A review of the latest happenings across freight industries as well as a few discussion points about how the economy and industry begins to recover.

The week ending April 5, 2020 saw a 39% drop in available loads in the spot market. It is hard to quantify exactly what percentage of those were in the food sector, but it is safe to say that COVID-19 is now attacking the food industry full force. While the past few months have seen Global and Domestic Supply Chains bend, crumble, or come to a screeching halt, many felt we would always be able to efficiently move food to where it is needed. This past week has given us an eye-opening look at just how devastating COVID-19 is to even our most critical infrastructure sector. Eating patterns have changed in the face of stay-at-home and social distancing orders. These changes have affected every facet of the food supply chain including the consumer, the grocery store, restaurants, and the actual farm.

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the country, disinfectants are flying off the shelves and hand-washing remains the most touted method of prevention, but how do we clean our mail? Should we even be cleaning it? Well, rest easy: Preliminary testing suggests that you can't contract COVID-19 from mail or packages. Even if the interior contents had trace amounts of the virus, they are likely to have died by the time a package reaches you.

The updates below reflect new information received within the past few days and over the weekend regarding some specific carriers and industry information. Load-to-truck ratios in March tell an interesting story as well – have we already witnessed the spot-market peak?