The Load Letter — May 27, 2026

Dry van rates are climbing even as freight volumes stay soft — and when rates move ahead of volume, it means carriers have enough pricing power that they don't need demand to catch up first. Today's briefing covers what that means for your shipper conversations and your carrier relationships right now, why Permian Basin flatbed is waking up fast and which corridors are going to tighten before the load boards reflect it, and six straight weeks of falling diesel quietly working in your favor on surcharge negotiations. We also get into a cargo theft story with a premise worth sitting with — the safest brokerages are usually the most boring ones, and why repeatable process beats speed every time in the current fraud environment. Plus the U.S. denying an Iranian draft deal on Hormuz within 24 hours of the headline, and what that means for brokers planning around energy market relief that hasn't arrived. The rate market isn't waiting for volume to give it permission. Neither should you.