Less-than-truckload carriers saw volume softness in November 2025, reflecting challenging economic conditions.
Old Dominion Freight Line (CCJ Top 250, No. 9) saw the steepest decline in tonnage at 10%, and XPO (No. 10) fell by 5.4%. Saia Inc. (No. 18) saw a slight 1.8% bump, with ArcBest (No. 19) posting a modest rise of 3%.
Weight per shipment trends remain largely flat or declining across the board. According to an SEC filing, ArcBest noted that “the pricing environment continues to be rational,” indicating carriers are maintaining pricing discipline despite difficult market conditions.
Performance diverged among the carriers in November. Old Dominion attributed its decline to a 9.4% decrease in LTL shipments per day and a 0.6% decrease in LTL weight per shipment. XPO also reported that its tonnage decline was attributed to a year-over-year decrease of 2.2% in shipments per day and a decrease of 3.2% in weight per shipment.
In contrast, Saia and ArcBest both reported slight growth. Saia attributed it to LTL shipments per workday increasing by 2.6%, compared to a 3.4% decline in October. ArcBest also saw shipments per day increase by 3%, compared to 0.6% in the prior month, indicating a reversal from October when both carriers saw volume declines.
Old Dominion CEO Marty Freeman noted, “Ongoing softness in the domestic economy... contributed to a decrease in our volumes.”
Freeman focused on strong pricing power, noting that they “continued to deliver best-in-class service, which supports our yield management initiatives and ability to increase our LTL revenue per hundredweight.” This resulted in revenue per hundredweight increasing 5.9% quarter-to-date. Freeman emphasized that the team is focused on core elements of its long-term strategic plan, centering on service quality and yield management.
ArcBest, in its SEC filing, reported that revenue per hundredweight, both including and excluding fuel, declined by approximately 2%. It expects margin pressure, anticipating a “sequential deterioration of about 400 basis points, driven by continued softness in the broader freight market and the impact of three fewer workdays compared to the third quarter.”
The results reflect broader freight conditions as noted in the Cass Freight Index Report November edition, with shipments showing a 7.6% year-over-year decline. Tim Denoyer, the report’s author and ACT Research vice president and senior analyst, explained, “After truckload volumes briefly improved in Q3 ahead of the October 5 import tariff deadline, they have softened again so far in Q4 as pre-tariff stocks are drawn down.”
As seen with carriers like Saia and ArcBest, which experienced October weakness followed by November improvement, the market is experiencing volatility as tariff-driven dynamics play out.
Looking ahead, Denoyer said, “Resilient early holiday consumer spending data suggest some pent-up demand could be building, but tariffs are likely to continue to press prices higher and affordability lower in 2026.”
