Massive Insurance Cost Hike Slams Trucking Profits

Insurance costs among the top 10 U.S. trucking companies jumped 54.4%, from $992 million in 2021 to $1.53 billion in 2025. Premiums have shot up as jury awards from so-called “nuclear verdicts” in fatal truck accident cases have reached multimillion dollar levels.

“Because trucking companies are largely unable to pass these soaring insurance costs onto shippers, the rate hikes have become a primary driver in cutting the top carriers’ combined net profits nearly in half (46.9%), pushing several multimillion dollar fleets into net financial losses,” the CCJ said.  

Data compiled by Demotech showed aggregate net profits for the top 10 carriers plummeted from $4.2 billion in 2021 to $2.2 billion in 2025.

“Demotech noted the profit squeeze was not caused by a drop-off in freight demand,” the CCJ said. “Aggregate revenues actually increased by 9.95% over the five-year stretch, peaking alongside expenses in 2022 before leveling off. Instead, carriers are struggling to convert revenue into earnings due to cost pressures.” 

Tighter Supply Is the Driver of Accelerating Rates

The expenditures component of the Cass Freight Index measures changes in the total amount spent on North American for-hire freight.

Carriers follow this and our shipments index closely to benchmark their own performance against the industry.

Expenditures climbed again in June — and posted a bigger gain than in May. The total amount spent on freight jumped 11.2% year over year in June, following a 7.5% increase in May.

The increase in expenditures was primarily due to freight rates, as the shipments component of the Cass Freight Index in June fell 4.1% year over year and 3.1% month over month. 

“The volume recovery seems delayed by a hopefully brief bout of inflation, and it will take time for the razor-thin U.S. savings rate to recover,” ACT Research’s Tim Denoyer, author of the monthly report, wrote. “But fuel prices are falling fast, inventories are tight, tariffs are down, and the U.S. dollar is soft, so a demand recovery remains possible later this year. But for now, tighter supply remains the main reason for accelerating rates.”

Read the entire Cass report for June 2026 here. 

Trucking Spot Rates Surge Past Contract Prices

For the first time since February 2022, the national average dry van spot rate, at $3.10 in June, overtook the average contract rate of $2.89.

“The historical premium that shippers pay for contract security has evaporated in major sectors,” the Commercial Carrier Journal reported.

“The difference between spot and contract rates has narrowed steadily for more than a year, and carriers are gaining pricing power across the board,” DAT analyst Dean Croke said. “Van spot beating contract for the first time in four years, and flatbed hitting an all-time high in the same month, shows real capacity pressure.

If demand were driving this, volumes would be climbing too, and they’re not.” 
Like the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index, a DAT Freight & Analytics report issued July 9 noted that truckload rates in June increased faster than freight volumes, pointing to tighter capacity rather than stronger demand. 

DOT Awards $61.7 Million for Truck Parking Spaces

Truck parking spaces will be added in four states thanks to a $61.7 million allocation from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Through the BUILD grant program, truck parking spaces will be added at rest areas in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Illinois. In Wyoming, $1.4 million will be used to improve winter parking options for commercial trucks.

“The chronic lack of truck parking poses a public safety risk, raises costs for consumers, and makes professional drivers’ tough jobs even harder,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. “When drivers finish their shift, they deserve to know that they will be able to find a safe place to sleep that night.”  

U.S.-Canada Bridge Scheduled to Open July 27

The Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is set to open July 27.

The opening was delayed by about six weeks while U.S. and Canadian officials hammered out agreements on such issues as toll governance.

The bridge adds a second span between Detroit and Windsor and is expected to handle 400 commercial crossings per hour.

“For commercial trucking operations, the opening represents an immediate improvement in efficiency and reliability,” the Canadian Trucking Alliance said. “Modern customs facilities, expanded inspection capacity, and direct freeway-to-freeway connections will help reduce congestion, improve border processing, strengthen supply chain security, and divert heavy commercial traffic away from residential neighbourhoods in Windsor.”

Trucking M&A Activity Picking Up

Trucking company mergers and acquisitions appear to be gaining momentum.
“We’re starting to see people step back in the ring that were really cautious about doing M&A over the last nine to 12 months,” Peter Stefanovich, president of Left Lane Associates, told Trucknews.

Stefanovich said reasons for the M&A pickup include the end of the freight recession, improving rates, reduced capacity, and stricter enforcement against noncompliant carriers.  

“We started to see a compression in the volume of carriers that are out there,” he said. “As businesses start to do better, you start to see people having more conversations about M&A.”  

Class 8 Truck Orders Through the Roof

Year-over-year Class 8 truck orders skyrocketed an astounding 241% in June.

FTR Transportation Intelligence said fleets were grabbing remaining 2026 production slots “amid improving freight conditions and uncertainty surrounding emissions regulations,” according to FreightWaves.

FTR said Class 8 net orders in June totaled 30,500 units, up 16% from May and up 241% from June 2025.

“With order activity remaining elevated, the industry is entering a new phase — one where production capacity, regulatory policy, and execution become more important than demand itself,” FTR senior analyst Dan Moyer said.

Keller Drivers Carrying Naloxone in Fight Against Fentanyl

Keller Logistics Group and Keller Trucking have hit the highway with a wrapped 53-foot trailer to help combat the national opioid crisis. And as part of the “Hope Hits the Highway” campaign, 20 Keller drivers have volunteered to serve as driver ambassadors, trained to carry naloxone, an opioid-reversal drug, in their cabs and administer it in emergencies at highway rest stops, truck stops, and roadsides across the country.

The trailer features the message “Educate. Act. Prevent.”

“America’s highways move everything our country depends on,” Andrea Thomas, founder of ARMOUR Families and Facing Fentanyl, said. “Through ‘Hope Hits the Highway,’ those same highways can also become powerful platforms for prevention, awareness, and lifesaving action.”

According to federal data, illicit fentanyl kills an estimated 70,000 Americans every year.

“When this story came to us, 20 of our drivers volunteered to carry naloxone and be ready to save a life on the road,” said Bryan Keller, CEO of Keller Logistics Group. “We don’t just hang our values on the wall. We put them on the highway.”