The Load Letter — May 13, 2026

South Texas reefer rates just jumped as much as 59% as Florida's spring season fades and West Coast produce opens simultaneously — reefer capacity is being pulled in multiple directions at once, and the window to move on it is right now. Today's briefing covers why this is the moment for produce brokers to get in front of their carriers and shippers before the opportunity closes, what the UP-NS merger uncertainty is doing to shipper behavior on intermodal lanes and why that's a near-term tailwind for truck brokers, and a structural story quietly reshaping long-haul capacity — drivers are choosing regional over OTR and not coming back, which means transcontinental dry van coverage is getting tighter for reasons that have nothing to do with freight volume. We also get into flatbed permit numbers telling a more cautious story than the housing starts headline suggests, the FMCSA's new Motus carrier registration system going live tomorrow, and a 400,000 square foot Ulta DC opening in Salt Lake City that's a concrete business development target for Western regional brokers.