There is growing evidence that a sustained recovery is underway, with dedicated truckload contract rates continuing to rise. (John Tetzlaff/Getty Images)
key takeaways:
- Werner executives said clear rate strength is being seen in dedicated truckload contract renewals, offsetting earlier gains in the spot and one-way contract markets.
- This trend matters as Werner’s FirstFleet acquisition boosted Q1 truckload revenue by 18%, expanding its fleet and increasing dedicated exposure.
- Werner said integration is on track or ahead, while Schneider also indicated growing interest in dedicated truckload acquisitions.
Rate strength is becoming more clearly visible in dedicated truckload contract renewals, according to Werner Enterprises executives, following in the footsteps of spot and then contract one-way rates.
Werner sees more benefits as a firm from upcycle after boosting its dedicated truckload operations with an acquisition as early as 2026, executives said.
A dedicated truckload rate inflection point was always expected to lag behind the earlier point and shrink to the upside. Dedicated contract carriage is intended to provide greater stability to shippers, especially compared to the spot truckload market.
But evidence is growing that a sustained recovery is underway, with contract rates continuing to rise. CAS Information Systems said June 15 that the CAS Truckload Linehaul Index rose to 150.8 in May, up 0.4% month over month and 6.9% year over year.
“(Dedicated) may not have the kind of slope and momentum that we’re seeing, whether it’s in one-way spot or one-way contracts, but the momentum is there. We’re seeing those increases; it’s going to be gradual,” Chris Wikoff, Werner’s chief financial officer, said at the Wells Fargo Industrials & Materials conference.
Carriers are also looking at mini-bids on lanes where renewals took place in January or February.
Omaha, Neb.-based Werner had expected a 3% increase in dedicated contract renewal rates at the beginning of the year as it focused on a less volatile segment of the market amid what many observers have called the freight industry’s longest recession in memory.
Werner in January acquired privately held dedicated carrier FirstFleet and related real estate for a combined $282.8 million.
Murfreesboro, Tenn. based FirstFleet brought approximately 2,400 tractors, 11,000 trailers and 37 assets near 130 customer sites across the US to the deal.
Werner said at the time that the deal would position the combined company as the fifth-largest dedicated carrier in the country in terms of power units and increase its dedicated revenue by approximately 50%.
The company sought to increase its share in “more flexible” market segments such as groceries, baked goods and corrugated packaging through the deal.
Wikoff told conference attendees the merger of the two operations “has gone as well as expected, if not better than expected. … The integration is on track or perhaps even ahead of schedule.”
(RicardoCostaPhotography/Getty Images)
Werner said on April 28 that first-quarter 2026 earnings had already seen a boost from the deal, but executives said at a Wells Fargo conference on June 9 that the benefits are now visible even higher.
Werner’s Truckload Transportation Services segment revenue increased 18% year over year to $594.3 million in Q1, from $501.8 million a year earlier, due to the FirstFleet acquisition.
In Q1, Werner’s average truckload fleet increased 14% year over year to 8,454. Wikoff said the second quarter of 2026 would be a “stepping step” toward growth of 23% to 28% on a year-over-year basis.
“We have continued to see growth not only in the dedicated areas where we are more focused – retail, value retail, food, grocery, beverages – but also seen success expanding into other areas with dedicated solutions for technology, pharma, aftermarket auto parts, construction products,” the CFO told analysts and investors.
Werner ranked 18th on Transportation Topics’ Top 100 list of the largest carriers for hire in North America prior to the January deal, as well as 8th among truckload/dedicated carriers, and 30th on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
According to TT data, FirstFleet was ranked 67th in the TT100 for hire before the deal and 16th in the truckload/dedicated segment of the market, employing approximately 3,500 staff.
Werner isn’t the only Top 20 for-hire carrier eyeing dedicated truckload growth, with Schneider executives telling Wells Fargo conference attendees the same day its excitement for the acquisition was growing.
Green Bay, Wis. Based Schneider – which is ranked No. 10 in the for-hire TT100, No. 7 in truckload/dedicated carriers and No. 18 in the logistics TT100 – last opened its coffers for acquisitions with the $390 million purchase of Baltimore-based Cowan Systems in November 2024.
