CARRIER 19%
SHIPPERS: Which is more important, your relationship with your carrier or with your broker/intermediary? Of course, carriers are not the only ones that shippers rely on as part of managing their trucking needs. Brokers/intermediaries are also crucial for many, and, in fact, 61% of shippers say that their relationships with their carriers and brokers/intermediaries are equally important. Of the remaining shippers, they are almost equally split on which relationship is more important for them— with 20% opting for the broker/intermediary relationship while 19% leaned toward the carrier option.
EQUALLY IMPORTANT 61%
BROKER/ INTERMEDIARY 20%
SHIPPERS: Have you experienced a shortage of truck capacity? For any shipper, capacity issues can have serious consequences, and 56% say that they have experienced a shortage of truck capacity—that’s up 10 points from 2025.
SHIPPERS: Have you experienced rate hikes apart from fuel surcharges? A vast majority of shippers have seen rate hikes (apart from fuel surcharges)—another indication of the growth of costs in the industry. That’s an increase of 6 points from 2025.
NO 44%
NO 10%
YES 56%
YES 90%
TRUCKERS: What legislative or policy measures have the greatest impact on your business? Policy measures can create a range of issues for truckers and lead to unexpected costs and major adjustments in the way that they operate. Driver mandates were cited by 64% (up from 56% in 2025) as one of the legislative or policy measures that have the greatest impact on their business, more evidence that driver issues are in the foreground for trucking companies. Energy policy/sustainability requirements (44%) were also commonly recognized as consequential, and 42% said the same about infrastructure-related measures.
64%
Driver mandates
44%
Energy policy/sustainability
42%
Infrastructure
22%
Healthcare
11%
Vehicle weight
September 2026 • Inbound Logistics 39
Powered by FlippingBook