Peak-season project freight is back. Knight-Swift's Q3 2026 results, reported October 21, showed adjusted EPS of $0.83 versus $0.32 a year earlier, a truckload adjusted operating ratio of 89.2% (about 700 basis points better), and revenue per loaded mile up 9.7%. Management cited more peak-season project arrangements than at any point since the pandemic (Knight-Swift 8-K, Oct 21, 2026). For brokers, that kind of demand shows up as RFQ emails with dozens of lanes and a deadline of tomorrow. The opportunity is real. So is the risk that your best reps spend the next six weeks copying lanes into spreadsheets instead of negotiating.

When the largest truckload carrier in the country reports project demand at a multi-year high, shippers are clearly looking for surge capacity. Brokers who can respond quickly and cover reliably will win a share of it.

What does peak project freight look like in a broker's inbox?

Project freight is short-term, often high-volume capacity a shipper needs for a defined window: a retail peak, a promotion, a distribution center opening, or a backlog that the contract carriers cannot absorb. It usually arrives like this:

• An RFQ email with an attached lane list, sometimes in a spreadsheet, sometimes pasted into the body, sometimes as a PDF.
• Dozens of origin-destination pairs, each with volume estimates, equipment type, and service requirements.
• A tight response deadline, often a day or two.
• Follow-up questions and revisions as the shipper refines volumes or adds lanes.

Every one of those lanes needs a price, and every price needs a view of capacity. On a normal week, a rep might handle a few of these. In peak, several can land on the same afternoon.

Why does surge freight burn out reps?

Because most of the work is not negotiation. It is preparation:

• Parsing the lane list — Time-consuming part: Cleaning city names, ZIP codes, equipment codes and volumes into a usable format
• Pricing each lane — Time-consuming part: Pulling market rates, history and current spot conditions
• Checking capacity — Time-consuming part: Finding which carriers run those lanes and whether they have trucks in the window
• Building the response — Time-consuming part: Formatting the bid in the shipper's template
• Handling revisions — Time-consuming part: Repricing when volumes or lanes change

Multiply that by several RFQs at once and the rep's day disappears. The hard conversations with carriers and the shipper, the part that actually wins the business, get squeezed into the evening.

Market conditions add pressure. With tender rejections elevated, as we covered in our post on tender rejections above 14% and why spot quote speed matters, shippers are sending more freight to brokers and expecting fast answers. And with contract rates climbing, as discussed in our analysis of contract rates at a 52-week high and mid-contract repricing, pricing a surge lane at last quarter's number is a fast way to lose money.

How do AI agents handle the RFQ grind?

An AI agent takes on the preparation work so the rep starts from a finished draft:

1. Parses the lane list from the email, spreadsheet or PDF into a clean, structured table: origin, destination, equipment, volume, dates.
2. Prices every lane using the brokerage's rate sources, recent history and pricing rules, and flags lanes where the data is thin.
3. Sources carriers by matching lanes against carrier history, preferred lanes and capacity signals, then reaching out to confirm interest and availability for the project window.
4. Drafts the bid response in the shipper's format, with any lanes needing human review clearly marked.
5. Handles revisions by repricing only the changed lanes and updating the response.

The rep reviews, adjusts margins on strategic lanes, and spends their time on the calls that decide whether the brokerage wins the project.

Where does carrier sourcing fit?

Winning the bid is half the job. Covering it is the other half, and projects are judged on coverage. A broker that wins 30 lanes and then struggles to cover them damages the relationship more than if they had bid on fewer.

Carrier sourcing for a project starts before the bid is submitted. Agents can contact carriers on the lanes being priced, confirm which of them want project freight in that window, and record commitments. Once loads start flowing, the same agents post loads and handle inbound carrier calls, as described in our guide to load board posting and inbound carrier call automation.

With capacity tightening through 2026, this matters more than usual. Our post on carrier sourcing agents as capacity tightens in 2026 covers how to build that outreach so it runs continuously rather than only when a load is late.

What does a large shipper's approach to AI teach brokers?

Large logistics operators tend to get the biggest gains from AI by automating high-volume, repetitive steps and keeping people on judgment calls. We broke down one example in our analysis of how DHL uses AI agents and what freight brokers can steal. The lesson for project freight is the same: automate parsing, pricing and outreach, and leave negotiation and relationship decisions to the people who are good at them.

How should brokers prepare for the rest of peak?

1. Set up an RFQ intake process so every project request lands in one place with a clear owner and deadline.
2. Standardize lane formats so incoming lists can be parsed and compared quickly.
3. Refresh pricing inputs weekly, not quarterly, while contract and spot rates are moving.
4. Build a project carrier list of carriers who want short-term, high-volume freight in your core lanes.
5. Measure response time and win rate on project RFQs, and track coverage on the projects you win.
6. Protect rep time by routing preparation work to automation and keeping reps on negotiation.

Frequently asked questions

What did Knight-Swift report about peak project freight?

In its Q3 2026 results on October 21, Knight-Swift management cited more peak-season project arrangements than at any point since the pandemic, alongside adjusted EPS of $0.83 versus $0.32 and revenue per loaded mile up 9.7% (Knight-Swift 8-K, Oct 21, 2026).

What is project freight?

Short-term truckload capacity a shipper secures for a defined period or event, such as a retail peak or a facility launch, usually priced and awarded through a quick RFQ.

How can brokers respond faster to project RFQs?

By automating lane parsing, pricing and bid formatting so reps start from a complete draft and spend their time on margin decisions and negotiation.

Can AI agents source carriers for surge lanes?

Yes. Agents can match lanes to carriers with relevant history, reach out to confirm availability for the project window, and record commitments before and after the bid is awarded.

The bottom line

Project freight is back at a level not seen since the pandemic, according to Knight-Swift's Q3 commentary. Brokers who automate lane parsing, pricing and carrier outreach can answer more RFQs, cover what they win and keep their reps focused on negotiation instead of spreadsheets.

Debales deploys AI agents for RFQ lane parsing, surge lane pricing, carrier sourcing and load board coverage. Book a demo.