01
Outside evidence sets the question
Market reports from C.H. Robinson, DAT, ATRI, Uber Freight and others tell us where shippers are exposed right now. That earns a question a place on the list. It does not decide the answer.
02
Our data sets the answer
Findings come from GMAT.ONE, ELD and GPS records on Goldmax loads. Methods, sample sizes, date ranges and limitations are published with every report.
03
We report what we find
If lead time makes no measurable difference on our lanes, we will say so. A benchmark you cannot trust is worth less than no benchmark.
The 2026 market is exactly when this research is useful
Capacity is tightening, routing guides are failing more often, and shippers say reliability matters more than price. Each figure below links to its source.
+34.2%
Dry-van spot linehaul, year over year, week ending Sept 11, 2026; about 21% above the nine-year seasonal average.
DAT Freight & Analytics, Dry van report: The freight is moving, just not where it used to, Sept 15, 2026 (opens in a new tab)8.5% vs 3.6%
Weekly route-guide failure on 600+ mile freight vs under 400 miles, August 2026.
C.H. Robinson, North America Truckload Freight Market Update, Sept 2026 (opens in a new tab)44%
Shippers actively adding providers to their routing guides, Q2 2026.
FreightWaves / Trimble, Q2 2026 Shipper Rate Report, Q2 2026 (opens in a new tab)39.3%
Stops involving driver detention; 135M+ hours lost in 2023.
ATRI, Costs and Consequences of Truck Driver Detention: A Comprehensive Analysis, Sept 2024 (2023 data) (opens in a new tab)89% vs 81%
Shippers naming reliability vs price as a key carrier-selection factor.
Inbound Logistics, 2025 Trucking Perspectives, Sept 2025 (opens in a new tab)>18%
Midwest tender rejection rate for about a month in early 2026.
FreightWaves / SONAR, Midwest and West Coast rejection rates showing unprecedented disparity, Mar 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Eleven questions we are answering with our own data
Status reflects data collection and planned publication. No results are shown until the analysis is complete and reviewed.
01
The 48-Hour Freight Rule
Question. How much does tendering a shipment 48 hours rather than 12 hours before pickup change on-time performance, acceptance and cost on Goldmax lanes?
Collecting · report Q1 2027Why it matters now. Uber Freight recommends 48–72 hours of lead time and cites a CPG shipper that moved from 24 to 48 hours and reported 6% better truck utilization and an 8-point gain in routing-guide compliance.
Data used. Tender, dispatch and driver-assignment timestamps; pickup appointment vs actual arrival; delivery appointment vs actual; lane, customer, miles, drop/live
Related: Contract capacity →02
Midwest Routing Guide Risk Index
Question. Which Midwest lanes are most susceptible to capacity failure, and what operating behaviors improve acceptance?
Flagship · annual, first edition Q2 2027Why it matters now. C.H. Robinson reports route-guide failures peaking near 7.5% around July 4, averaging 8.5% on 600+ mile freight vs 3.6% under 400 miles in August, and nearly 44% of shippers adding providers to their routing guides (FreightWaves/Trimble).
C.H. Robinson, North America Truckload Freight Market Update, Sept 2026 (opens in a new tab)
FreightWaves / Trimble, Q2 2026 Shipper Rate Report, Q2 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. Tender acceptance by lane, day and lead time; miles band; customer volume consistency; reschedules; spot vs contract flag
Related: Dedicated trucking →03
Chicago Next-Day Freight Benchmark
Question. How reliably does freight leaving Chicago reach Indianapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Louisville and Kansas City the next day?
Collecting · report Q1 2027Why it matters now. C.H. Robinson shows route-guide depth of 1.25 under 400 miles vs 1.52 above 600 miles, suggesting shorter-haul asset capacity has an advantage worth measuring lane by lane.
C.H. Robinson, North America Truckload Freight Market Update, Sept 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. Pickup and delivery timestamps by lane, appointment type, pickup window, weather flag, driver domicile
Related: Regional freight →04
Live Load vs Drop Trailer
Question. What happens to facility dwell, tractor productivity and on-time performance when a customer moves from live load to a trailer pool?
Collecting · report Q4 2026Why it matters now. ATRI found detention at 39.3% of stops and 135+ million driver hours lost in 2023, with $3.6B in direct expense and $11.5B in lost productivity.
Data used. Geofence arrival/departure per stop, drop/live flag, trailer number and dwell, detention billed vs paid, loads per tractor per day
Related: Drop trailer programs →05
Midwest Detention Index
Question. Which markets, facility types, days and hours create the most dwell across our network?
Collecting · quarterly index from Q1 2027Why it matters now. ATRI’s national benchmark (39.3% of stops detained; 94.5% of fleets charge detention yet fewer than half of invoices are paid) gives a baseline to compare Midwest results against.
