April 17 (Reuters) - Shares of U.S. trucking firms fell

on Wednesday, after dismal quarterly numbers from JB Hunt

Transport Services and Knight-Swift Transportation

Holdings ( KNX ) signaled a longer wait for a rebound in the

freight industry.

Freight companies have been grappling with reduced transport

volumes on account of a shift in consumer spending from goods to

services, combined with global shipping delays.

In what TD Cowen analysts called an "ominous start for

transport earnings", JB Hunt missed first-quarter estimates on

Tuesday as it struggled with weak demand for intermodal services

- its biggest segment.

Knight-Swift trimmed its profit forecasts for the first and

second quarters earlier on Wednesday, blaming an oversupply of

capacity in the trucking industry, disruption from frigid

weather in January and increased pressure on freight rates with

shippers trying to push down prices further.

"The bottom has become longer and deeper than feared ...

even with an inflection in either demand or supply in the coming

months, ongoing weakness ... could set JB Hunt's revenue and

margins back for much of the remainder of the year," said

Evercore analyst Jonathan Chappell.

Knight-Swift's report was "worse than the worst case",

Chappell said, adding both reports confirm "the greater pressure

at the end of the freight recession ... and reset the launch pad

for an eventual cyclical recovery substantially lower".

At least 11 brokerages cut price targets on JB Hunt.

Shares of JB Hunt and Knight-Swift were down 8% and 3%,

respectively, while truckload peers such as XPO, Werner

, ArcBest ( ARCB ) fell between 2% and 7%.

"There does not seem to be a catalyst that can drive a

meaningful change in the volume and/or pricing environment,"

Stephens analyst Justin Long said.

According to TD Cowen analyst Jason Seidl, "Hopes of a

(second-half) recovery become increasingly challenged given

current setup."