium
What it means
- Flatbed is still the largest premium market in motion.
- Summer construction plus weather-driven detours are stretching turns.
- Flooding is turning a lot of quoted mileage into real-world mileage plus time loss.
What to do today
- Quote routed miles, not ideal map miles
- Confirm tarp, securement, loading method, and crane/forklift support before booking
- Add weather and detention assumptions up front
- Treat Midwest reload timing as slower than normal for 24-48 hours
Margin math that matters
- On a 500-mile flatbed load, average underbuy versus paid market is about $90.
- That is enough to erase a “good” gross margin if you guessed wrong on route or loading conditions.
🏗️ Heavy Haul: Carrier-led and permit-sensitive
What the numbers say
- 34,318 available loads
- 11,113 moved today
- $3.68 posted / $3.94 paid
- $0.26/mile carrier premium
What it means
- Heavy haul remains a project-management mode, not a board-shopping mode.
- Flooding in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri exposure areas raises route uncertainty and slows permits and escorts.
What to do today
- Do not quote from dimensions alone
- Validate weight, axle count, route restrictions, site access, and permit timing
- Ask carriers where they will actually route—not where the shortest path suggests
- Build time cushion into all Midwest-exposed moves
Margin math that matters
- On a 500-mile heavy haul move, the average paid premium versus posted is $130.
- Miss the quote and you usually also miss on escorts, delays, and accessorial exposure.
⚙️ Specialized: Firm market, disciplined carriers
What the numbers say
- 19,362 available loads
- 6,824 moved today
- $3.21 posted / $3.38 paid
- $0.17/mile carrier premium
What it means
- Specialized is not loose just because board volume is up 6.1%.
- It is a firm market where well-qualified carriers are holding rate on well-defined freight.
What to do today
- Only quote fully scoped shipments
- Require dimensions, weight, loading method, and unload constraints
- Use known carriers over random coverage experiments
- Protect transit promises on weather-affected corridors
📦 LTL/Partial: Best pressure-relief valve on the board
What the numbers say
- 10,006 available loads
- 3,462 moved today
- $1.80 posted / $1.66 paid
- $0.14/mile broker advantage
What it means
- LTL/partial is still one of the few places where brokers can buy intelligently and preserve truckload margin.
- Amazon opening its LTL network to shippers will not reset the whole market today, but it will change quote-speed expectations.
What to do today
- Convert flexible 6-12 pallet freight out of full truckload where service allows
- Use partial for non-urgent replenishment
- Speed up quote turnaround on dense metro lanes
- Treat LTL as both a margin tool and a truckload-capacity protection tool
🗺️ Regional Hot Zones That Can Pay Today
🌴 Southeast: Still the best urgency market
Why it matters
- Produce season is keeping reefer exceptionally tight
- Savannah import pull-forward is supporting drayage, power-only, short-haul, and inland van demand
- High diesel is keeping trucks local to their reload ecosystems
Broker move
- Buy Southeast capacity early
- Sell certainty, dock discipline, and faster recovery—not just linehaul
- Use inbound planning to secure better outbound coverage
🚢 Savannah, GA → Memphis, TN: Execution lane with spillover upside
Why it matters
- Import pull-forward is likely to tighten the port edge first.
- That means chassis turns, pre-pulls, power-only, and short drays will feel pain before long-haul van fully reprices.
- The winning move is to pair port work with inland linehaul.
Broker move
- Secure drayage and power-only capacity early
- Offer transload and inland handoff solutions
- Hold margin by controlling the first 50-100 miles of the freight, not just the over-the-road leg
🌴 Atlanta, GA → Miami, FL: Do not buy this as a one-way lane
Why it matters
- Produce and grocery demand are competing for trucks.
- Southbound pricing looks expensive because the return problem is what carriers are really pricing.
Broker move
- Sell the reload first
- Use northbound dry or temp-protected freight to widen the carrier pool
- Protect receiver appointments aggressively
- Thursday through Saturday should be the tightest pickup window
🌧️ I-10 Gulf Coast: Multi-day reliability issue, not a one-morning issue
Why it matters
- Brazoria County flash flooding is the immediate disruption.
- The broader freight issue is that Louisiana and Mississippi remain vulnerable after Texas starts improving.
- Carriers will price detention, reroute risk, and service uncertainty, not just miles.
Broker move
- Widen eastbound delivery windows
- Add same-day check calls on cross-dock freight
- Do not sell “normal transit” through the corridor unless the load can absorb slippage
🌊 Central Illinois / I-74 / I-55: 24-48 hour turn-time damage
Why it matters
- Flooding around Peoria and the Illinois River is hurting bridge routing, reload timing, and permit confidence.
- Flatbed, heavy haul, and strict appointment freight are most exposed.
