Weak Economy and Regional-Freight Turf Wars Dilute LTL Rate Gains

ine months after the nation’s third-largest less-than-truckload carrier declared bankruptcy, tightening capacity and pumping up freight volumes for surviving carriers, analysts and fleets said those gains were being diluted by the weak economy and by turf wars for regional freight that created excess capacity.

Declining freight volumes along with increased competition among LTL carriers as they move into what traditionally had been long-haul or next-day markets, have carriers shifting capacity around, leaving some with room to haul more freight.

Transportation analyst Thomas S. Albrecht of BB&T Capital Markets said LTL carriers increasingly were blurring the lines between short-haul and long-haul carriers and next-day markets.