FORT SMITH, Ark. — ABF Freight System defied a broader industry slump this past May, posting a 2% year-over-year increase in total tonnage and shipment counts by leaning heavily into dynamic pricing technology. While many rival carriers struggled with high-single-digit volume declines, the ArcBest subsidiary utilized its proprietary rate program to fill empty capacity and maintain consistent business levels despite a cooling economy.

The freight market has remained volatile, leaving logistics managers under intense pressure to slash transportation costs after two years of record-high rates and persistent supply chain bottlenecks. Dynamic pricing allows carriers to adjust rates in real-time based on specific lanes and daily capacity needs, rather than relying solely on rigid, long-term contracts. This technological shift is gaining traction as shippers move toward more precise procurement strategies, evaluating freight costs on a day-by-day basis rather than through traditional annual bidding cycles.

Dennis Anderson, chief strategy officer at ArcBest, noted that the company’s dynamic pricing engine was designed to function across various economic cycles, having been implemented well before the pandemic. Although large, high-volume accounts often prefer traditional contract rates, the flexibility of dynamic pricing has proven essential for filling empty lanes. According to recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the strategy successfully offset lower demand from core accounts, allowing the carrier to maintain profitability even as the broader market softened.

What This Means for Drivers

For the average CDL-A driver, this shift toward dynamic pricing translates into more consistent work in a market that might otherwise see significant downtime. By using APIs to fill trailers that would have otherwise departed light, carriers are keeping OTR truck driver positions more stable during lean months. Owner-operator teams should expect that carriers will increasingly prioritize lanes where they can maintain high load factors, potentially changing the frequency of freight availability in specific regions. As trucking companies hiring today look for ways to optimize their fleet, drivers who can adapt to the shifting nature of these transactional loads may find themselves with more reliable miles.

Industry Reaction

The industry remains split on the long-term viability of fully dynamic freight markets. While tech-forward carriers like ABF are seeing clear benefits in tonnage growth, many shippers still lean on pre-negotiated contracts to manage budget predictability. The rise of API-driven platforms has made transactional pricing simpler to execute, yet the resistance from large-scale shippers who prefer set contract rates persists. For the workforce, the adoption of these tools is a clear sign that efficiency and real-time data are now the primary drivers of carrier success.

Key Points

• ABF Freight reported a 2% increase in shipments and tonnage in May, bucking the trend of industry-wide volume declines.
• Dynamic pricing technology allows carriers to adjust rates in real-time to fill empty capacity on specific lanes.
• Technology now enables shippers to manage costs with extreme precision, evaluating rates lane-by-lane and day-by-day.
• Contractual LTL rates remain elevated, proving that dynamic pricing is a tool for optimization rather than a signal of across-the-board price drops.

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