The Load Letter — June 11, 2026

What this episode covers

Truckload carriers stood up in front of investors this week and called it — a multiyear rate upcycle, not a one-quarter bounce. Today's briefing covers what that means for the shipper bids you're building right now and the carrier relationships you need locked before everyone else figures out the game changed. Florida reefer's shortage-era spike is already unwinding while Yakima heats up — and the brokers chasing Florida outbound this week are fighting over scraps. We also get into a hazmat wake-up call: an unplacarded, unpermitted fireworks trailer that burned and detonated for 25 minutes on I-75, and why the liability on that load runs straight back through your brokerage if you booked the wrong carrier. Plus Amazon launching open-market LTL for all businesses as the next front in their third-party freight play, inflation jumping to 4.2% on war-driven energy costs creating a genuine squeeze where carrier costs rise while consumer demand softens, and a DAT warning on summer smishing hitting brokers mid-day while they're juggling loads. The soft market is ending. Act like you believe it.

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