🎣 AI Boom. Freight Waiting.

🎣 Freight's 2022 Flashback

The March LMI reads like 2022 with prices at a 4-year high. Plus: warehouse arson in California, Mexico's trucker strike enters day three, and broker margins are still underwater.

TGIF. The data center construction boom is supposed to be flatbed's next "super cycle," but now a wrench has been thrown into the works.

Plus:

C.H. Robinson Rates Forecast
Hormuz Snooze
LEGO Load Nearly Lost

💡

Question of the Day: Nearly ___% of U.S. data centers planned to open in 2026 are expected to be delayed or canceled.

Today's Newsletter is Brought to You by **Trinity Logistics**.

🍳 What's Cookin' In Freight

DAT dry van linehaul CPM vs. C.H. Robinson forecast through end of 2026. Image Source: **C.H. Robinson Edge**

📈 C.H. Robinson Forecast Rising Rates. C.H. Robinson's Director of Market Intelligence, Ryan Hammett, tagged us directly to share their April forecast update: dry van costs are now projected to rise 17% year-over-year, with reefer up 16% y/y. The chart tells the story — rates bottomed out through most of 2025, surged sharply in early 2026, and the C.H. Robinson forecast shows no reversal through end of year.

🛢️ Hormuz Confusion. A U.S.-Iran ceasefire was announced Tuesday, but shipping hasn't recovered. Only a handful of vessels have transited the strait since the truce — 5 on Wednesday, 7 on Thursday — against a normal flow of hundreds per day. More than 600 vessels, including 325 tankers, remain stranded in the Gulf. Analysts expect safe transit capacity to max out at 10–15 passages a day even if the ceasefire holds. Oil prices dropped toward $95/barrel on the ceasefire news, but don't count on pump relief until those tankers actually start moving.

🧱 $1M In LEGOs & $470K in Stolen Vehicles in the Same Week. Two cargo theft stories that should be on your radar. In California, three people were arrested after stealing approximately $1 million worth of LEGO products from trailers in transit from Fort Worth to Moreno Valley; deputies caught two box trucks fleeing the scene and found the stolen loads inside. Separately in Texas, authorities intercepted two semis carrying $470K in stolen vehicles believed to be headed to Honduras. The real story is that those vehicles moved through what looked like legitimate freight channels before anyone flagged them. Both cases in the same week, same corridor. Vet your carriers.

Presented By Trinity Logistics

Transparency builds trust. Trinity Logistics provides clear reporting tools, consistent pay schedules, and no surprises, so Freight Agents always know where they stand.

Learn about Trinity