For the first time this year, the decline in freight brokerage authorities has finally eased up a bit. We’re still looking at a 10.9% drop compared to last year, but this is the first time in 2024 that the decline hasn’t gotten worse.

It’s a small sign that we might be reaching the bottom. Over the next couple of months, we’ll see if this trend holds.

That said, things aren’t completely turning around yet. If we zoom out to the past two or three years, the declines are still pretty rough and even picking up speed. Compared to two years ago, there are 17.5% fewer active freight brokerages.

So, while this pause in the one-year decline is a positive sign, we’ll need to see it happen across the two- and three-year metrics as well before we can say the worst is over.

As for growth? It’s likely still a ways off unless there’s a major flip in the freight markets.

As always a big shout out to Kathy Sardelli and Mark Draeb at Carrier Details LLC for providing the data.

November 2024
6-Month: -5.3%
1-Year:  -10.9%
2-Year: -17.5%
3-Year:  -7.6%
4-Year:   11.6%
5-year:   21.3%