Trucking News · Nationwide · October 23, 2026

Knight-Swift Plans to Ask Shippers for Double-Digit Rate Increases

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Knight-Swift Transportation, which FreightWaves calls "the nation's largest asset-based TL carrier," says it will open its next round of contract talks with shippers by asking for big rate increases.

Bid season is the stretch when carriers and shippers negotiate the contract rates that cover much of the year's freight. According to FreightWaves, Knight-Swift's new bid season kicks off next month, and the company will ask for "at least double-digit [rate] increases" for starters.

"I think we'll start the bid season with the idea of probably low-to-mid double digits and see how it develops from there," CEO Adam Miller said on the company's Oct. 21 call with analysts, as quoted by FreightWaves.

Fewer trucks, more revenue per truck

Knight-Swift reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 83 cents per share, 7 cents better than analysts expected, on revenue of $2.2 billion, up 14% from a year earlier, FreightWaves reported.

In its truckload unit, revenue per tractor, not counting fuel surcharges, rose 11% from a year earlier while the average number of tractors fell 4%. FreightWaves says the company has been culling its truck fleet through the downturn to get more use out of each truck. Loaded miles per tractor rose 1%, the eighth straight yearly improvement, and deadhead, the share of miles driven empty, fell to 12.1%.

Miller said in a news release that the company's "spot pricing trended better than public indicators in the quarter." He also said its tender rejection rates, a measure of how often a carrier turns down contracted loads, "continue to run at levels two to three times that of the broader market measures."

Finding drivers is still hard

Knight-Swift said it will look to selectively grow its fleet. But the company acknowledged that "sourcing quality drivers is as challenging as it has been in years," according to FreightWaves.

FreightWaves reports the company's fourth-quarter guidance for its truckload unit calls for revenue, not counting fuel, to rise by a low-double-digit percentage from a year earlier. In FreightWaves' view, the results show the market "has transitioned from a cyclical downturn to a structural recovery."

A question for readers

If shippers agree to double-digit rate increases this bid season, how much of that do you expect to see in driver pay?

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