In a market punctuated by increasing demand, increasing production, and decreasing carrier availability, shippers are in a race to find carriers to ship their freight. Problems often arise when contracting out carriers due to 1) the shipper’s lack of a carrier network and 2) limited market information.

With all the uncertainty revolving around the logistics industry there is one thing that is constant – freight rates are rising. According to a report issued by Bloomberg midway through this year, spot rates have increased by 28% compared to 2017. Trans4cast reports that rates continue to make new record highs with no end in sight. It is projected that rate hikes will slow down in 2019; however, with a slew of new tariffs coming into effect in January, and FedEx and UPS announcing rate increases of 4.9%, it is clear that shippers will not be able to catch a break any time soon.