It looks like freight brokerages might finally be catching a break in 2025. In February, the number of active brokerages only dipped by 52 — a far cry from the massive losses we saw last year when 3,104 brokerages exited the market.

This is the second month in a row with a smaller, double-digit decline in active MCs, which suggests the market could be stabilizing. New brokerages are starting to enter again, and the pace of closures is slowing down.

Year-over-year, the numbers are still down (-9.5%), but that’s an improvement from the worst point in October 2024 when the decline hit (-11.8%). Longer-term growth rates still have a ways to go, sitting at (-13.3%) over 2 years and (-17.8%) over 3 years.

Thanks as always to Mark Draeb and Kathy Sardelli at Carrier Details LLC for supplying the data.