Freight Recession of 2022-2024
The Freight Recession of 2022-2024 was a prolonged US trucking downturn in which freight volumes and rates fell after the pandemic boom while an oversupply of new carriers kept capacity high.
What happened and why it matters
The 2022 to 2024 freight recession gave shippers cheap, plentiful truck capacity while pushing many carriers and brokers out of business. Pandemic demand had drawn a flood of new trucking companies, with the number of carrier operating authorities up about 50% from 2019 to 2022, just as goods spending cooled and retailers worked through excess inventory. Cass shipment volumes were roughly flat in 2022 and fell 5.5% in 2023, and truckload rates declined month after month. Shippers rebid contracts at lower prices, but downturns end: when capacity exits, rates can rise quickly, so keep routing guides and carrier relationships healthy.