As certain elements of the freight market began to stabilize, a new variable has emerged that could disrupt supply chains once again. This was highlighted during the June State of Freight webinar, which featured Craig Fuller, the CEO of Firecrown and SONAR, and Zach Strickland, SONAR’s director of market intelligence. Recently, FreightWaves’ State of Freight webinars have been conducted amid significant fluctuations and unpredictability in the freight markets. Fuller and Strickland noted that certain elements of the supply chain appeared to be stabilizing, but they also highlighted a shift in a crucial metric from the SONAR data dashboard that might indicate this stability is temporary. Here are five key points from the June State of Freight webinar, including the implications of an OTRI surge. The Outbound Tender Rejection Index in SONAR has significantly increased over the last few days. Fuller indicated that this might be an early indication of limited capacity due to the English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirement, which started a new round of enforcement this week. The repercussions of enforcing the ELP—though not a new rule—are being reinforced by the Trump administration and extend beyond just removing a driver from the road for failing the ELP during a safety check. Such Out of Service orders that result from this can negatively impact a carrier’s record, according to Fuller. “According to Fuller, if a fleet encounters a violation that puts it out of service, this duration will be noted on their record.” “What’s fascinating about this is its impact on your insurance premiums.”} This also implies that certain shippers may choose not to hire you if you have numerous out of service infractions. The recent increase in tender rejection rates might indicate that carriers are choosing to remove drivers from service to prevent them from being subjected to an Out of Service order, which could negatively affect a company’s reputation, as noted by both Fuller and Strickland. Has the trade conflict reached its end?
