September is supposed to be when trucking earns its winter cushion. This year it brought a run of court filings instead. In a new analysis, EKA Solutions CEO JJ Singh looks at why 16 trucking companies sought bankruptcy protection in less than a month, and why the carriers still running face the same pressures.

The filings, reported by FreightWaves, split evenly: eight Chapter 7 liquidations and eight Chapter 11 reorganizations. They covered general freight, last-mile, agricultural, and specialized haulers, from one-truck operators to a carrier that once ran 114 power units.

Size and segment did not decide who failed

Singh’s read is that no single segment, fleet size, or region explains the list. It was not the first wave, either. More than 20 trucking-related companies filed in May, including Standard Forwarding Freight with a fleet of 302 trucks.

What the filers most likely shared was a margin too thin to absorb a cost increase. ATRI put the 2025 average cost of running a truck at a record $2.336 per mile. Truckload and refrigerated operating margins stayed below 1%, and flatbed carriers averaged a 0.5% operating loss. With that little cushion, an ordinary cost swing can be fatal.

Several costs moved at once

The article traces pressures that built all year:

• Fuel. On-highway diesel averaged $6.529 a gallon on September 21, up $2.78 from a year earlier. Surcharges indexed to the weekly average trail the pump price, and carriers cover the gap.
• Drivers. Long-distance truckload payroll fell to 496,500 in January, the lowest since February 2014. Tighter CDL eligibility rules took effect in March, and recruiting costs are rising.
• Broker access. Schneider’s brokerage cut its approved carrier list from 60,000 at the peak to 14,000. An insurance gap or a slipping safety score can now cost a carrier its freight.
• Insurance and theft. Premiums keep climbing, and cargo thieves increasingly work through stolen logins. On margins this thin, a single stolen load cancels the profit from many clean ones.

Rates are finally turning. Werner forecasts a 10% to 13% year-over-year gain in one-way rate per total mile for the third quarter. Singh’s point is about timing: costs rose before revenue did, and carriers with no margin could not wait.

What fleets can do now

Singh closes with three low-cost steps for carriers:

1. Reprice every lane with current fuel, insurance, and driver pay numbers. Last year’s averages describe a market that is gone.
2. Log arrival and departure times at every stop, and invoice all the detention you are owed.
3. Tag each late delivery with a cause: the hours-of-service plan, time at the stop, or a breakdown. The pattern shows which lanes need replanning.

Brokers and shippers have homework too. The article urges continuous checks on carrier authority, insurance, and safety status, and suggests asking providers how many carriers they have lost this year.

The bottom line for the fleet industry

Singh expects a sizable share of small and midsize carriers and brokerages to be acquired, merged, or shut down within two years. When a carrier liquidates, its freight has to be re-covered on short notice, often at peak-season rates.

For anyone who runs a fleet, sells to one, or depends on one, the lesson is the same. The operators who last will be the ones who know their real costs lane by lane and act before costs move again. Rising rates will help, but only the fleets still standing will collect them.

Source: 16 Trucking Companies Filed for Bankruptcy in Less Than a Month, JJ Singh, EKA Solutions, October 3, 2026.