Why you Should Trust your Broker when Truck Market Rates Start to Fluctuate

adam • November 7, 2022

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Why you Should Trust your Broker when Truck Market Rates Start to Fluctuate

As the logistics industry heads into November, North American consumers generally start thinking about end-of-the-year sales and holiday shopping for Thanksgiving (U.S.) and Christmas. Shippers expect to see higher load volumes during peak shipping season, which lasts from mid-August to the end of the year. Truck market rates and carrier density fluctuate all year round due to the seasonality of commodities, particularly in the fresh produce industry. For example, when the harvest for Mexican grapes begins in Mid-May and through June, reefer carriers generally flock to the growing regions along the U.S.-Mexican borderlands of Nogales, AZ, and Laredo, TX. Electronic companies might see volume increases of cross-border shipments into the U.S., Canada, and Mexico due to retail shopping events like Black Friday and El Buen Fin (The Good Weekend). Depending on the shipper and their geographic location, market fluctuations might offer certain advantages as a gluttony of trucks in a particular region might infer that truck rates will fall due to increased capacity and the less likelihood that a truck will fall off the load and accept a higher tender elsewhere.

Freight brokers typically have a good pulse on truck market rates, and when they hint to their shipping partners about rate increases, it’s probably because the lane’s they operate are no longer profitable enough to continue servicing at the current rate. Rate increases occur due to a number of factors, but especially during peak shipping season and through the holidays as carriers typically demand higher rates for their service. If you work with a 3PL partner, it’s an important aspect of the shipper-provider relationship to trust their advice when it comes to truck market rate fluctuations; their opinions are guided by data analytics and knowledge about carrier capacity in a specific market. This article will detail some of the ways that freight brokers communicate with shippers about market forces that are important to maintain continual supply chains.

Why do Shippers Depend on Freight Brokers for Better Data on Freight Lanes and Rates?

One of the added benefits of partnering with a modern freight brokerage is that they utilize technologies that help shippers extrapolate real-time industry data about their shipping lanes. In logistics, there are many factors that can cause freight rates to increase without warning, such as weather events, scarce truck capacity, seasonality, or black swan events like the global pandemic.These externalities can cause the spot rate market to spike on certain lanes. Companies like Entourage, for example, offer a tech stack that includes SONAR, a logistics data analytic tool that provides customers with more accurate price forecasts, lane scorecards, and API-connection to large batches of market data. This information provides brokers with more accurate contract rate pricing and can help forecast rate volatility in carrier networks before they occur. Entourage also incorporates software that automatically screens qualified carriers that might be outside of their network. In the event carrier capacity might be tight, like around Thanksgiving when most carriers want to be home with their families, Entourage can guarantee quality trucks that are vetted to meet industrial standards of safety and responsibility.

What sort of Data do Brokers Measure on Lanes and Trucking Freight Rates?

One of the metrics that modern 3PLs keep tabs on are things like the Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI), a data analytics tool that tracks the offers received by carriers for outbound loads. This tool provides a good barometer on available carrier capacity, which helps companies understand load to truck ratios in a specific region of the country. Why is this important? Brokers can utilize this data to communicate with their shipping partners about market demands. Entourage also utilizes SONAR’s Outbound Tender Rejection Index, or OTRI, which tracks regional, national, and statewide data on the percentage of loads that are rejected by carriers. Carriers usually decline loads due to low rates, so this analytics tool is helpful to understand where the current market rate is at any given moment.

Of course, the best data that experienced 3PLs have is with their own knowledge of the logistics industry and the market forces that they have come to expect and learn from each year. This is especially helpful with spot loads, as brokers tend to have the advantage over asset-based carriers because they can reach into their large carrier network to find available capacity when most asset-based companies struggle during peak shipping season. Companies like Entourage use technologies that connect directly to their TMS, giving them the ability to instantly check their carrier network for trucks that run specific lanes. This added assurance that can be specifically helpful going into Q4.

What Data do Brokers Provide Shippers Regarding Freight Market Rates?

Shipping managers may only communicate with a single broker within a larger modern 3PL, but behind that face is a team of individuals who have a goal to simply provide the service level needed to continue the business partnership. Outside the dinosaur-era “cradle to grave” brokerages that usually consist of a single broker and the trucks they are aware of, modern brokerages have entire pricing departments that have skilled people who literally only do one thing: they help shippers get the rates they need to run their lanes. Pricing teams are also crucial during seasonal RFP events that can quantify short-term and long-term rates on a whole range of lanes if necessary. Beyond the pricing team there is a capacity team who are constantly calling and building relationships with the dispatchers and owners of trucking companies to make sure dedicated capacity exists when their customers need it most. The carrier team is the most important part of any brokerage, period. It’s the trucks that haul the loads. When looking for a 3PL partner, it’s important to look for transportation providers that offer a range of services.

Companies like Entourage, for example, have dedicated capacity for FTL/LTL, specialized, intermodal, and refrigerated transport. Their carrier and pricing team offer nationwide coverage, ensuring that your supply chains run smoothly year round.

Experienced brokers also provide certain advantages to shippers because they have developed long-lasting relationships with their shipping and carrier partners. This translates to the likelihood that your company will benefit from their industry knowledge that they have already developed lanes and competitive pricing rates on the lanes that you run, to ensure steady capacity year round. For example, when a Mexican food company ships daily loads that cross at Lared, TX on to their destination in Chicago, IL, a company like Entourage, who specializes in hauling food-grade materials, has already developed a backhaul lane for a customer in Chicago who ships to Mexico. This opportunity provides Entourage to create what the industry calls a “closed loop” where they can arrange dedicated northbound and southbound shipments with a single carrier, providing dedicated capacity year round no matter what the freight market is like year round.

Count on Entourage to Deliver When you Need it Most

Making sure your supply chain runs smoothly is the top priority of all global shippers. And that’s why thousands of companies each day depend on entourage to streamline their transportation and provide steady capacity no matter what the truck market conditions look like. Entourage combines cutting-edge technology and a dedicated team of logistics experts to make sure your shipments are taken care of year round. Using the latest cloud-based technologies and GPS tracking available, Entourage provides shippers with round-the-clock visibility and real-time market conditions to make sure your loads deliver when they should. Trust Entourage for round the clock coverage on your next shipment. Contact Entourage today!

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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.