Will O'Donnell

Last March, we wrote an article about an imminent freight recession. Three months later, we warned about a collapse in imports from China. We received a lot of hate from these calls. SONAR data and analysis forewarned about one of the sharpest downturns in freight since deregulation. Our calls were early. It took months before the industry would feel the pain that was coming. During that time - Truckers accused us of conspiring with brokers to manipulate the market. Trucking execs accused us of exaggerating conditions, saying it was only a reversion back to the mean. Freight brokers accused of us creating "clickbait articles." Stock traders accused us of shorting the trucking sector for financial gain. Stock analysts at major Wall Street firms quickly dismissed our analysis, accusing us of hyperbole. Rival media and commentators called us "irresponsible" and questioned our motives. Data analysts at rival freight data providers threw a lot of shade our way, relishing in the hate we were receiving. Our mission has always been to provide transparency and clarity of what going on in the freight market, no matter what the data tells us. Our business has suffered significantly from the slowdown in the freight market. After all, it's hard to sell data or get companies to buy advertising when their business struggles. We've had to manage a sharp slowdown in our business along with everyone else. It would have been to our benefit to "talk up the market", but we've never caved. We've lost large deals because our media coverage has been unfavorable to clients and prospects. We've never sold out. We will always provide market transparency to the events happening in the freight market, no matter how hard it is to hear. Hopefully, our work can save you some unnecessary pain or provide opportunities for your business.