Spot Rates Drop into February
National average spot truckload rates continued to decline as the number of available loads slipped nearly 6% during the week ending Feb. 3, said DAT Solutions.
The number of truck posts increased 3%, which helped push dry van and refrigerated load-to-truck ratios down to near mid-December levels, before the mandate on electronic logging devices took effect:
Van: 6.9 available loads per truck
Flatbed: 61.1 loads per truck
Reefers: 10.2 loads per truck
National average rates dropped 3 cents for van freight ($2.23/mile), 8 cents for reefers ($2.59/mile), and 13 cents for flatbeds ($2.26/mile). The price of diesel rose again, with the national average up 1.6 cents to $3.09/gallon.
Heading into what is traditionally a slow month, the number of van loads posted declined 16% and truck posts rose 4%. Van rates fell in nearly every major market, although prices are higher than they were a year ago. Chicago’s outbound average had the sharpest decline last week, down 16 cents to $2.77/mile after a 15-cent drop the previous week. Elsewhere:
– Houston, $2.00/mile, down 6 cents
– Memphis, $2.54/mile, down 1 cent
– Los Angeles, $2.32/mile, down 9 cents
– Columbus, Ohio, $2.29/mile, down 8 cents
Reefer load posts fell 19% and truck posts increased 2%. Prices remain high even though rates on most high-traffic lanes were down. Long-haul lanes from the southern border took big steps back, including McAllen, Texas-Elizabeth, N.J. (down 51 cents to $2.76/mile) and Nogales, Arizona, to Brooklyn (down 79 cents to $2.43/mile).
Spot prices for flatbed freight remain solid amid improved demand for capacity. Load posts increased 13% and truck posts declined 2%; the 61.9 load-to-truck is the second highest flatbed load-to-truck ratio seen in years.
Category: Featured, General Update, News
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