Peak Shipping Seasons How a 3PL Navigates Shippers for Any Season

Peak Shipping Seasons: How a 3PL Navigates Shippers for Any Season

adam • October 27, 2022

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Peak Shipping Seasons: How a 3PL Navigates Shippers for Any Season

Shipping freight typically follows a predictable pattern. Depending on the season, different business verticals sometimes have ebbs and flow. This means that at certain times of the year, truck capacity might be readily available in certain areas of the US, or it might not be. When trucks are in high demand, shippers often have a harder time finding capacity for their loads.

This is a particular challenge in the food industry. Most products have a relatively short shelf life, and any excursion outside of their required temperature can lead to spoiled deliveries or costly recalls. Working with the wrong carrier can directly impact a business’s health.

Fortunately, foodservice providers don’t have to maneuver through a busy period alone. They can enlist the help of a freight broker to handle the peak season challenges for them.

What is the Peak Season Shipping Period?

Peak shipping season refers to the period of time when shipping orders and load volumes increase for shippers.. It’s when there’s more inventory to transport and store, which in turn can lead to equipment shortages and other bottlenecks in a company’s supply chain.

Shippers all have different seasonalities. For example, the produce industry’s peak season differs from retailers who generally ship more before the holidays. In this article, we’ll explain the four peak shipping seasons, including how long each season lasts and which business verticals see an increase in volume during peak season. We’ll also explain how to manage freight more optimally, no matter which season it occurs.

What is Peak Season Shipping vs. Black Swan Events?

First, it might be helpful to explain what a peak season is not. Peak shipping season is different from a black swan event. In fact, the two differ in some pretty significant ways.

Black Swan Events Are Unpredictable

A black swan event refers to when an unprecedented and unpredictable event occurs that often has far reaching consequences. It could be thought of as an incident who’s likelihood is low, but who’s impact is high. Some examples of a global black swan event include the 2008 financial crash or the current Covid-19 pandemic. A positive example of a black swan event could include the invention of the internet or the smartphone, which led to an acceleration of e-commerce, creating a surge in need for more parcel shipping and last mile deliveries.

Black swan events can also happen locally. For example, a hurricane, port labor strike, or an unexpected factory shutdown could all be considered black swan events that can disrupt shipping networks and cause a burden for companies.

Peak Seasons Are Known Ahead of Time

Peak seasons are not black swan events. That’s because They are not unexpected events, but rather seasonal changes that shippers can anticipate. Shippers and carriers alike know when peak season will occur and how long it will last, and they usually plan ahead of time to prepare themselves.

A 3PL Can Help Shippers Navigate Peak Season

The upside of using a third party logistics provider is that they can help shippers manage their peak season each year. Freight brokerages, another common term for 3PL, generally have a national network of vetted carriers that they can call on, no matter how tight the capacity might be. Experienced 3PLs can often anticipate seasonality of freight by developing the right carriers and planning ahead for when peak shipping season hits.

What are the Major Peak Season Shipping Periods to Know?

Just as there are four seasons in a calendar year, there are also four distinct periods in freight shipping.. These are often referred to as the “four seasons of freight.” They tend to mirror the weather and the holidays that occur within that quarter.

The Quiet Season

The quiet season generally takes place from the beginning of January until the end of March. It’s marked by cold weather and slow freight patterns. The quiet season might involve loads that require reverse logistics, often called returns, as it comes on the heels of gift-giving season. We have all experienced needing to return something to a store. That store has to have some mechanism to process those returns, and during the beginning of any year, returns surge in volume.

Significantly, the quiet season is also the time when truckload contracts begin to ramp up as contracts expire. During this time, shippers will submit requests for proposal (RFPs), and carriers respond with a bid detailing their prices and service levels on various lanes for the year or quarter.

Freight brokerages, such as Entourage Freight Solutions, use carrier market analytics going into RFP season to prepare negotiations with carriers around data vs anecdotes, to ensure the pricing is sound and fair for both parties. Having data on carrier rates and performance puts brokers in a position to negotiate optimal contract rates for their shipper clients.