Data used. Geofence dwell per stop, facility type, market, day/hour, appointment vs FCFS, customer
Related: Drop trailer programs →06
Short Haul vs Long Haul Reliability
Question. Does Goldmax data show the same length-of-haul reliability gap C.H. Robinson reports for the market?
Collecting · report Q2 2027Why it matters now. Market data: 8.5% weekly route-guide failure over 600 miles vs 3.6% under 400 in August 2026.
C.H. Robinson, North America Truckload Freight Market Update, Sept 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. Acceptance, OTP, OTD by mileage band (<250, 250–400, 400–600, 600+); team vs solo; lane
Related: Scheduled lanes →07
ETA Accuracy Study
Question. At 8, 4, 2 and 1 hours before arrival, how accurate are GMAT.ONE ETAs, and how early can a late arrival be predicted?
Collecting · report Q3 2027Why it matters now. Descartes’ 2026 survey finds truckload leads all modes in demand for real-time visibility and 82% of shippers expect transportation-IT investment to rise.
Descartes, 2026 Transportation Management Benchmark Survey, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. ETA snapshots vs actual arrival, remaining HOS, traffic and weather flags, lane, time of day
Related: Tracking & GMAT.ONE →08
Tender Consistency Study
Question. Does predictable weekly volume on a lane produce materially better acceptance and service than irregular tenders?
Collecting · report Q3 2027Why it matters now. Uber Freight ties consistent shipment volume to routing-guide compliance; Inbound Logistics finds 89% of shippers rank reliability among their top carrier-selection factors, above price at 81%.
Uber Freight, Q3 freight market update: Repairing networks as we head into Q4, Sept 10, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Inbound Logistics, 2025 Trucking Perspectives, Sept 2025 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. Weekly tender counts by customer and lane, coefficient of variation, acceptance, OTP/OTD, rate
Related: Dedicated trucking →09
Holiday Capacity Shock Index
Question. How much do acceptance, dwell and reliability change in the weeks around July 4, Thanksgiving and year-end on our lanes?
Collecting · report after Q4 2026 holidaysWhy it matters now. C.H. Robinson recorded the 2026 route-guide failure peak around July 4; CargoNet flags Illinois and Texas hubs for elevated theft risk around the same holiday.
C.H. Robinson, North America Truckload Freight Market Update, Sept 2026 (opens in a new tab)
CargoNet, 2026 cargo-theft data, July 4th advisory, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. Daily acceptance, dwell, OTD and yard/trailer dwell by week relative to holiday
Related: Contract capacity →10
Direct Carrier Chain-of-Custody Study
Question. How many parties and operational handoffs occur when freight moves directly with an asset carrier, and where does risk enter?
Design · report Q4 2027Why it matters now. Highway attributes about 50% of classified freight-fraud vectors in Q2 2026 to communication-based attacks; CargoNet estimates theft losses above $359M in H1 2026 with an average stolen value near $341,518.
Highway, Q2 2026 Freight Fraud Index, July 28, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
CargoNet, 2026 cargo-theft data, July 4th advisory, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. Seal logs, driver assignment, handoff count per load, yard and trailer dwell, communication channel records. We will describe Goldmax loads only and make no unsupported claims about other models.
Related: High-value freight →11
Dry Van Capacity & Rate Context
Question. What does the current dry-van market mean for shippers on Midwest and Texas lanes, and how does contract capacity behave through it?
Quarterly commentary from Q4 2026Why it matters now. DAT: dry-van spot linehaul $2.20/mi for the week ending Sept 11, 2026, +34.2% YoY and ~21% above the nine-year seasonal average; Great Lakes $2.51 (+34.9%), Lower Midwest $2.27 (+31.1%). DAT also reported spot exceeding contract in June for the first time since February 2022, driven by capacity rather than volume.
DAT Freight & Analytics, Dry van report: The freight is moving, just not where it used to, Sept 15, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
DAT Freight & Analytics, Dry van spot rates top contract for first time since February 2022, July 9, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Data used. Contract vs spot exposure on our lanes, acceptance through the rate cycle, Midwest rejection context (FreightWaves: Midwest rejections above ~18% for about a month in early 2026)
Related: Why ship direct →Midwest Routing Guide Risk Index
One report a year that scores the lanes we run by acceptance, fall-through risk, length of haul, seasonality and dwell, using execution data rather than survey answers. First edition planned for Q2 2027, updated every year with the same method so results are comparable.
First look when a study publishes
One email per report. Method, charts and data notes included. Nothing gated behind a sales call.
Want your lanes in the next study?
Customers see their own lane benchmarks first.