The freight market continues its shift toward carrier favorability as shrinking capacity (not surging freight volumes) drives tighter conditions across North America. AI infrastructure investments are fueling growth in specialized freight, while higher operating costs and fewer available trucks are pushing spot rates to their highest levels in years.
Here’s what shippers should be watching heading into the second half of 2026.
Today Spot is pleased to announce it has been included on Selling Power’s 60 Best Companies to Sell For 2026 list.
Spot Co-Founder, Andrew Elsener, shared, “For the eighth year in a row, Spot has been recognized as a top sales organization, and our team is stronger than ever. This continued recognition from Selling Power highlights how baked-in excellence is to The Spot Experience. As we grow, we will keep pushing to elevate our team and the unmatched service we provide.”
Selling Power publisher and founder Gerhard Gschwandtner weighed in on this year’s list: “In the tumultuous business environment of 2025, the 60 Best Companies to Sell For have demonstrated remarkable success and growth by elevating their sales teams to new heights. These companies have invested in comprehensive training programs, cutting-edge tools, and supportive work environments that empower their sales professionals to excel. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, they have set a high standard in the competitive world of sales.”
Selling Power’s research team utilizes a comprehensive proprietary application process where they gather data across five key areas:
Company Overview, Compensation and Benefits, Hiring, Sales Training & Sales Enablement, Commitment to fostering Diversity and Inclusion, and AI incorporation into improving sales processes and supporting sales teams.
More than 200 companies were analyzed in each of the categories above to determine the final list. The methodology is the product of years of research that Selling Power continues to revise and refine. The companies included range a size from small to enterprise.
You can view the full list of the 60 Best Companies to Sell For in 2026 here.
Spot, a leading third-party logistics provider in North America, is proud to be named to the 2026 Armstrong & Associates’ Top 100 Domestic Transportation Management 3PLs List.
The annual list is grouped and ranked by a company’s gross revenue from the previous year. You can find the list here.
Armstrong & Associates, Inc. (A&A) was established in 1980 to meet the needs of a newly deregulated domestic transportation market. Since then, through its leading 3PL market research and history of helping companies outsource logistics functions, A&A has become an internationally recognized essential information resource for 3PL market research and consulting.
Armstrong & Associates estimates that the U.S. Third-Party Logistics (3PL)/Contract Logistics market reached $323.4 billion in 2025, up 5.0% year-over-year.
Being named to this list positions Spot as a leader in the domestic transportation management market, the largest segment of the U.S. 3PL market.
The freight market is becoming increasingly bifurcated. Consumer demand is showing signs of fatigue under the weight of persistent inflation and high borrowing costs, while industrial freight tied to AI infrastructure, power generation, and semiconductor investment continues to accelerate. Meanwhile, regulatory enforcement, rising operating costs, and tightening capacity are pushing pricing power back toward carriers.
Here’s what matters now.
In business, success is often measured by metrics such as on-time delivery percentages, load counts, and capacity margins.
We move freight from point A to point B, managing the daily complexities of the supply chain. But every so often, an event occurs that strips away the transactional nature of business, revealing the true core of what we do.
For Alex Buening, a Senior National Account Director at Spot, and his team, that moment arrived when Hurricane Helene tore through Asheville, North Carolina.
When the Lines Go Dark
When a natural disaster strikes, a logistics professional’s natural instinct is often to check the status of freight and facilities. But when Buening reached out to a long-time customer contact in Asheville on the morning of the storm, the priority quickly shifted from tracking shipments to ensuring human safety.
The initial phone calls lasted only two or three minutes before cell towers failed, dropping the connection entirely. By that afternoon, the lines went completely dark.
“Helplessness would be a word that comes to mind,” Buening recalls, reflecting on the time spent waiting for updates, unsure of the safety of people his team had worked alongside for years.
More Than Just a Customer
When contact was finally re-established, the news was bittersweet. While the facility’s team members were safe, the devastation on the ground was severe. Some had lost their homes and vehicles; others had lost loved ones. Basic necessities like clean water and food were scarce, and the local infrastructure was in chaos.
In times of crisis, it becomes clear which business partnerships are purely transactional and which are built on something deeper.
“This team in particular to me and to our team, they’re more than just a customer to us,” Buening stated. “We’ve forged some pretty strong personal relationships with these folks.”
Faced with a partner in crisis, the question wasn’t, “When will the plant reopen?” It was “How can we help?”
Logistics in Action: Driving the Extra Mile
True logistics expertise isn’t just about managing routine routes; it’s about solving critical problems on the fly under intense pressure.
Buening immediately connected with team members in the nearby Spot Charlotte office. The response was instantaneous. The Charlotte team leaped into action, bypassing red tape to coordinate an immediate relief effort:
- They rented a cargo van that the team could drive to deliver the much-needed aid.
- The team went to a local big-box wholesale store, packing the vehicle to the ceiling with water, food, and emergency supplies.
- With major highways blocked and infrastructure compromised, the team manually navigated closed roads, snaking their way through the wreckage to reach the Asheville plant.