Produce Season

Once the quiet season concludes, the period that follows is called the produce season. This is the time when major agricultural regions in the US and Mexico have their harvest and ship their commodities around the country. Freight volumes start to pick up, and carriers tend to gravitate towards growing regions to maximize their profit margins. In other words, truck capacity generally tightens up.

The produce shipping season typically lasts from April through July. During this period, rates begin to rise and it may become harder to find a carrier to work with. Other shippers who are not moving produce may be surprised to find that some carriers are only willing to haul produce in this season because the rates are generally higher.

Produce season is a particularly busy time for companies like Entourage Freight Solutions. Brokerages and 3PLs specializing in transporting food items quickly and safely will see an increase in demand to manage higher freight volumes for shipper customers. Brokerages track shelf life and temperature continuously, and follow guidelines laid out by the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Once a shipment gets outside of its temperature range, it could be destroyed in a matter of minutes. That’s why it's important to work with companies that provide continuous temperature monitoring and frequent operational updates to ensure your perishable commodities arrive on time. From the time a pickup is tendered until it arrives at its destination, it’s important that shippers receive updates on their load status. Safety, visibility, and proactive communication are important for any shipment, but for expedited produce, they are essential.

Peak Season

As the produce shipping season winds down, it is replaced with what the industry calls peak shipping season. That’s the time when retail companies get inventory in place for a buying spree from consumers. Annual holidays and shopping events during back to school season, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas precipitate a wave of sales. important to have enough stock available to meet demand. Most of this inventory is shipped between August and October. During peak shipping season, freight volumes and rates tend to hit their maximum.

Holiday Peak Shipping Season

The year concludes with the holiday peak season, which overlaps with a lot of the freight shipped during peak shipping season. Fom November through December, consumers buy gifts for friends and family, while shippers rush to complete orders to complete their business year and the new year begins. . Carriers are also busy moving loads and handling last minute orders and returns. It’s also a time when drivers and other employees often request time off, which sometimes leads to capacity issues during the holidays.

How a 3PL Helps Shippers Navigate any Peak Season

Three quarters of the year are a hectic time for carriers. And the calmest time of the year is usually consumed with business planning. Shippers who move temperature-controlled food products have more transportation requirements than other shippers. But executing a transportation management strategy, or even getting the attention of a carrier in this environment can sometimes be challenging.. Fortunately, shippers can outsource transportation to a reliable third party logistics provider, or 3PL, that can help them navigate the somewhat chaotic capacity issues that face the U.S. freight market.

Help Manage By Exception

Most shipping exceptions, i.e. deviations from the norm, like incorrect labels, damaged freight, or vehicle breakdowns, are confined to a single order or batch of orders, but they can still bullwhip back through other processes and cause an inordinate amount of failure. A freight broker can handle these hiccups, so that shippers don’t have to pause the work day to tend to a mishap.

Help Find Capacity

Trucking capacity often gets tight during peak and produce seasons. A 3PL provides access to a large network of vetted carriers, and uses data to find optimized shipping routes. Plus, they offer a large volume of business, which makes them attractive to carriers and provides more leverage than most individual companies have.

Turn a Shipper into a Shipper of Choice

A shipper of choice is a company that carriers want to work with because of the value provided by the partnership. Shippers of choice are flexible, reliable, and easy to work with. By working with a 3PL, companies can gain preferred shipper status by proxy. Additionally, a 3PL can handle the planning and communication that go into becoming a shipper of choice.

Leverage Technology

Most freight brokers today use a transportation management system or other visibility tools, such as real-time tracking devices for temperature logging and other platforms that utilize GPS and telematics to know where the freight is in-transit at any time. Entourage Freight Solutions utilizes IoT-enabled tracking to monitor temperature, status and location of goods, and automatically push that information back to shippers.

Offer Dedicated Freight Services

Dedicated transportation means a carrier has agreed to haul loads for a set rate over a specific period of time. A dedicated transportation arrangement comes with numerous benefits to shippers, like dedicated capacity and better quality tracking. Freight brokerages like Entourage will negotiate dedicated freight services on behalf of their shipper clients.

