Transportation Economy News Updates

Competition for truck drivers has rebounded as freight conditions improve, driving up hiring costs, sign-on bonuses and pay increases at several fleets.

Retailers are benefiting from greater consumer resiliency than might have been expected, but the chains creating the most consistent demand are discount stores.

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.1% from the prior month to 113.1. But the latest result also marked a decline of 0.1% from last year.

“The structural capacity attrition we’ve been talking about for several quarters is playing out as predicted,” CEO Derek Leathers said.

The Tenney Group 2026 Mid-Year M&A Report found that capacity reductions have started to drive industry consolidation alongside other key factors.

J.B. Hunt executives highlighted how heightened DOT enforcement has accelerated market changes while reporting the company’s second-quarter financial results.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 57,000 last month after downward revisions to the prior two months, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released July 2.

Excluding the volatile energy and food categories, core prices rose 3.4% in May compared with a year earlier, up from 3.3% in April and the largest increase since October 2023.

The growth in GDP marked a rebound from a sluggish 0.5% in the last three months of 2025 when a 43-day federal government shutdown weighed on the economy.

Under the OECD's prolonged disruption scenario, global growth slows from 3.4% last year to 2.1% this year and 1.8% in 2027, potentially pushing some economies into recession.