[Excerpt from The Pickett Line June 2023 Issue] Welcome to late June 2023, where we prepare to turn the page on an eventful Q2 and begin to dig in for what has the potential to be another wild quarter ahead. You may recall that last month we turned to none other than astronaut Neil Armstrong, …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line May 2023 Issue] “Houston, we have lift off” – to quote astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 16th, 1969 as Commander of the Apollo 11 mission to land humans on the moon for the first time. After spending the last two quarters on ‘inflection watch’, anticipating the Y/Y deflationary bottom of …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line April 2023 Issue] Okay, let’s try this again. As we look back on this first month of the second quarter of the second year of the deflationary leg of this fifth observed US TL Spot Linehaul rate cycle since 2007, in the immortal words of the great Yogi Berra, “it’s …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line March 2023 Issue] Well, now we know how Michael Corleone must have felt in that scene in Godfather 3 where he laments that “just when I thought was out, they pull me back in!” Though in our case, we are talking about the 3rd quarter floor-seeking leg of the US …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line February 2023 Issue] It is often noted that February tends to be one of the dullest, least eventful months of the freight year – barring a winter storm or an unprovoked Russian invasion to liven things up. And with the majority of the month now behind us, this particular February …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line January 2023 Issue] Geez, we’re barely into the new year and we’ve already gone up and over our first major hill of the 2023 TL spot market roller coaster. We came in like a lion and it is looking like we will go out like a lamb. And while that …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line December 2022 Issue] ‘Twas the eve of inflection, and all through the market Not a Carrier felt optimistic. Thought they might as well park it. Costs remain high, while rates remain low. Cheaper diesel sure helps, but only softens the blow. How long must we wait, before this market finds …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line November 2022 Issue] Now two thirds of the way through this final quarter of 2022 and well into this most wonderful time of the year, we continue to search for reassuring signal of our projected market cycle bottom in US TL Spot Linehaul rates. But as our index continues to …
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line October 2022 Issue] Well, we made it ladies and gentlemen. Q4 is finally upon us. And it came in not with a bang but a relative whimper. After a September to remember, we got a pretty mediocre October. But if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that …
It’s the most wonderful time of the [truckload freight market cycle]. Read More »
[Excerpt from The Pickett Line September 2022 Issue] Well, that was unexpected. September is typically one of the quieter months of the year with regard to the US TL Spot Linehaul Rate Cycle and the macroeconomic data that we track as leading, lagging, and coincident indicators. There are no market-moving seasonal shifts to really account …