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[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

[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

[Excerpt from The Pickett Line August 2022 Issue] And we’re off. The family vacations and road trips are all over (we did eventually ‘get there’) and the kids are all headed back to school. So, with summer settling into the rearview mirror as we move further into Q3, we now look forward to shorter days and autumn

[Excerpt from The Pickett Line July 2022 Issue] Here we are in late July and well into the dog days of summer. As we kick off Q3 and peer into our US Truckload market crystal ball once again, what immediately comes to mind is a question that many of us with young children get a

[Excerpt from The Pickett Line June 2022 Issue] Well, this is what a US TL deflationary cycle trough feels like Ladies and Gentlemen. Only this time around, we also get the specter of a looming US economic recession to contend with at the same time. If the ride up wasn’t stomach-churning enough, the ride down

[Excerpt from The Pickett Line May 2022 Issue] While Spring has sprung across the Northern Hemisphere, bringing with it the promise of more favorable climate conditions in the months ahead, the outlook for both the US TL market and the broader economy continues to deteriorate. But as is the nature of seasons, for good or

[Excerpt from The Pickett Line April 2022 Issue] With a wildly volatile first quarter finally behind us and as we march further into Q2 and our first preliminary Y/Y deflationary read of the current US TL Truckload Spot Linehaul Rate Cycle, we thought it appropriate to kick off this April 2022 installment of The Pickett

[Excerpt from The Pickett Line March 2022 Issue] And that’s a wrap ladies and gentlemen. Q1 is now officially in the rearview mirror. To say that a lot has happened over the last three months would be a colossal understatement. Looking back as we close out this first quarter of 2022, let’s take some inventory.