Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. 10-K filed Feb 19, 2026

Modified · Industry and Competition

Period | Economic Cycle 2017 — 2019 | Strong cycle, driven by a record pricing climate through 2018. The industry experienced increased demand through 2018 for transportation services, including contract and non-contract market demand, partially due to a strong retail season. Capacity became tighter in the second half of 2017 and throughout 2018, due to increasing government regulation, the driver shortage, and severe storms interrupting business, among other factors. Capacity increased in the second half of 2018 leading to an oversupply during 2019, lower spot market rates, and downward pressure on contract rates. 2020 — 20212022 | The COVID-19COVID‐19 pandemic led to introduced a newsignificant source of volatility throughoutacross the global market beginning in 2020. Economic activities were significantlyactivity was sharply curtailed across the nation at early in the onset of 2020year, but began to resume resulting in the second half of the year. Accordinglyweak freight demand, unpredictable shipping volumes, demand in the freight market was weak pricing volatility, and continued challenges in the beginning of the year and gradually strengthened driver sourcing. As economic activity resumed in the second half of the year. The 2020, freight environment was disrupteddemand gradually strengthened, with unpredictable shipping volumes, shifts in pricing, and continued challenges in driver sourcing throughout the year. The COVID-19 though market conditions remained disrupted. These conditions persisted through 2021 and into 2022, as ongoing pandemic continued to be a source of volatility throughout the global market in 2021 creating supply chain disruptions‐related supply chain disruptions, congestion at ports and rail terminals, increased and elevated demand for many products, goods contributed to tight transportation capacity and congestion at ocean ports and rail terminals. 2022 — 2024 | Some momentum from 2021 continued into the first quarter of 2022, but the remainder of 2022 and beyond was characterized by uncertainty . By late 2022, inflationary pressures across equipment, fuel, labor, maintenance, and insurance began to weigh more heavily on industry cost structures as demand patterns started to shift. 2023 — 2025 | Beginning in 2023, the broader economy based on continuing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic abroadfreight market entered a prolonged downcycle characterized by moderated consumer demand, conflicts overseasinventory overhangs, and a shift in consumer spending from goods toward services, and significant inflationary pressures on equipment, fuel, maintenance, labor. Shippers worked through excess inventories while pricing remained pressured, and other cost items. Overall consumer demand moderated and shippers worked through inventory overhangs as we experienced ongoing congestion at ports and labor challenges in particularly in non‐contract markets, amid significant inflationary pressures on operating costs. These conditions contributed to capacity rationalization across the rail industry. Capacity, particularlywith smaller carriers, exited exiting the market, primarily due to diminished non-contract opportunities and volatility emerging in secondary equipment and meaningfully higher operating costs, leading to a declining used equipment insurance markets. During 2024 and throughout 2025, freight market and a volatile insurance market. These factors culminated in muted peak seasons with fewer spot conditions showed signs of stabilization as demand and pricing trends became more consistent and project opportunities. The freight environment in 2024 saw a stabilization in demand and pricing trends while carrier seasonal patterns began to reemerge, though at lower levels than prior cycles. While capacity continued to exit. These factors allowed for seasonal patterns of demand to reemerge the market, resulting in gradual tightening in certain periods, some levels of holiday season project activity the industry had not fully transitioned to return, and an improvement in spot market rates late in the yeara sustained recovery by the end of 2025.