CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Digital brokerage Convoy is seeing a "relatively large number" of smaller carriers putting their trucks on the sidelines for the fourth quarter, according to co-founder Grant Goodale.

Goodale is also Convoy's carrier experience officer, a position that has him in contact with the smaller and medium-size fleets that are part of Convoy's network of carriers. 

"The spot markets are really tight and almost everybody is taking every bit of work they can," Goodale said in an interview with FreightWaves at the F3: Future of Freight Festival here. "Despite the fact that consumer spending is at an all-time high, you're not seeing lots of freight entering the market."

With conditions getting tougher for independent owner-operators who are having trouble covering their costs, Goodale said that "anecdotally," he is seeing some owner-operators signing on as employee drivers with larger carriers. But he also said that based on attrition rates through the industry, that move isn't necessarily long-lasting.