Partner With Entourage Freight Solutions to Navigate Peak Season Challenges

There are no easy seasons in freight transportation. No matter what vertical a shipper is in, they are impacted by the ebb and flow of other businesses vying for capacity. Truck capacity is a limited resource. Finding space during a busy shipping period can sometimes be challenging, especially for large companies.. It’s even tougher for expedited, temperature-controlled shipments.

Working with a 3PL like Entourage Freight Solutions can mitigate many of these difficulties. Entourage provides dedicated transport solutions to make sure that shippers have capacity year round, no matter what shipping season it is. All shippers have to do is focus on their business. Reach out to Entourage Freight Solutions today and check ‘handle peak season’ off your to do list.

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Tariffs, Trade Policy, and the Great Freight Fallout

By Nick Terry • April 28, 2025

In 2025, trade policy is no longer something that the freight industry can leave on the back burner. Trade policy today is shaping strategy at every level. From tariff escalations and retaliatory duties to sweeping regulatory changes and targeted maritime fees, supply chain leaders are navigating a freight market in which unpredictability is the only constant. Sourcing decisions are shifting, pricing dynamics are unstable, and long-standing operational models are being rewritten in real time. This edition brings together key stories highlighting the growing pressure across logistics channels. Each development points to an industry moving fast, and often reactively, to keep pace with volatile policy decisions. Tariffs Stall US Freight Recovery as Shippers Pause Orders The recent move by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to impose entrance fees on Chinese-built ships calling U.S. ports has only added to the confusion and uncertainty gripping global supply chains and freight operations. Shippers are pausing plans and slashing orders, with truckload volumes, containerized imports, and manufacturing output all showing signs of contraction. Ocean freight spot rates have collapsed: Asia-U.S. West Coast rates have fallen 61% since January to $2,050 per FEU, while East Coast rates have dropped 53.7% to $3,100 per FEU . Blank sailings are rising, with vessels leaving Asia half-empty. Amazon and Five Below are among the major retailers reducing orders from Asia. Container imports jumped 15.3% in 2024, but forecasts now predict a 20-27% decline through the summer. Exporters, particularly agriculture and forestry suppliers, are also squeezed, facing 125% retaliatory tariffs from China. Truckload and intermodal rates remain stagnant, while U.S. factory output fell sharply in March. US Apparel Importers Brace for Long-Term Volume Declines According to Trade Partnership Worldwide, a 124.1% tariff on Chinese clothing and footwear is expected to reduce U.S. apparel imports by 1.6% annually . China still accounts for 41.7% of apparel shipments, leaving limited flexibility for diversion. The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) is warning of price hikes and mounting infrastructure stress as sourcing pivots toward Vietnam, India, and Indonesia. A looming May 2 deadline for de minimis exemptions could further complicate flows and delay deliveries. Even with a temporary 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs, the policy uncertainty already affects long-term planning. AAFA CEO Steve Lamar calls the shifting policies “chaotic,” and warned that high tariff pressure will hit both importers and U.S. manufacturers reliant on Chinese components. Port and rail capacity limitations at larger gateways are adding to concerns. Retailers now face rising costs, shrinking margins, and operational delays — all while consumer demand continues to shift rapidly. Freight Pricing Gains Lose Momentum According to the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index, Q1 truckload rates rose 5.9% above the 2018 baseline, but are expected to decline slightly in Q2. Shippers are responding to tariff threats with aggressive front-loading and shorter-haul routes, driving per-shipment costs to three-year lows. LTL carriers remain focused on profitable lanes and high-quality freight rather than chasing volume. The index forecasts a 0.7% year-over-year increase in LTL rate per pound for Q2 , despite sustained demand softness and macro uncertainty. A key driver behind the softening spot market conditions is a shift to shorter hauls and regionalized distribution, pushing per-shipment costs to their lowest point in more than three years. This trend reflects how retailers and manufacturers are repositioning inventory in response to tariff volatility, as NRF’s Jonathan Gold and DAT analyst Dean Croke noted. Meanwhile, the LTL sector is seeing a 4% rise in fuel surcharges, offsetting lower weights and shorter hauls. With the freight market still under pressure after 