Saturday, July 12, 2025
FreightWaves Passport
  • Home
  • Research
    • 3PLs
    • Carrier Outlook
    • Featured
    • Financials
    • Freight Market Outlook
    • Global Trade
    • Intermodal
    • Most Popular
    • News
    • Special Topic
    • Trucking
  • Education
  • Community
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Webinars
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact Us
  • Sign Up
  • Account
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
FreightWaves Passport
  • Home
  • Research
    • 3PLs
    • Carrier Outlook
    • Featured
    • Financials
    • Freight Market Outlook
    • Global Trade
    • Intermodal
    • Most Popular
    • News
    • Special Topic
    • Trucking
  • Education
  • Community
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Webinars
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact Us
  • Sign Up
  • Account
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
FreightWaves Passport
No Result
View All Result
Home 3PLs

3PL Q2 Preview

by Tony Mulvey
Friday, June 26, 2020
in 3PLs, Financials, Special Topic
Reading Time: 1 min read
0

(Photo: Jim Allen / FreightWaves)

April market conditions that were favorable to freight brokerages — loosening truck capacity and declining spot rates — reversed themselves in May, and in June, gross margins progressively narrowed on higher volumes and lower revenues.

 

Contrary to the guidance offered by 3PL management teams on Q1 earnings calls, we believe that gross margins narrowed year-over-year, perhaps especially for brokerages that bid aggressively for contract freight at the end of 2019 and lowered rates.

 

It’s unclear to us how far tight capacity and higher rates extend beyond the July Fourth holiday. There are arguments and data points on each side of the debate (widespread softening and stabilizing markets versus further capacity constraints and inflationary spot markets). Much depends, too, on the shape of the ongoing economic recovery, the federal government’s appetite for another round of fiscal stimulus, and the ability of local governments to bring secondary COVID-19 outbreaks under control.

 

In other words, the midterm outlook is highly uncertain. We’re continuing to monitor our high-frequency fundamental data sets for insights into supply, demand and price. 

 

For us, a key indicator will be how capacity reacts relative to volume after the holiday. If tender rejections decline only slightly on a severe volume decline,  for example, that would indicate to us an underlying capacity issue that could come back to haunt shippers in Q4.

Members Only

You have selected content that's only available to members of FreightWaves Passport. As a member, you gain immediate access to the most in-depth and informative freight research available. It's your gateway to continuing education.

Members also get:

  • Access to exclusive community dedicated to discussing the most important challenges facing freight.
  • Monthly and Quarterly Freight Market reports keeping you informed of industry trends.
  • Much, much more!

Click below to learn more and sign up today!

Subscribe
Existing Passport subscribers may log in using the form below.

 
 
Forgot Password
Tags: brokeragebrokerage marginsCH RobinsonEcho Global LogisticsLandstar System
ShareShareTweetSend

Tony Mulvey

Research Associate, FreightWaves

Related Posts

3PLs

Rocky road on the way in 2023?

Monday, December 12, 2022
Department stores find leading economic indicators in freight market data
3PLs

Department stores find leading economic indicators in freight market data

Thursday, November 17, 2022
Lumber companies face complex freight decisions
3PLs

Lumber companies face complex freight decisions

Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Next Post

Trucking Markets: Are we peaking?

Popular Research

  • Intermodal markets: Competition holding pricing down

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Blockbuster M&A Deep Dive: TFI International buys UPS Freight

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How much freight do the top 100 shippers in the U.S. control?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

By Categories

  • 3PLs (119)
  • Carrier Outlook (6)
  • Featured (71)
  • Financials (22)
  • Freight Market Outlook (1)
  • Global Trade (6)
  • Intermodal (109)
  • Most Popular (27)
  • News (81)
  • Passport Research (35)
  • Rail (98)
  • Shippers (33)
  • Special Topic (99)
  • Technology (19)
  • Trucking (160)

FreightWaves Passport




Research built for present and future c-suite executives.





Benefits

  • Research
  • Education
  • Community
  • Events

Research by Topic

  • 3PLs
  • Carrier Outlook
  • Featured
  • Financials
  • Freight Market Outlook
  • Global Trade
  • Intermodal
  • Most Popular
  • Special Topic
  • Trucking

Resources

  • Webinars
  • Meet the Team
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2021 | FreightWaves, Inc. | All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Research
    • 3PLs
    • Carrier Outlook
    • Featured
    • Financials
    • Freight Market Outlook
    • Global Trade
    • Intermodal
    • Most Popular
    • News
    • Special Topic
    • Trucking
  • Education
  • Community
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Webinars
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact Us
  • Sign Up
  • Account
  • Log In

© Copyright 2020 | FreightWaves, Inc. | All Rights Reserved