Less-Than-Truckload

Quarterly revenue, at $23.5 billion, increased 7% annually, and operating income, at $1.38 billion, was up 31%. Earnings per share, at $4.82, beat Wall Street expectations, at $4.02.

Top trucking industry executives are hoping 2026 will—finally—be the year when pent-up demand translates into higher freight rates and a return to profitability in both the truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) sectors.

ODFL reported that November revenue per day fell 4.4% annually, related to a 10.0% decrease in LTL tons per day, which it said was partially offset by an increase in LTL revenue per hundredweight.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently interviewed Ali Faghri Chief Strategy Officer at Greenwich, Conn.-based national less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier XPO. Faghri provided Berman with a detailed overview of the LTL market, economic conditions, and how XPO is leveraging AI, among other topics, in the interview below.

In this podcast, LM Group News Editor Jeff Berman interviews Kevin Huntsman, President, Mastio & Company.

Following a series of less-than-truckload-related acquisitions made in recent years by its parent company Knight-Swift Transportation—a July 2021 acquisition of AAA Cooper Transportation (ACT) and its affiliated entity AAA Cooper for $1.35 billion, a December 2021 acquisition of RAC MME Holdings LLC, which is better known in trucking circles as MME (with the brand names Midwest Motor Express Inc. (MME) and also Midnite Express Inc.), for $150 million and a July 2024 acquisition of Dependable Highway Express (DHE) for $185 million—effective January 1, 2026, both MME...

The September shipments reading, at 1.042, was down 5.4% annually, faring better than August’s 9.3% annual decrease, and increased 2.5% over August. The September shipments reading, at 1.042, was down 5.4% annually, faring better than August’s 9.3% annual decrease, and increased 2.5% over August.

Q3 Freight Index: Carriers Fight Margin Pressure as Industry Faces Longest Downcycle in Years AFS and TD Cowen highlight freight market complexity, with historical models and economic shifts shaping short-term forecasts.

A trio of industry stakeholders—each focused on different areas of surface transportation, including truckload, ground parcel, and less-than-truckload (LTL)—addressed current market conditions for their respective modes, as well as take a look at key priorities shippers need to be focusing on in 2026, at a session at this week’s Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

Echo said its Mexico services include options for dry van, temperature-controlled shipping, flatbed, LTL, intermodal, and managed transportation. And it added that with its integrated cross-border transportation technology and a team of bilingual experts, Echo provides shippers with what it called a seamless experience for navigating trade and customs regulations.

The report observed that truckload (TL) activity accounted for 72% of second quarter broker activity, followed by Miscellaneous (which includes ocean, air, warehousing, and special services), at 14%, less-than-truckload (LTL), at 11%, and intermodal, at 3%.

ODFL reported that revenue per day was down 4.8% annually in August, driven by LTL tonnage per day falling 9.2%.

This is the eighth facility it has opened in 2025, as well as its 36th service center in its Northeast footprint.

How shippers are addressing root-cause challenges—one conversation at a time.

Fewer trucks chasing even less freight. That’s the mid-year summary of the $994 billion domestic trucking market.