Tallies, totals and other trend data in the freight transportation realm (4/24/2026)
4/24/2026
-11.9
FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index for February dropped to -11.9, “reflecting the toughest market conditions for shippers since March 2022 — but surging fuel prices mean that market conditions for shippers have deteriorating faster than the monthly SCI can measure fully,” FTR officials said on April 14. Added FTR Vice President of Trucking Avery Vise: “A big warning sign for shippers is how strongly spot rates in trucking rose in response to surging fuel prices as that indicates very tight capacity. ... The one aspect of the market that is not exerting much pressure on shippers currently is freight demand, which remains a wild card in determining how difficult the market might become.”
1
Kodiak AI Inc. announced what the company terms “the successful completion” of an autonomous trucking program in Ohio in partnership with DriveOhio, the state’s centralized hub for connected and autonomous vehicle (AV) testing and development on Interstate 70, Kodiak AI officials announced on April 7. The program — Kodiak AI's first operational deployment outside the sunbelt — was completed in partnership with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
1 & 2
For Norfolk Southern Corp. in Q1, coal revenue declined 2% year over year (y/y), or "from $370M to $364M) on a 9% y/y decrease in RPU and 9% y/y growth in volume,” Baird Senior Research Analyst Daniel Moore wrote in an April 24 message to clients. “Merchandise revenue increased a modest 1% y/y (from $1.863B to $1.885B) on volume growth of 1% y/y. As we expected, volumes were primarily driven by strength in chemicals and automotives. ... Intermodal's top line declined 1% y/y (from $760M to $749M) as domestic and international intermodal volumes dropped 1% y/y and 9% y/y.”
2
“... a lot of our business is tied to housing and automotive, and those markets have been pretty bleak. As we sit here today, we have not really seen improvement in either of those areas. Auto production right now is forecast to be down about 2% this year. We have mentioned a few times we have a large plant on our network that is down for the year for retooling, and that is another headwind for us. On the housing side, it is an affordability issue. Interest rates are still high, and they have bounced back up a little bit after everything that has happened in the Middle East. Those are still headwinds.” — CSX EVP of Sales and Marketing Mary Claire Kenny during the Class I’s April 22 Q1 earnings call
2 & 5
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. recorded first-quarter net earnings of $141.6 million, compared with $117.7 million for the same 2025 period, the company announced on April 15. Total operating revenue was $3.06 billion, a 5% increase compared with Q1 2025’s $2.92 billion. Excluding fuel surcharge revenue, the increase primarily was driven by increased load volumes in intermodal (JBI), truckload (JBT) and integrated capacity solutions (ICS), higher revenue per load in ICS and IBT, and increased productivity in dedicated contract services, and partly offset by a 2% decline in revenue per load in JBI, company officials said. ... J.B. Hunt’s “earnings surprise was led by JBI, led by eastern IM growth,” independent transportation analyst Tony Hatch wrote in an April 22 message to his clients.
3
North American for-hire shipment volumes fell compared with year-ago levels, but increased 3% month over month (m/m), officials at Cass Information Systems Inc. said on April 14. “Noting that February saw a large m/m gain, we’re cautiously optimistic about a recovery in the second half of the year. Rate increases in the trucking market are being driven by supply constraints, in our view, as equipment capacity is contracting and we’ve recently re-entered a driver shortage.”
9, 13 & 30
“Best-in-class performance starts with safety, and we made good progress in the first quarter. Our FRA injury rate improved by 13% compared to last year, that is with a 9% reduction in people hours. Our train accident rate improved by over 30%. Operating safely benefits our employees and our customers; it allows us to run a more fluid, efficient network.” — CSX EVP and Chief Operating Officier Mike Cory during the Class I’s Q1 2026 earnings call on April 22
38, 39
“People want to look at the railroads and say a combined Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern is going to have a combined of 38% or 39% actually is the number of GTMs. We’re not going to be that much bigger than our Western competitor at that level with gross tons that we’re both going to be moving.” — Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena during the Class I’s Q1 2026 earnings call on April 23
44, 60, 72, 73, 82 & 92
According to a tariff report issued April 22 by Netstock, 82% of small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) now pass costs to customers, one in three have changed suppliers, and for 72% of SMBs surveyed, cost-related challenges remain their top concern. Cost absorption “no longer seems attainable,” the report’s writers said: While Netstock’s 2025 report found that 44% of SMBs were absorbing tariff costs to avoid stock-outs and retain customers, that approach has “largely run its course.” Among the SMBs now passing costs through, 92% are doing so via direct price increases, according to Netstock, which provides supply-chain planning solutions for SMBs. Meanwhile, more than 60% of SMBs now deploy two or more mitigation strategies simultaneously, rather than relying on any single response. Lastly, planning horizons are “expanding significantly”: 73% of SMBs have extended their inventory planning time horizons, a “meaningful departure” from the reactive, short-cycle planning that characterized earlier tariff response, according to Netstock’s report.
100
“We are 100% on track with filing a revised application on April 30th. We are confident the additional information we are providing meets the STB’s expectations, and we look forward to moving toward approval and the real exciting part of operating America’s first transcontinental railroad.” — Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena during the Class I’s April 23 Q1 earnings call
667
On April 22, the tugboat Meredith Ashton and a 240-foot deck barge loaded with project cargo became the first vessel in decades to dock at the rebuilt, northeast-facing Berth 10 on the Clure Terminal Expansion pier in Duluth, Minnesota. The 667-foot berth, along with northwest-facing Berth 11, opened for business following a $10.5 million reconstruction project completed last year, Duluth Seaway Port Authority officials said. The new berths feature 1,200 lineal feet of steel dock wall, new bollards and reinforced concrete docking. The pier offers acres for cargo laydown space, four heavy-left-capable vessel berths and on-dock rail service connecting to four Class Is.
1,000
As of last month, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey last month had replaced 1,000 trucks and distributed a total of $22.4 million in incentives for the replacement and scrappage of Class 8 diesel trucks equipped with engine model year (EMY) pre-1994 through 2009 with models from 2015 or newer, port authority officials said on April 16.