The freight market is sending a clear signal: shippers are paying more to move less. Spot van is still sitting around $2.28 a mile - roughly 39% above last year. Reefers and flatbeds are in the same neighborhood. Load-to-truck ratios are about double what they were a year ago. National tender rejections are 14.4%, well above the six-month average.
The Logistics Managers’ Index has transportation capacity at 28.4. Anything under 50 is contraction. This is not close.
If your loads are getting declined, your contract rates are getting reopened, or your “primary” carrier suddenly has no trucks - you are not imagining it. The network is thin.
This is not a demand boom
A lot of people hear “high rates” and assume freight is on fire. It isn’t.
Shipments are actually down about 3% year over year. Shipper spend is up about 28%. That gap is the whole story. You are moving fewer loads and writing bigger checks.
Capacity left the market after years of cheap freight. Carriers that priced below their cost finally parked trucks or shut the doors. Operating costs never reset - still north of $2.30 a mile, with diesel back over $5 a gallon. On top of that, FMCSA’s non-domiciled CDL rule, ELD enforcement, and safety blitzes have pulled more trucks off the road.
Fewer trucks. Same (or slightly less) freight. Higher rates. That’s the math.
Why August makes it worse
This is the month when a tight market becomes a problem.
- Harvest is moving
- Labor Day shipping is stacking
- Hurricane season is here
- Peak season planning is no longer theoretical
C.H. Robinson said it plainly this month: there is less room to absorb a disruption. A storm in the Gulf, a closed ramp in Chicago, or a rejected tender on Friday afternoon can now ripple across the network because there is no slack.
Long-haul van is feeling it the most. Intermodal volume is up about 10% as shippers shift freight they can wait on. LTL is raising base rates, not just fuel. If your plan is “we’ll spot it when we need it,” August is a bad month to find out that doesn’t work.
What this means if you ship
- Route guides will break. Carriers will reject more tenders. Have a second and third option already set, not a panic call at 3 p.m.
- Spot will stay expensive. Rates have eased a few cents off the spring peak. They are not going back to 2024-25 levels.
- Service will separate the vendors. Anybody can quote a cheap truck in a soft market. In this one, the question is whether they can cover the load and the next one.
- Dedicated and contracted capacity is worth more than a cheap one-off. Paying a little more for a truck you can count on beats paying a lot more on the spot board when the first carrier no-shows.
What this means if you run trucks
If you are a carrier with compliant drivers, clean insurance, and equipment that actually moves - this is your market. Don’t give it away. Don’t sit empty hoping the next load is $2.80. Work with a partner that has consistent freight, pays on time, and doesn’t disappear when the board gets quiet again.
How ProSport helps in this environment
ProSport Express is not a load board with a logo.
We are an asset-based trucking company and 3PL, Chicago-based since 2008. Our own tractors. Our own dry vans. Drayage and chassis. Then a network we actually use - for surge, for lanes we don’t run ourselves, and for the load that has to move tonight.
That mix is the point in a tight market.
When the primary carrier says no, we still have trucks. Owned capacity plus a vetted network. Dedicated lanes. Expedited when it cannot wait. Van, reefer, flatbed, power-only, drayage.
We plan for the second load, not just the first. Universal trailer pools. Dedicated fleet solutions. Backup coverage so one rejection doesn’t stall a dock.
We stay on the freight. 99% on-time. GPS. EDI and API. A team that picks up the phone.
We work both sides of the table. Shippers get capacity that shows up. Carriers get freight that pays and a dispatcher who doesn’t vanish after pickup.
Modes we cover every day:
- Truckload (97.3% on-time)
- Dedicated (99.1%)
- Expedited (99.8%)
- Refrigerated (97.5%)
- Flatbed and specialized
- Drayage, transload, bonded warehouse
- LTL through our rating network
What to do this week
If you are a shipper: send us the lanes that are getting rejected or repriced. We will tell you what we can cover on assets, what we can cover through the network, and what it actually costs - before Friday’s crisis.
If you are a carrier: if you have trucks in the Midwest or running our lanes and you want consistent freight in a tight market, let’s talk. We need partners who show up.
If you are planning Q4: do not wait until October to lock dedicated or peak capacity. The trucks you want in October are being committed now.
Tight trucks are not a surprise anymore. Being unprepared still is.
ProSport has been doing this since 2008 - through cheap freight, expensive freight, and everything in between. Always there. Always on time.
Need coverage this week? Call the team or reach out to Jimmy Woods. We’ll tell you if we can help - and we won’t waste your time if we can’t.
ProSport Express Elk Grove Village, IL prosportexpress.com | (847) 357-3970
