After three years of declining fortunes, the trucking markets have reached a level of stability that has many fleets and operators believing that the worst is over and a return to sustained growth, though certainly not robust, may be on the horizon.
Smaller trucking companies and owner-operators have continued to rationalize their fleets or leave the truckload market entirely, draining it of excess capacity. Larger fleets have been maintaining capacity but not adding much in the way of new, the goal being to find a balance that will allow them to operate profitably in today’s environment yet still be ready to respond when significant growth returns. Taken together, these factors have helped demand reach somewhat of an equilibrium with capacity, a sort of “normalcy” in the market not seen since before the pandemic.
