Road Scholar | Transport Blog's

As the freight market enters 2026, many carriers, brokers, and shippers remain cautiously optimistic but pragmatic about what lies ahead.   After years of depressed freight demand and soft rates, recent forecasts from Morgan Stanley suggest that supply-side pressures — not demand surges — could be the initial catalyst for market stabilization and gradual rate improvement.   Here’s a closer look at what that means for the trucking industry. FreightWaves 📉 A Slow Demand Environment — But Not Without Hope For much of 2025, freight volumes and trucking demand failed to rebound in a meaningful way, largely due to macroeconomic headwinds, tariff-related uncertainty, and cautious inventory practices by many shippers.   Although Morgan Stanley doesn’t expect a dramatic demand revival in 2026, data shows some shipper restocking interest, even if modest — with only a small fraction planning full-year inventory expansion.   Global Trade Magazine This means that demand —...