26 months of contraction, optimism remains subdued as we enter the midyear period. US Truckload Freight Spot Rates Continue to Fluctuate National benchmark rates have experienced a decline across all categories. As of April 18, dry van decreased by 4 cents to $1.62, reefer by 2 cents to $1.88 , and flatbed by 3 cents to $2.16. This marked the first overall decrease since late January, signaling potential shifts in market dynamics. These changes can be attributed to factors such as tariff uncertainties and tighter capacity, especially affecting the flatbed market. Flatbed rates rely heavily on manufacturing activity in the country, which has been particularly hard-hit by the ongoing trade war with China, and to some extent, with the rest of the world. US Finalizes Tiered Fee Plan Targeting Chinese Ships The U.S. is moving forward with a revised plan to levy voyage-based fees on Chinese-owned and Chinese-built ships calling at American ports. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the measure as part of a broader Trump administration effort to counter China’s dominance in shipbuilding and logistics while reigniting domestic ship construction and port infrastructure investment. Starting in six months, Chinese operators will be charged $50 per net ton, with an annual increase of $30 for three years . Non-Chinese carriers using Chinese-built vessels will face lower rates, beginning at $18 per ton or $120 per container, with annual increases. The USTR capped fee applications at five voyages per vessel annually, scaling back its original, more punitive per-port-call proposal after intense industry pushback. The fees are tied to findings from a USTR investigation, which concluded that China’s shipbuilding dominance — producing 29% of global fleet capacity and 70% of all container ships on order — stemmed from unfair trade practices. Exemptions apply to ships arriving empty, those in the Great Lakes or U.S. territories, and some bulk exports. LNG vessel transport restrictions will phase in over 22 years to support U.S. production. China’s largest container carrier, Cosco Shipping Lines, has sharply criticized the USTR’s plan. In a strongly worded statement, Cosco labeled the move as “discriminatory,” and warned it would disrupt global industrial and supply chain stability. Cosco denied allegations from that USTR investigation that claimed China manipulated its shipping and shipbuilding sectors to gain an unfair advantage. The carrier said it upholds “integrity, transparency, and compliance” in global competition and remains committed to ensuring the resilience of international trade. Walmart Investing $6B in Mexico, Central America Store Expansion Walmart of Mexico and Central America will invest $6 billion to open new stores across the region , reinforcing its long-term commitment to growth in Latin America. The expansion will include Bodega Aurrera, Walmart Supercenters, Sam’s Club, and Walmart Express formats, building on a robust network of 3,200 stores across all 32 Mexican states. This latest move echoes Walmart’s earlier $1.3 billion investment in 2016 for regional distribution and operational upgrades. The retailer entered the Mexican market in 1991 with a Sam’s Club in Mexico City. In a statement, Walmart said the new expansion reflects confidence in the region’s economic potential and consumer demand. Globally, Walmart continues to invest aggressively in infrastructure and store development. The company has pledged about $4.5 billion for its Canadian operations and $1.3 billion in Chile to build 70 new stores and a distribution center. In the U.S., Walmart is executing a five-year plan to build or convert more than 150 stores while modernizing 650 existing locations under its “Store of the Future” initiative. Experience Seamless Shipping with Entourage Freight Solutions Entourage Freight Solutions believes in total transparency in the shipping process. That is why we invest in tech solutions that track every shipment extensively, monitor every driver, and extract every bit of efficiency without sacrificing quality. Our state-of-the-art platform utilizes cloud-based GPS tracking to keep you informed, reroutes shipments on the fly to avoid delays, and even responds to real-time market changes to ensure you receive your shipment on time and as soon as possible. Our Services Full Truck Load (FTL): When you need a truck all to yourself. Less-Than-Truckload (LTL): Efficient solutions for multi-stop shipments or combining smaller loads to save on costs. Refrigerated Trucking: Keeping your temperature-sensitive products fresh and safe. Cross-Docking: Strategically located facilities in Shelby, Ohio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Romulus, Michigan, for streamlined consolidation, storage, and distribution. Ready to experience a new level of service and control in your freight shipping? Request a quote today to see how Entourage Freight Solutions can help with your freight movement and other supply chain needs.