Werner Sees Dedicated Contract Rates Start to Climb

Evidence is growing that a sustained recovery is underway, with dedicated truckload contract rates continuing to increase. (Jon Tetzlaff/Getty Images)

Rate strength is beginning to show up more clearly in dedicated truckload contract renewals, following in the footsteps of spot and then contract one-way rates, according to Werner Enterprises executives.

Werner is also seeing more benefits as a firm from the upcycle after bolstering its dedicated truckload operations with an acquisition at the start of 2026, executives added.

A dedicated truckload rate inflection point was always expected to lag earlier spot and contract upside. Dedicated contract carriage is intended to offer shippers greater stability, especially compared with the spot truckload market.

But evidence is growing that a sustained recovery is underway, with contract rates continuing to increase. The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index rose to 150.8 in May, up 0.4% month on month and 6.9% year on year, Cass Information Systems said June 15.

“[Dedicated] may not have the slope and pace of what we’re seeing in one way, whether that be in one-way spot or one-way contract, but there is momentum there. We are seeing those increases; that’s going to be gradual,” Werner Chief Financial Officer Chris Wikoff told the Wells Fargo Industrials & Materials Conference.

Carriers are also seeing mini-bids on lanes where renewals took place in January or February.

Omaha, Neb.-based Werner expected a 3% increase in dedicated contract renewal rates at the start of the year as it pivoted to the less volatile segment of the market following what many observers have called the longest downturn in freight industry memory.

Werner in January acquired privately owned dedicated carrier FirstFleet and associated real estate for a combined $282.8 million.

Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based FirstFleet brought about 2,400 tractors, 11,000 trailers and 37 properties near 130 customer sites around the U.S. to the deal.

Werner said at the time the deal would position the combined company as the fifth-largest dedicated carrier in the country by power units and would raise its dedicated revenue by about 50%.

The company sought to increase its share of “more resilient” market segments, such as groceries, baked goods and corrugated packaging, through the deal.

Merging the two operations has “gone very well, as expected, if not better than expected. … The integration is on track or maybe even ahead of schedule,” Wikoff told conference attendees.

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Werner on April 28 said its first-quarter 2026 earnings had already seen a boost from the deal, but executives said June 9 at the Wells Fargo conference that benefits were now even more visible.

Werner’s Truckload Transportation Services segment revenue increased 18% year over year to $594.3 million in Q1 from $501.8 million a year earlier on the back of the FirstFleet acquisition.

In Q1, Werner’s average truckload fleet was up 14% year over year at 8,454. Wikoff said the second quarter of 2026 would be a “stair step” up from that on the way to a 23% to 28% increase on a year-over-year basis.

“We’ve continued to see growth not only in those verticals in dedicated where we’re more concentrated — retail, value retail, food, grocery, beverage — but [have] also seen success in expanding into other verticals with the dedicated solution for technology, pharma, aftermarket auto parts, construction products,” the CFO told analysts and investors.

Werner ranks No. 18 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America before January’s deal as well as No. 8 among truckload/dedicated carriers, and No. 30 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.

FirstFleet ranked No. 67 on the for-hire TT100 before the deal and No. 16 in the truckload/dedicated segment of the market, employing around 3,500 staff, according to TT data.

Werner is not the only Top 20 for-hire carrier eyeing dedicated truckload growth, with Schneider executives telling attendees of the Wells Fargo conference the same day that its enthusiasm for an acquisition was growing.

Green Bay, Wis.-based Schneider — which ranks No. 10 on the for-hire TT100, No. 7 among truckload/dedicated carriers and No. 18 on the logistics TT100 — last opened its coffers for an acquisition in November 2024 with the $390 million purchase of Baltimore-based Cowan Systems.