The domestic freight market is showing renewed signs of tightening as trucking companies navigate rising enforcement activity, volatile diesel prices, broker liability concerns and the start of the summer shipping season.
Ken Adamo, who recently joined EASE Logistics as chief strategy officer, said Roadcheck Week enforcement activity last week pushed spot rates higher and heightened shipper concerns about securing capacity. “We saw enforcement levels tick up considerably,” Adamo said during an interview with FreightWaves. “As a market that’s already sort of short on capacity in the near term, it definitely pushed rates upwards
We felt that pressure here at EASE, for sure, in our buy rates and shipper nervousness for capacity.” Ohio-based EASE Logistics is a multi-operational supply chain and transportation solutions provider. Prior to joining EASE Logistics, Adamo served in leadership roles at DAT Freight & Analytics and FedEx. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual International Roadcheck inspection blitz often sidelines trucks temporarily as carriers seek to avoid inspection delays or potential out-of-service violations.
Adamo said even compliant carriers sometimes choose to pause operations during enforcement week to avoid disruptions. The tighter conditions come as freight demand enters the pre-Memorial Day shipping surge and as trucking markets continue reacting to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving broker liability.