Key Takeaways
- • Tabi Connect's September 2026 Pricing Pressure Index shows the spot truckload market remains mildly broker-favored, with the index holding flat at 41 on a 0-100 scale where higher scores favor shippers.
- • Awarded broker margin rose 0.9 points to 15.5%, while the quote-to-market spread narrowed 1.6 points to 12.0% as per-mile benchmark rates rose 4.6% on shorter hauls.
- • Margin was widest by equipment type: reefer returned 18.3% and flatbed returned the lowest at 13.4%, despite brokers quoting flatbed 21.1% above the benchmark.
- • Win rate and margin moved independently: Enterprise shippers awarded just 0.31% of quotes yet earned 16.4% margin, while awarded margin ranged only from 15.3% to 16.8% across shipper award-rate cohorts.
- • Tabi argues brokers should price off their full quote history, including lost quotes, rather than relying on the benchmark alone, citing Descartes' $100 million acquisition of broker TMS provider Tai as evidence of the value of brokerage data.
Summary
Tabi Connect, an AI-powered truckload pricing and automation platform, released the September 2026 edition of its Tabi Pricing Pressure Index (TPPI) on October 27, 2026. The index is built from 1.5 million spot freight quotes a month across more than 1,000 shippers, and the company says its quoting tools handle more than $29 billion in freight annually for brokers. According to the report, the spot market remains mildly broker-favored. The index held flat at 41, and the four-week average of 40 sits below the eight-week average of 45 as an August spike toward neutral unwinds.
Awarded broker margin rose 0.9 points to 15.5%. The quote-to-market spread narrowed 1.6 points to 12.0% because per-mile benchmark rates rose 4.6% on shorter hauls, while per-mile quoted rates rose 3.2%. Average haul length shortened 4.2% to about 660 miles. Spot quote volume grew 3.0% from August, while the awarded share of quotes slipped 1.3%.
Margins varied by segment. Awarded margin ranged from 14.7% to 17.2% by shipper and from 13.4% to 18.3% by equipment type. Flatbed was the clearest outlier: brokers quoted it 21.1% above the benchmark yet kept the lowest margin, which the report attributes to the benchmark running below actual carrier pay, implying a carrier buy about 5% above the benchmark. Van carried 64.0% of volume at 14.9%. Enterprise shippers sent 55.7% of spot quote volume and awarded 0.31% of it, roughly one award per 318 quotes, compared with 4.47% for Regular shippers, yet Enterprise loads still earned 16.4% margin against 17.2% on Regular loads.
Tabi Connect CEO and co-founder Ricky Gonzalez said that because brokers now see roughly the same market data, the competitive edge lies in understanding their own pricing position. The company cited Descartes' $100 million acquisition of broker TMS provider Tai in August as evidence of the value the market places on brokerage data, noting that a TMS captures only won loads, while lost quotes reveal where a broker's pricing stands. The index measures the quote-to-market spread across all submitted spot quotes, excluding contract freight. Tabi's full September report is available at tabiconnect.com. The figures are company-reported and the report is a vendor publication.
Awarded broker margin rose 0.9 points to 15.5%. The quote-to-market spread narrowed 1.6 points to 12.0% because per-mile benchmark rates rose 4.6% on shorter hauls, while per-mile quoted rates rose 3.2%. Average haul length shortened 4.2% to about 660 miles. Spot quote volume grew 3.0% from August, while the awarded share of quotes slipped 1.3%.
Margins varied by segment. Awarded margin ranged from 14.7% to 17.2% by shipper and from 13.4% to 18.3% by equipment type. Flatbed was the clearest outlier: brokers quoted it 21.1% above the benchmark yet kept the lowest margin, which the report attributes to the benchmark running below actual carrier pay, implying a carrier buy about 5% above the benchmark. Van carried 64.0% of volume at 14.9%. Enterprise shippers sent 55.7% of spot quote volume and awarded 0.31% of it, roughly one award per 318 quotes, compared with 4.47% for Regular shippers, yet Enterprise loads still earned 16.4% margin against 17.2% on Regular loads.
Tabi Connect CEO and co-founder Ricky Gonzalez said that because brokers now see roughly the same market data, the competitive edge lies in understanding their own pricing position. The company cited Descartes' $100 million acquisition of broker TMS provider Tai in August as evidence of the value the market places on brokerage data, noting that a TMS captures only won loads, while lost quotes reveal where a broker's pricing stands. The index measures the quote-to-market spread across all submitted spot quotes, excluding contract freight. Tabi's full September report is available at tabiconnect.com. The figures are company-reported and the report is a vendor publication.
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