Rates are increasing. Flatbed activity looks better, and trucking orders have rebounded from weak 2025 levels. But the labor picture is soft, and many carriers still have a margin problem that better pricing alone may not fix.

The freight recession may be easing its grip, particularly in the flatbed sector. But that doesn’t mean carriers are scrambling to hire or grow their fleets. Prices are still high, and equipment is still expensive. On top of that, driver availability remains a hard constraint. Profits can erode if labor, insurance, maintenance, and equipment costs increase faster than revenue, even if freight demand remains firm.

We have the latest updates across the freight world. Continue reading to find out all about it.

Truck Jobs Still Soft as Warehousing Begins to Rebound

Trucking transportation employment remains soft, with Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing just 1,000 more workers in June than in January. Employment has fallen in four of the last five months, with the sector losing 1,300 jobs in June. But the June total of 1,466,600 jobs remains below January 2025’s 1,493,100, underscoring how little ground trucking has regained after last year’s sharp decline.

Warehousing has taken a different route. That category added 18,100 jobs over three months, but that June total of 1,850,600 is still below a year ago. Rail employment also remained softer year over year.

Steady Freight Demand Fails to Protect Trucking Profits

A CCJ analysis found that the top 10 U.S. trucking companies saw their net profits fall by 46.9% over five years, even as demand for shipping outpaced earnings growth. Costs, not disappearing freight, are driving that squeeze.

The companies’ combined operating expenses grew by 39.2%, with labor, insurance, equipment, maintenance, and technology all weighing on margins. Revenue for the period was up 19.7%, but not enough to offset the rise in costs. The gap was most pronounced in truckload and less-than-truckload operations, where pricing pressure and excess capacity have kept carriers from passing higher costs on to customers.

Flatbed Rates Climb as Truck Tonnage Points to Recovery

While the trucking market may be exiting a prolonged freight slump, the recovery is uneven, a DAT flatbed report says. ATA’s For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.3% in March, following a 2.9% increase in February, and tonnage was up 3% year over year, the largest annual gain since October 2022.

Flatbed rates tell the sharper story. National linehaul spot rates reached $2.69 per mile in Week 18, up 38 cents over seven weeks and only 5 cents below the June 2022 record. 

EPA Truck Rule Relief May Cut Costs, Not Capacity Pressure

The Trump administration’s proposed changes to the EPA’s 2027 heavy-duty engine emissions rule could reduce the cost of buying trucks, but analysts do not see much of a shift in capacity. The proposal maintains the 80% NOx reduction requirement for trucks in 2027 but drops or postpones several expensive provisions. 

EPA estimates the changes could cut the cost of a new truck by as much as $6,000 and save the industry around $12 billion. Class 8 orders jumped 241% year over year to 30,500 units in June, mostly for replacement.

Rising Freight Rates Have Not Stopped Trucking Job Losses

Trucking jobs are still disappearing even as freight rates are climbing, a split that points back to the oversupply of drivers created during the pandemic. High spot rates lured many new drivers and carriers into the market during the COVID-era freight boom. When demand cooled, that extra capacity became too expensive to carry.

The industry has been losing jobs since then, even as tighter capacity is now pushing rates higher. However, the current rebound in prices is less a surge in freight and more the market clearing out weaker operators. That could help surviving carriers get better rates, but it also means the labor reset is not over yet.

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