LTL carriers report an August pickup after the summer's steepest price drop

The freshest freight signal this week isn't at the pump — diesel and reefer sat about where they were. It's in less-than-truckload, where three of the biggest carriers reported August gains at the same time our own index shows LTL fell furthest this summer.

**LTL is turning up, and our index says it had the most ground to make up.** Old Dominion's August update showed accelerating yield growth with volumes closing in on positive territory, and Saia said its tonnage growth stepped higher in the month. Read that against our LTL price index, which fell 4.6% in July — the steepest monthly drop of any freight segment we track, though it still sits 10.7% above a year ago. Two large carriers pointing up in August is the first firm counter-signal since, and if it holds it points to firmer LTL pricing heading into the fall.

**XPO says August kept it on plan.** The carrier reported its August operating metrics leave it on track for third-quarter guidance — another read in the same direction, and a reassuring one for anyone running for the big LTL networks.

**New truck orders cooled.** North American Class 8 orders fell from July, according to FTR, a sign fleets aren't rushing to add tractors. If you're shopping the used market, softer demand for new iron tends to keep equipment prices in reach — the rare line item that gets easier when order boards go quiet.

**Enforcement keeps tightening in the Southeast.** Land Line reports Alabama is layering its own measures on top of the federal effort to clean up trucking. If you run those lanes, it's worth knowing which way the compliance wind is blowing before an inspection tells you.

**Rail is pulling some long-haul freight back.** FreightWaves, citing the latest AAR data, reports intermodal traffic outgained carload shipments, led by steel and energy. Intermodal strength can quietly take boxes off the highway on the longest lanes, so it's worth watching on the routes where rail runs parallel to yours.

The pump map didn't move this week. The movement is in who's hauling, and in what.