Brokers across the trucking industry say the market is finally “normalizing,” a development they describe as encouraging, stabilizing, and not something they plan to explain further. The word appeared frequently this week, usually delivered with confidence and followed by no clarification.
Carriers were quick to point out that everything currently being “normalized” was never normal to begin with.
Some brokers say normal means rates aren’t collapsing anymore. Others say it means capacity feels tighter in certain lanes. A few admit it mostly means nobody is panicking out loud. “It’s calmer,” one broker said. “That’s normal enough.”
Drivers remain unconvinced. One owner-operator said normalization usually translates to the same work, the same waiting, and better vocabulary around disappointment. “Every time they say it’s normalizing,” he said, “I assume something strange is being renamed.”
Payment terms remain unchanged, which carriers say helps define the situation more clearly than any market commentary. “If normal means quicker pay,” one fleet manager said, “then we’re still operating in an alternate reality.”
Technology dashboards support the normalization narrative with smoother lines and fewer red arrows. Drivers note that the dashboards do not track detention time, dock delays, or tone of voice. “They don’t graph frustration,” one said. “They should.”
By the end of the week, the market continued behaving normally – meaning freight moved, negotiations dragged, and nobody felt comfortable declaring success.
For now, the market is normalizing. What it’s normalizing from – and whether it was ever normal to begin with – remains an open question.
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