The Load Letter — May 20, 2026

What this episode covers

Spot truckload hit $3.55 a mile yesterday and capacity hasn't come back in after Roadcheck — and with Memorial Day weekend approaching, some forecasters are floating $5 a mile if carrier nervousness from the SCOTUS ruling and holiday demand hit at the same time. Today's briefing covers why Thursday is your deadline to lock in capacity commitments before the holiday freight push, how the Supreme Court broker liability ruling is starting to show up in actual carrier behavior and what your paper trail needs to look like now, and why the April rate gains were fuel-cost-driven — not demand-driven — and how to use that data in shipper conversations. We also get into trailer orders jumping 126% year over year as a signal that carriers believe freight demand is coming, Home Depot's pro contractor pivot creating a flatbed volume opportunity, and autonomous trucks making their first Midwest deployment in Ohio. The window to get ahead of this week is closing fast.

PodParley-generated summary based on available episode metadata and transcript content.