The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) - the only organization exclusively representing transportation intermediaries of all disciplines doing business in domestic and international commerce – has released its latest 3PL Market Report for the second quarter of 2024.

The report outlines that in Q2 2024, the industry for the first time in eight quarters, posted positive growth in total shipments: 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. Additionally, 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.

“It is so good to finally see the industry moving in a positive direction after two years of losses,” said Anne Reinke, TIA president & 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:

Truckload Summary:

The truckload segment performed strongly in Q2 2024 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 2024 than what we had seen in the recent past, with performance and effective cost management strategies the main driver of this growth. Truckload eight-quarter trends show a flattening like what we saw in the overall activity within the industry in terms of invoice amount per shipment, and an increase in gross margin percent for the first time since Q3 2022.

Less-than-truckload Summary:

We began a mixed trend with Less Than Truckload (LTL) in Q2 2024, 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 2024, brokers with more than $100 million saw increases across all statistics (total loads, invoice amount per load, gross margin per load, and gross margin %). Like Truckload, the eight-quarter trends show a smaller decrease in the invoice amount per shipment, and an increase in the gross margin percentage for LTL in Q2 2024 as opposed to previous quarters.

Intermodal Summary:

Intermodal business also saw an increase during Q2 2024 vs Q1 2024, with total shipment increasing by 9.5% and the invoice amount per load also increasing by 1.1%. YoY, however, we 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. Like Truckload and LTL, Intermodal saw a small increase in the invoice amount per shipment and a larger increase for those companies participating in Intermodal for gross margin percent in Q2 204 as opposed to previous quarters. The increase in gross margin percentage continues a trend that dates to Q4 2023.

"We have seen a lot of shake up in the industry over the past few years because of market conditions,” said 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.”

The full report “3PL Market Report, Second Quarter 2024, Issue 63” is available for free to media upon request.