The Most Rewarding Delivery
The supply chain is the backbone of the economy, but at its best, it is a lifeline. Shortly after the delivery, Buening received an email from the customer—a message he considers the most rewarding of his professional career.
In logistics, thousands of loads are dispatched and delivered every single day. Most are forgotten as soon as the invoice is cleared. But when a team uses its logistics expertise, agility, and resources to support the people behind the business, it leaves a lasting impact.
We deliver a lot of freight. But it’s the deliveries driven by genuine partnership and empathy that remind us why we do this work.
The freight market continues to tighten as rising fuel costs, expanded broker liability, and constrained truck capacity reshape transportation networks heading into summer.
A recent Supreme Court ruling has increased liability exposure for freight brokers, which will drive stricter carrier vetting and higher insurance costs across the industry. At the same time, diesel prices have surged near 2022 record highs due to ongoing geopolitical instability, adding inflationary pressure throughout the supply chain.
Despite economic uncertainty, freight demand remains steady across manufacturing, produce, and infrastructure sectors, pushing spot rates higher and narrowing the gap between contract and spot pricing.
Demand Level & Outlook
Demand remains strong despite rising costs
Freight demand continues to hold steady as U.S. manufacturing expands for a fourth consecutive month and supply chains remain tight. Semiconductor pricing, factory input costs, and transportation expenses all increased sharply in April, signaling continued pressure across the market.
The largest development impacting transportation this month is the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, which expands broker liability for carrier selection. The decision is expected to increase carrier vetting standards, insurance costs, and operational scrutiny throughout the freight market.
Meanwhile, diesel prices climbed to $5.64 nationally in mid-May (nearly matching 2022 peak levels) further increasing transportation costs across all modes.
Key Demand Indicators
Freight spend is projected to rise 20–25% year-over-year
Trucking rates paid by shippers increased 15.3% year-over-year
Diesel prices rose 62% year-over-year
Factory input costs reached their highest level since 2022
Supply, Capacity, and Carrier Operating Costs
Capacity tightening is accelerating
Freight pricing continues to rise while available truck capacity remains historically tight. Although carriers added trucking jobs and increased truck orders in April, demand is still outpacing supply across dry van, reefer, and flatbed markets.
Fuel remains the biggest operational challenge for carriers. Rising diesel costs pushed carrier operating conditions into negative territory earlier this spring, and transportation pricing historically follows fuel increases within weeks.
Mode Highlights
Dry Van
Capacity remains tighter than at any point in the last several years.
Reefer
Produce season and Roadcheck disruptions pushed reefer demand sharply higher, driving record weekly rate increases.
Flatbed
Infrastructure and AI-related construction demand continue fueling strong flatbed activity and tightening available capacity.
Key Supply Indicators
Flatbed load-to-truck ratios surged during Roadcheck week
Freight pricing reached record highs while truck capacity declined
Heavy-truck orders increased significantly year-over-year
Logistics costs climbed to their highest level since April 2022
Spot & Contract Market Trends
Spot rates continue to outpace contracts
Spot-market pricing accelerated in May as fuel costs, tighter capacity, and increased compliance pressures pushed transportation costs higher. The spot-to-contract pricing gap that benefited shippers throughout 2023 continues to narrow quickly.
Additional broker liability costs are expected to impact spot pricing first, while contract markets are also experiencing upward pressure as primary carriers reject freight and shift loads into higher-cost backup capacity.
Current Linehaul Rates
- Dry Van: $2.22 per mile
- Reefer: $2.68 per mile
- Flatbed: $2.79 per mile
Market Rate Trends
- Spot rates are running 35–40% above last year
- Contract rates are averaging roughly 10% above last year
- Dry van rates sit 30% above the five-year average
- Flatbed rates increased 20% over the past nine weeks
Shippers should prepare for continued rate volatility throughout the summer as fuel prices, seasonal demand, and tightening capacity continue pressuring the market.als
Market Update.
In the logistics industry, everyone knows the dread of endless wait times, unexpected layovers, and unloading issues that can throw a massive wrench into a carrier’s week.
But when a routine delay escalated into a multi-day nightmare for a group of drivers, Tanisha Deuett, Spot’s claims & loss prevention manager, decided that standard broker protocols weren’t enough. She chose to put empathy into action.
A Breaking Point at the Loading Dock
The trouble started when a slow receiver hit a breaking point. For days, carriers were getting stuck in line waiting to be unloaded. In the worst instance, one driver was held up for seven days.
The phones at Spot began ringing non-stop. Drivers were frustrated, angry, and entirely justified in their panic. They were facing lost revenue, missing subsequent shipments, and wondering if they would be compensated for their lost time. Some were even threatening to leave the line entirely.
While it’s easy for some brokers to treat these calls as mere numbers on a screen, Deuett immediately put herself in the drivers’ shoes.
By the second day, the situation had transitioned from a logistical headache to a human one. Because the facility was so backed up, drivers couldn’t even leave their parking spots to go grab food. If they left, they would lose their place in line.
A Slice of Kindness
Recognizing these drivers were trapped without access to basic necessities, Deuett’s natural caretaker instincts kicked in.
