Landstar Earnings: US Truck Brokerage Backdrop Still Waiting for a Demand Inflection

Wide-moat truck broker Landstar's third-quarter gross revenue fell 6% year over year, falling short of our expected run rate, as we were anticipating a more meaningful sequential uptick in pricing (average revenue per load). Relative to the same period last year, the operating backdrop continued to face sluggish industrial end markets and abundant truck-load-market capacity, which has pressured Landstar's spot volumes and pricing on dry van and flatbed business since late 2022. Additionally, shipments the company handles for other logistics providers continued to decline because of persistent excess capacity across the trucking marketplace.