Podcast
The Load Letter
Hosted by Andrew · EN
The love letter is a daily freight industry briefing built specifically for freight brokers. Every episode cuts through the noise and delivers only what matters:
- spot rates
- capacity shifts
- shipper behavior
- regulatory changes
- market intel
All framed around how it affects your freight or your brokerage. Hosted by a freight industry insider, built for freight brokers who are too busy to read everything but can afford to miss nothing.
24episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
August 7, 2026 | Trailer squeeze tightens drop-and-hook capacity
Yesterday00:07:17Tap to summarizeNew antidumping duties on Canadian and Mexican van trailers collide with four-decade-high demand, signaling tighter, pricier drop-and-hook capacity over the next two quarters. We also cover Daimler's 2029 U.S. assembly plant and the lanes it will create, a PACCAR recall pulling small-carrier trucks off the road, organized theft rings targeting high-value freight, the SMB shipping trap as a business development opening, and quick hits on the LMI, port frontloading, and GXO's B2B pivot. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →August 6, 2026 | Trailer Duties and Record Diesel Build a Rate Floor
2d ago00:08:09Tap to summarizeWashington just dropped antidumping duties on Canadian and Mexican van and reefer trailers, quietly raising your carriers' cost to add capacity, while U.S. diesel exports hit a record and keep the pump near $5.31. We break down the spot board, a cooling-but-strong LMI, tight used Class 8 supply, expanded DHS trucking enforcement squeezing cheap carriers, and a middle-market cash crunch that should have you watching receivables. Plus RXO's mixed earnings, Great Dane's new lightweight flatbed, and the Port of Virginia's CSX rail lane into Indianapolis. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →August 5, 2026 | Van Softens, Flatbed Up 40%, DHS Enters Enforcement
3d ago00:07:49Tap to summarizeSummer freight is softening and van spot rates are sliding, but capacity is quietly leaving underneath, so this briefing walks brokers through holding rate discipline while flatbed still pays nearly 40% above last year. We also cover Cassandra Gaines' new BAVRA Standard for grading brokers before the tender, a Texas ruling that keeps liability pressure downstream, Homeland Security expanding CDL and driver enforcement, PAM Transport culling its fleet, falling crude that should ease diesel, and a looming manufacturing labor shortage that could stall reshoring freight. Practical takes on where to protect margin and which carriers to keep close before the next squeeze. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →August 4, 2026 | Soft Van Rates Hiding a Capacity Squeeze
4d ago00:07:29Tap to summarizeShippers moved less freight in Q2 but paid sharply more, and the culprit was tightening truck capacity, not fuel, signaling a capacity-led squeeze dressed up as a soft market. We break down Schneider's warning that driver capacity cuts run through year-end, a four-year-high manufacturing PMI feeding flatbed and LTL, and where dry van, reefer, and open deck rates sit today. Plus the states' lawsuit over new global tariffs and its whipsaw on port lanes, CMA CGM's $2.4B port bet, and Paccar's Kenworth and Peterbilt recall pulling fresh trucks off the road. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →August 3, 2026 | Diesel Relief Coming as Crude Craters
5d ago00:06:49Tap to summarizeOil fell nearly 5% overnight, and while diesel still sits at $5.13, relief is coming in the next 10-14 days, a quiet margin opportunity on spot freight if you don't hand it straight to carriers. We also cover Daimler shuttering its Portland truck plant and what it signals for capacity, a Louisiana CDL bribery scheme that should make you tighten carrier vetting, and Tyson's profit cut as a demand tell for reefer protein lanes. Plus cocoa-driven re-sourcing at Mondelēz and Hershey, Walmart's drone expansion, and Lufthansa quietly grounding freighters. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →July 27, 2026 | Crude Crash Means Reprice Every Quote Today
2w ago00:07:28Tap to summarizeOil tumbled nearly 7% over the weekend after U.S., Iran strikes paused, so diesel and your fuel surcharges are about to follow, adjust your surcharge math now before you overprice bids or hand back margin. Also inside: a new Detroit border crossing set to speed up Ontario-to-Midwest cross-border freight, Asia-to-U.S. ocean rates up 234% since February and the port-drayage wave headed for your domestic lanes, broker liability fallout from Montgomery v. Caribe Transport, a $1.5M cargo theft ring run through shipment tracking data, and Georgia's new truck-only I-75 lanes. Reprice for fuel, position capacity near the coasts, and keep your carrier vetting airtight. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →July 23, 2026 | Capacity Exodus Set to Accelerate Into September
2w ago00:07:09Tap to summarizeKnight-Swift and Trucking Info both point to the same trend: a supply-driven capacity crunch is set to accelerate starting in September, and brokers who lock in carrier relationships now will be the ones who benefit come peak season. This episode also covers a dry van demand shift into overlooked lanes, a sharp reefer capacity reversal, flatbed opportunity tied to the AI data center buildout, the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern rail merger's threat to long-haul truckload, Aurora's driverless truck expansion in the Sun Belt, and a looming pharma tariff deadline that will pull import freight forward. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →July 22, 2026 | Diesel Spikes, Tariffs Loom, Flatbed Rides the AI Boom
2w ago00:03:23Tap to summarizeBrent crude jumped nearly $3 overnight on the Iran conflict, and brokers need to revisit fuel surcharges before carriers force the issue. Also in today's briefing: capacity-driven (not demand-driven) tightening means pricing this market as fragile, DAT flags a surprise demand pocket in dry van, flatbed brokers get a business development lane from AI-driven data center construction, Tropical Storm Bertha threatens Gulf Coast transit times, Friday's tariff deadline could trigger a short-term import surge, and Trimble's sale of its transportation division raises continuity questions for TMS and EDI tooling. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →July 21, 2026 | Crude Breaks $90 as Fuel Surcharges Fall Behind
3w ago00:07:33Tap to summarizeTen nights of strikes on Iran just pushed Brent above $90 a barrel, and diesel at $4.80 is still catching up, so fuel surcharge language needs updating now. We also break down new 50% Section 338 tariffs hitting Canadian freight in 30 days, the case for July being a Goldilocks market as contracted freight gains on the load board, parcel fuel surcharges pushing shippers to shop mode-shift savings, an 11,000-driver DMV retest order in California, and a decisive slowdown in grocery unit sales worth watching for reefer capacity. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com
Transcribe →July 17, 2026 | California Reefer Flips Tight, Cass Gap Points to Q3 Squeeze
3w ago00:07:23Tap to summarizeCalifornia reefer capacity tightened across six growing districts in a single week, already driving double-digit rate jumps in the Northeast, and brokers quoting last week's numbers are already behind. The Cass June data shows a telling disconnect between softening volumes and rising linehaul rates, with permanent capacity loss explaining the gap heading into Q3. Also covered: diesel at $4.58 and what it means for small carrier relationships, the Port of LA's record June and the inland freight surge coming in the next four to six weeks, flat manufacturing output as a warning for industrial lanes, and a CDL decertification petition that's unlikely to pass but worth watching in California. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com.
Transcribe →