Three of the largest LTL carriers report earnings within days of each other every quarter, and this quarter the numbers did not agree with each other. Old Dominion, Saia, and XPO each posted second-quarter 2026 results in the same week, and each one told a different story about where rates and freight weight are moving.
Did LTL rates go up in Q2 2026, or down?
Both, depending on the carrier. Old Dominion's per-shipment revenue rose 17.2%, and its rate per hundredweight excluding fuel rose 5.5%. XPO's per-shipment revenue rose 11.9% including fuel, 2.4% excluding it, with its rate per hundredweight up 4.4%. Saia's per-shipment rate rose just 1.5%, and its rate per hundredweight actually fell 2.2%. Three carriers, three directions, one quarter.
Old Dominion: rates up, tonnage down
Old Dominion's own second-quarter 2026 investor release, published July 29, 2026, reported LTL revenue per shipment rising from $485.31 to $568.55, a 17.2% increase, while weight per shipment rose 1.7%, from 1,478 to 1,503 pounds. LTL revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel surcharges rose 5.5%. Revenue per shipment moved much faster than either the base rate measure or the weight measure alone, which points to fuel surcharges and freight mix doing real work inside that 17.2% figure, not base rate by itself.
Tonnage per day fell 4.1% in the same release, so Old Dominion moved less total freight per day while collecting more per shipment. The company's full-year 2026 capital plan now totals approximately $380 million, including $180 million for real estate and service center expansion, and its operating ratio improved 450 basis points to 70.1%. Higher price per shipment, lower daily volume, and heavier capital investment in the network describes a carrier prioritizing margin and infrastructure over chasing every load.
Saia: heavier freight, lower rate per pound
Saia's own second-quarter 2026 earnings release, published July 30, 2026, told a different story. LTL revenue per shipment excluding fuel surcharge rose just 1.5%, and LTL revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel surcharge actually fell, from $21.42 to $20.94, a 2.2% decline. Weight per shipment rose 3.9%.
Put those numbers together and Saia's average freight got heavier while its rate per pound went down. A shipper moving similar freight through Saia this quarter could see a flat, or even lower, per-hundredweight rate, offset partly by heavier average shipments pushing invoice totals in the other direction.
XPO: the clearest fuel-versus-base split of the three
XPO's release, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to its Form 8-K on July 30, 2026, split its rate story into fuel and non-fuel components explicitly. Revenue per shipment including fuel rose from $384.13 to $429.98, up 11.9%. Excluding fuel, revenue per shipment rose from $327.53 to $335.27, up 2.4%. Gross revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel rose 4.4%, from $24.99 to $26.09. Average weight per shipment fell 1.8%, from 1,335 to 1,311 pounds, while shipments per day rose 2.8%. XPO's adjusted operating ratio came in at 79.9%, improved 300 basis points.
XPO is the only one of the three that reports revenue per shipment both with and without fuel in the same release, which is why the gap between its 11.9% and 2.4% figures is such a clean illustration of how much of a headline rate increase can be fuel surcharge rather than base rate.
Why three carriers told three different stories
Old Dominion's base rate measure rose the most, at 5.5%. Saia's fell, by 2.2%. XPO's rose more modestly, at 4.4%. Weight per shipment rose at Old Dominion (1.7%) and Saia (3.9%) but fell at XPO (1.8%). None of the three carriers moved together on either measure. A quarterly rate report is really three separate inputs layered together: how the carrier priced its base rate, how much fuel surcharge added to the invoice, and whether the freight moving through its network got heavier or lighter. This quarter, those three inputs pulled in different directions at each of the three companies, which is exactly why grouping carriers together as "LTL rates" hides more than it reveals.
What this means for your own invoice
A rising invoice total by itself does not tell you which of those three things happened to your freight. This quarter's numbers show why splitting the invoice matters more than watching the total:
- Base rate. Old Dominion's rate per hundredweight excluding fuel rose 5.5% and XPO's rose 4.4%, while Saia's fell 2.2%, all in the same quarter. If your own invoice shows a higher rate, that is a negotiation with your carrier, not something to accept as an industry-wide given.
- Fuel surcharge. XPO's own numbers show the gap directly: revenue per shipment including fuel rose 11.9%, but excluding fuel it rose only 2.4%. Most of a headline increase can be fuel. Check your surcharge against the index your contract actually names, not a number a carrier publishes generally.
- Weight and classification. Weight per shipment moved in opposite directions this quarter, up at Old Dominion and Saia, down at XPO. If your own average shipment weight or freight class changed, that is a packaging and classification conversation, not a rate conversation.
Splitting an invoice into those three pieces, base rate, fuel surcharge, and weight or classification, is exactly what an invoice audit does: compare what was quoted against what was billed, line by line, so a rate increase, a surcharge error, and a reweigh show up as three separate findings instead of one confusing total. To see that breakdown on your own freight, LanePilot's free audit checks a carrier invoice against the original quote for it, using both documents (see the free audit at lanepilottech.com/try). For a broader look at comparing carriers on your own lanes rather than reading their earnings from the sidelines, see how Amazon Freight's LTL entry and the FedEx Freight spin-off are changing carrier comparisons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my LTL invoice go up even though carrier rates look stable?
An invoice total combines three separate things: the base rate on the lane, the fuel surcharge, and the weight or class of your specific shipment. A carrier can report a flat or even falling rate per hundredweight, the way Saia did in Q2 2026, and a shipper can still see a higher invoice if their own freight got heavier or the fuel surcharge moved. Check each of the three separately rather than judging by the total.
Did all three carriers raise their base rates in Q2 2026?
No. Old Dominion's rate per hundredweight excluding fuel rose 5.5% and XPO's rose 4.4%, but Saia's fell 2.2% in the same quarter, according to each company's own earnings release. Carrier rate trends are not uniform even within the same quarter.
What is the difference between revenue per shipment and rate per hundredweight?
Revenue per shipment is the average amount billed per shipment, which moves with base rate, fuel surcharge, and shipment weight all at once. Rate per hundredweight (often reported excluding fuel) isolates price per pound, closer to a true base rate measure. XPO's Q2 2026 release showed this gap directly: an 11.9% rise in revenue per shipment including fuel, versus a 2.4% rise excluding fuel.