The Load Letter

Shipper spending jumped 12.9% in Q1 with volumes essentially flat — that's your market context for everything happening right now, and it's your ammunition in every rate conversation you're having today. This morning's briefing covers Miami reefer lanes hitting maximum capacity with Mother's Day flowers, watermelon season, and RoadCheck all colliding at once, why dry van brokers need to be locking carriers down before Blitz Week hits rather than scrambling on Monday, and what Forward Air's 40% stock drop means for shippers with expedited LTL exposure — and where that freight goes next. We also get into Brent crude crossing $100 with Hormuz still closed, a trade court ruling on Trump's global tariff that could trigger another import pull-forward wave, and flatbed tonnage data that puts the freight recession firmly in the rearview. A lot moving at once — here's how to get ahead of it going into the weekend.

Oil dropped nearly four percent on Iran ceasefire reports this morning — but one day's price move doesn't unwind months of elevated fuel costs, and shippers are already lining up for contract relief conversations. Today's briefing covers what the Hormuz pause actually means for your FSC math, why RoadCheck blitz week in a tightening dry van market is a rate catalyst you need to act on now, and a perfect storm hitting Miami reefer lanes right now — Mother's Day flowers, watermelon season, and blitz week converging simultaneously. We also get into flatbed tonnage crossing a milestone that puts the freight recession officially in the past tense, what FedEx bringing its MD-11 fleet back online means for expedited ground freight, and a China tariff review that's about to scramble import timelines again. Lock your carriers down before Friday — the brokers who are scrambling then are going to pay for it.

Fuel swung hard in both directions this week — gas up 31 cents in a single day, then Brent crude dropped twelve dollars after China pushed for a ceasefire — and that volatility is creating a lag problem in your FSC calculations right now. Today's briefing covers what that means for your rate conversations, why California carriers are at a breaking point and how you should be treating that capacity, and a Columbus corridor investigation with 195 carriers, 275 crashes, and a billion-dollar fraud connection that should put your onboarding process on high alert. We also get into DOT Blitz Week as a dry van rate catalyst, flatbed tonnage hitting a milestone that signals the freight recession may finally be breaking, and what P&G's $150M in Iran war supply disruption costs means for your import-heavy shippers. The market is moving fast — here's what to watch.

The Strait of Hormuz isn't resolved, fuel costs are elevated, and the market is tightening faster than most brokers realize. Today's briefing covers what the latest Hormuz developments actually mean for your rates, a cargo theft scheme exploiting valid carrier authorities that should put your vetting process on notice, why DOT Blitz Week is a dry van rate catalyst you can use in shipper conversations right now, and how Amazon's new 3PL play should be sharpening your pitch to mid-market shippers. A lot moving at once — here's how to stay ahead of it.

Reefer demand is surging ahead of Mother's Day, Amazon just opened its full logistics network to every business in America, and intermodal weakness is creating openings for brokers. Today's briefing covers spot rates across all three equipment types, what the DAT reefer demand report means for your capacity planning this week, why Amazon Supply Chain Services going commercial is a business development signal (not a panic button), Universal Logistics' Q1 loss and what intermodal's struggles mean for your lanes, the Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger standoff, ISM manufacturing data, Ford's tariff exposure, and where AI-driven reindustrialization is creating the next wave of freight opportunities. Plus, a quick note on why proactive driver verification is becoming table stakes.

Today's freight market briefing for brokers. In this episode: the stories moving the market today, what they mean for your brokerage, and the intel you need to make smarter moves. Spot rates, capacity shifts, regulatory updates, and industry news — all filtered through a freight broker lens so you get only what matters.The Load Letter is published daily for freight brokers who are too busy to read everything but can't afford to miss anything.