Averitt Point to Point

How much warehouse space will your business need six months from now? Will inventory be moving through the same markets? Will your customers need something different?

Getting office furniture from an overseas manufacturer to dealers across the United States takes coordination at every step. For i5 Industries, that means connecting international shipping, port drayage and less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation through a logistics partner that understands its business.

The fourth quarter begins with a mix of encouraging economic signals and continued uncertainty. Demand is strengthening in several areas, but rising fuel costs, tighter capacity, regulatory changes and global transportation disruptions are creating new challenges for shippers.

Most of us don't think about port infrastructure when we pour a morning cup of coffee. But before those beans ever reach a grocery store shelf or kitchen cabinet, they may have traveled thousands of miles by truck and vessel, passed through a U.S. port, and moved through a network of warehouses, distribution centers and transportation providers.

Q3 2026 marks a turning point.  After one of the longest freight downturns in modern trucking history, soft capacity and shipper-favorable pricing dating back to 2022, the market is tightening across nearly every mode.

If you have international shipments moving from Asia to the U.S., conditions in the Transpacific Eastbound (TPEB) market have changed significantly in recent weeks. Space is tight, rates are climbing, and the window to act is narrowing.

On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC that immediately changed the freight brokerage industry. For brokers who have been cutting corners on carrier vetting, the ruling is a wake-up call. For Averitt, it is confirmation of what we have been doing all along.

Intermodal transportation tends to get a reputation it doesn't quite deserve. Shippers hear "rail" and think slow, complicated, or risky for their freight. In practice, the reality is often the opposite. For the right lanes and freight types, intermodal can deliver meaningful cost savings while keeping transit times competitive with over-the-road service.

Freight pricing has always been complicated — but the tools shippers use to navigate it are changing fast. Transportation management systems (TMS) that once existed to track a shipment from point A to point B have evolved into full decision-making platforms. And AI is accelerating that shift in ways that are reshaping how both shippers and carriers operate.