Fighting Freight Fatigue

I have spoken to many candidates, and I see a common theme. Freight Fatigue

Logistics folks are worn down by a lack of margin, a lack of volume, and shippers constantly saying no.

Almost 3 years into this “freight recession,” the only thing moving faster than rates to the floor is the revolving door at your brokerage.

We’ve all heard the same script for a year and a half:
“We’ve hit the bottom. Any day now we’ll rebound.”

The bottom must be a bottomless pit.

Because here’s the reality: demand is flat, capacity’s bloated, margins are paper-thin, and every other week you’re seeing another LinkedIn post from someone “excited for their next chapter” — translation: they just got cut.

💀 Fatigue Is the Silent Killer

Forget “market conditions” — fatigue is what’s chewing up brokerages from the inside.

• Sales reps are tired of pitching shippers they know aren't going add another broker.
• Carrier reps are worn out from calling the same fleets just to get ghosted or undercut and lack of volume to play with.
• Management is tired of watching the monthly P&L bleed while pretending everything’s fine at all-hands.

And once fatigue sets in, production drops — not because people don’t know what to do, but because they stop believing it’ll matter.

📉 Turnover: The Slow Bleed

This isn’t the 2021 market where every broker had a shot at making $150K and hitting President’s Club. Right now:

• New hires churn in 3–6 months.
• Mid-tier reps with books of business are getting poached or quitting before burnout turns into layoffs.
• Even veterans are quietly exploring “non-freight” gigs because the juice doesn’t feel worth the squeeze.

The result? Every time the market does try to lift, brokerages are understaffed or onboarding green reps who have never seen a good market.

🪓 Layoffs Are the Easy Button

When margins suck, volume’s flat, and owners want the bleeding to stop, the first lever they pull is payroll.

Some of it’s smart — trimming dead weight. But a lot of it is panic cuts that gut the very people who can sell you out of a slump.

Layoffs send a message. Unfortunately, that message is:

“Don’t get too comfortable. You might be next.”

That fear alone kills productivity.

🧠 How to Fight the Fatigue and Stay Dangerous

You can’t “positive thinking” your way out of fatigue. You need real moves that keep you sharp when the market’s dull:

1. Build Small Wins Into Your Day
   Stop obsessing over the big account you’re chasing and create daily targets you can actually hit — a set number of calls, a couple of warm intros, one rate request turned into a load. Momentum fuels morale.
2. Work Your Relationships Like Your Paycheck Depends On It (Because It Does)
   This isn’t the market to let a customer go dark. Call them. Text them. Find out what’s changing on their end before they tell another broker.
3. Mix Your Freight Portfolio
   Blend stable, low-margin freight with a few higher-risk, higher-reward plays. Only hauling “safe” freight in a slow market is how you stay broke and bored.
4. Cut the Dead Weight in Your Day
   Stop quoting ghost freight. Stop calling the carrier who hasn’t answered since March. Spend your time on work that actually has a shot at paying you.
5. Get Ruthless With Self-Care
   Yeah, it’s not sexy — but if you’re fried, you’re useless. Sleep more, drink less, and move your body. Half the “fatigue” problem in freight is just bad personal maintenance.
6. Play long game sales — the market will turn, and the reps who kept showing up will own the recovery.
7. Ignore the noise — LinkedIn hype, false rebounds, and company “rah-rah” are distractions. Keep your head in the lanes that pay.

🎯 Bottom Line

This market is a war of attrition. Fatigue, turnover, and layoffs are the landmines.

The brokers who survive won’t be the flashiest, the most tech-enabled, or the loudest on LinkedIn. They’ll be the ones who stayed sharp, protected their relationships, and didn’t let the grind turn them into ghosts.

Because when the rebound finally comes — and it will — the last ones standing won’t just win.
They’ll take everything the quitters left on the table.