Broker move
- Add a half-day cushion on reload-sensitive moves
- Do not assume same-day empty repositioning
- Get route acknowledgment before dispatch on open-deck and oversize
🌬️ Wyoming I-80: Reload sequence risk
Why it matters
- High winds affect high-profile equipment and timing precision more than headline capacity.
- This matters most when a carrier’s margin depends on a second load landing exactly on plan.
Broker move
- Use wider ETA ranges
- Avoid overpromising transcon handoff timing
- Protect team or exact-turn commitments with schedule flexibility
💰 Pricing and Negotiation Tactics for Today
With shippers
- Separate linehaul from disruption cost
- Flood risk, strict appointments, and route uncertainty should not be buried in one flat number.
- Use posted-versus-paid spreads to defend premium-mode quotes
- Reefer is not “a little higher”; it is averaging $0.34/mile above posted.
- Shorten quote validity
- In premium modes, stale quotes turn into replacement-cost losses.
With carriers
- Lead with reload visibility
- That often buys more cooperation than squeezing linehaul.
- Sell turn quality
- Clean docks, verified appointments, and realistic transit plans matter more at $5.162 diesel.
- Do not rush into fuel concessions
- Falling crude is real, but retail diesel has not reset enough to justify same-week truckload discounting.
Margin protection math
- 500-mile van load: broker edge is about $35
- 500-mile LTL/partial load: broker edge is about $70
- 500-mile reefer miss: potential underquote of $170
- 500-mile flatbed miss: potential underquote of $90
- 500-mile heavy haul miss: potential underquote of $130
- Conclusion: today’s best margin often comes from avoiding the wrong premium quote, not from squeezing an extra few cents out of van.
🛡️ Risk Controls That Protect Gross Margin Today
Carrier setup discipline
- Verify authority
- Verify insurance
- Verify identity match
- Verify equipment type
- Verify dispatch contact and route understanding
- Tight, weather-affected markets are where double-brokering and identity fraud become most expensive.
Reefer controls
- Commodity
- Temperature
- Pre-cool
- Load time
- Receiver tolerance
- If any one of those is vague, your rate is probably wrong.
Open-deck controls
- Securement plan
- Tarp requirement
- Loading method
- Unload equipment
- Weather-exposed route
- Margin on flatbed and specialized disappears faster through scope failure than through bad negotiating.
Heavy haul controls
- Dimensions
- Weight
- Axle configuration
- Permits
- Escort need
- Site access
- This mode punishes assumptions more than any other.
📈 24–72 Hour Probability Map
Base case — 55%
- Van stays buyable but tighter
- Reefer stays premium into the weekend
- Flatbed and heavy haul remain carrier-led
- Gulf Coast and Illinois weather keep turns slower than normal
Stress case — 30%
- Flooding lingers longer on the Gulf and Midwest corridors
- Replacement costs rise sharply in reefer and open-deck
- Same-day freight and missed pickups become the margin killers
Opportunity case — 15%
- Savannah spillover creates high-service short-haul wins
- Partial conversions free truckload buying power
- Brokers with strong local carrier relationships outperform board-dependent competitors
✅ Today’s Priority Stack
Lock regional dry van capacity early
- Focus on clean appointment freight with believable reloads
Quote reefer at premium-first levels
- Do not let customers force you into posted-rate fantasy pricing
Treat flatbed, heavy haul, and specialized as scoped projects
- Routed miles, loading conditions, and weather buffers first
Exploit LTL/partial aggressively where service allows
- Protect truckload buying power and preserve margin
Lean into Savannah-adjacent execution freight
- Drayage, power-only, short-haul, and inland handoff should price firmer than many shippers expect
Build Gulf Coast and Illinois transit buffers into every exposed quote
- Not just for today’s pickup—for the next turn
Use reload-first selling on Atlanta → Miami
- One-way buying will stay expensive
Re-verify every rushed carrier setup
- Especially on reefer, heavy haul, and weather-affected freight
🏁 Bottom Line
This is a strong spot market, but it is not a forgiving one.
- Dry van and LTL/partial still offer real broker leverage
- Reefer, flatbed, heavy haul, and specialized are clearly carrier-premium markets
- Diesel at $5.162/gallon keeps capacity local and punishes bad deadhead assumptions
- Weather is slowing turns and breaking reload plans, which means the board is overstating how easy some freight is to cover
The brokers who win today will do three things better than everyone else:
- Buy early where leverage still exists
- Price premium modes honestly
- Use operational precision to protect margin from weather, deadhead, and replacement cost
💡 Tony's Tip
Please set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) on your ETA email account this week.
Visit
https://aka.ms/mfasetup to get started.
Text Tony at 205-876-3715 if you have any issues.
Also, please note, you should be using
https://freightmap.remote.etaagencyinc.com for google maps lookups so we dont get rate limited by Google.
You can check routes on the operations panel on the left via the red Check Route button.
📅 This Day in History
1775: American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
1843: The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
1967: Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
💭 Quote of the Day
"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars."
— Og Mandino
