For the first time in two years, the third-party logistics (3PL) market posted positive growth in total shipments, a 5% increase over Q1 2024 (QoQ) and 3.5% growth year over year (YoY). The report also highlights a 5.6% increase in total revenue over Q1, according to Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).
“It is so good to finally see the industry moving in a positive direction after two years of losses,” says Anne Reinke, TIA president and CEO. “All segments of the industry saw steady growth from Q1 2024 through Q2 2024. We believe this isn’t just a blip in the market but a sign that the rollercoaster COVID freight market cycle is finally ending.”
Key takeaways:
- The invoice amount per shipment edged up by 0.6%. Despite minor declines in gross margin (minus 10 basis points QoQ and minus 160 basis points YoY), the overall growth in shipments and revenue demonstrates strong market demand and operational effectiveness.
- The truckload segment performed strongly in Q2 across various company sizes. Smaller companies saw an increase in total loads, while mid-size and large brokerages experienced growth in invoice amount per load and gross margin per load. This growth indicates that there was a stronger market in Q2 than in the recent past, with performance and effective cost management strategies the main driver of this growth.
- Less-than-truckload (LTL) in Q2 saw a mixed bag, with QoQ gains reported in total load, but with a small decrease in invoice amount per load and gross margin per load. While smaller brokers saw mostly flat statistics in LTL during Q2, brokers with more than $100 million saw increases across all statistics (total loads, invoice amount per load, gross margin per load, and gross margin %).
- Intermodal business also saw an increase during Q2 vs. Q1, with total shipment increasing by 9.5% and the invoice amount per load also increasing by 1.1%. YoY though saw a heavy decrease of 22% for invoice amount per load, which seems to indicate that while things are looking positive in the short term, they are still far from the invoice amount seen in Q2 2023.
"We have seen a lot of shake up in the industry over the past few years because of market conditions,” says Mark Christos, chair of the TIA board of directors. “I expect to see more companies exiting the industry throughout the next year, but this leaves a lot of opportunity for companies that can capitalize quickly on the recovery, continue to deliver excellent customer service and listen to the data.”
