The US trucking sector had a poor summer, and the gloom should persist into next year.
Rates climbed because capacity is shrinking rather than because the market is healthy, and tender rejections are surging even as demand stays weak, drawing warnings of a structural crisis.
US Bank's latest Freight Payment Index puts August linehaul spot rates 35.6% above a year ago, with contract rates up 20.1%.
After Labor Day (7 September) tender rejections reached 14.3%, against roughly 5% during the downturn that started in 2023.
Mr Jindel conceded: “It is a pretty broken model.”