That evening, she and her husband bought 30 pizzas, drove to the receiver, and set up a table right outside. They spent the night handing out slices to all the waiting carriers working with Spot.
“It was the least that we could do,” Deuett recalled. “Just a kind gesture to say, ‘Hey, thank you, we appreciate you.’”
Of course, a hot slice of pizza doesn’t pay the bills. Spot made sure that every carrier was fully compensated for their layover time. But that night wasn’t about logistics; it was about showing drivers that they are seen, respected, and valued.
Doing Good is Good Business
An unexpected thing happened while Deuett was handing out food. Drivers contracted by other brokers walked to the table, completely stunned by what they were seeing. They kept asking, “What is this for?” and “Who is doing this?”
When Deuett explained that Spot was simply taking care of carriers in their network, the response was overwhelming. Right there in the parking lot, she was able to onboard several new carriers and spark new business relationships.
Ultimately, this rescue mission proved a fundamental truth about the industry: not all brokers care about carriers they work with the same way Spot does. To Spot, drivers aren’t just truck numbers or line items on a spreadsheet. They are the vital backbone of the supply chain.
Spot, a leading third-party logistics company in North America, announced its achievement of System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 2 attestation, further validating its ability to protect sensitive client data amidst increasing safety standards.
This SOC 2 Type 2 report is a result of a thorough and systematic examination conducted by Katz, Sapper & Miller, an independent service auditor. Developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the examination addressed Spot’s information security policies, procedures, and controls according to the audit the Statement of Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 21 standard. The examination evaluated the design and operating effectiveness of the Company’s controls relevant to the Trust Services Criteria for security and availability.
“We view security not just as a requirement, but as a core value that underscores the trust our customers place in us every day,” said Andy Schenck, Co-Founder of Spot. “We are proud of achieving this and remain committed to safeguarding customer information while keeping data integrity at the forefront of what we do.”
“This milestone reflects our ongoing commitment to maintaining the highest standards of operational security,” stated Ben Garvin, Director of Technology for Spot. “It gives our customers greater confidence that our controls aren’t just in place, but they are working as intended, every day.”
Elevating data security and further developing its future-focused technology solutions will remain a priority for Spot. As a customer-first organization, protecting the sensitive information of those with whom it works is critically important.
The tools you use can either be a bottleneck or a catalyst for growth. For many companies, “off-the-shelf” software is the starting point, but as the industry evolves, those standard solutions often fall short of meeting the modern customer’s needs.
In our latest What Others Won’t video, Andy Schenck, Spot’s Co-founder, shares the origin story of Red Technologies and how a bold decision in 2014 changed the trajectory of the business.
Moving Beyond Off-the-Shelf
When the journey began in 2009, the industry was a different landscape; older technologies like fax machines were still in normal use. While Spot had basic software that worked initially, it lacked the flexibility required to customize solutions for a growing list of diverse clients.
By 2014, it became clear that to do things differently, we had to build something ourselves. This led to a multi-year development process focused on creating a comprehensive system to manage the entire lifecycle of a shipment: from customer orders and carrier dispatching to complex accounting functions.
Why We Call It “Red”
Naming a piece of proprietary technology is a major milestone, but for us, the name “Red” wasn’t chosen by a marketing firm. It was a personal tribute. Andy’s business parter and Spot’s Co-founder, Andrew Elsener, suggested naming the software after Andy’s mother. Her nickname was Red. It’s a name that carries a sense of legacy and heart, reflecting the personal commitment poured into the platform.
The Power of Real-World Development
One of the greatest advantages of building proprietary tech in-house is the proximity between the people writing the code and the people moving the freight.
With Red Technologies, developers don’t work in a vacuum. They sit right alongside the operations teams, seeing the real-world impact of every line of code. This collaboration allows us to act fast when issues arise and ensures that every update serves a functional purpose for the end-user.
Spot has been named to the 2026 Transport Topics Top 100 Freight Brokerages List. The company secured the top ranking among Indiana-based freight brokers and achieved a national ranking of 26, rising four spots from 2025. The annual list ranks companies based on gross revenue from the preceding year.
Spot saw this growth during volatile business conditions last year, from compressed margins and a grueling freight market downturn to tariff-driven supply chain upheaval.
Established in 2009 by Andrew Elsener and Andy Schenck, Spot has evolved over nearly two decades into a premier third-party logistics (3PL) provider in North America. This growth is rooted in prioritizing high-caliber talent and developing proprietary technology such as the company’s TMS platform, MySpot.
Spot’s team of dedicated professionals remains focused on strengthening customers’ supply chains and fostering lasting professional relationships through reliable, technology-driven solutions.
Since 1935, Transport Topics has been a news leader in trucking and freight transportation. Its journalists help keep readers informed about all aspects of the trucking industry and help them stay ready for what’s to come. To learn who made the list and read more about the issues facing logistics companies, visit Transport Topics at https://www.ttnews.com/logistics/freightbrokerage/2026 Learn more at www.spotinc.com and listen to industry experts on the Company’s podcast, More Than A Broker, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major platforms.