Spot Demand Up, Capacity Down But Rates Remain Flat

The number of spot market loads jumped 9% during the final week of April, however, despite the higher demand for trucks and a 2% drop in available capacity, national average spot truckload rates were generally unchanged across all three equipment types during the week ending April 30.

According to DAT Solutions:

Van: The van load-to-truck ratio increased from 1.4 to 1.6 compared to the previous week and the national average rate was unchanged for the third straight week at $1.50 per mile.

Refrigerated: The number of reefer load posts increased 19%. Truck capacity declined 3% and the load-to-truck ratio rose from 2.6 to 3.2 loads per truck. The national average spot reefer rate was $1.79 per mile, up 1 cent.

Flatbed: Spot load volume was up 4.5% while capacity declined 2%. The flatbed load-to-truck ratio rose from 19.8 to 21.1 loads per truck. The national average flatbed rate was unchanged at $1.90 per mile.

Key Trend: Volume exploded on the top 100 van lanes in part due to a spillover from produce markets in the Southeast and California; when reefer carriers are busy, they aren’t competing for van loads. Higher van rates in the South were offset by sagging rates in the Northeast and the Midwest.

Diesel: The national average diesel price rose another 7 cents to $2.27 a gallon.

For the month of April, load volume rose 9% for flatbeds and fell 9% for vans and reefers compared to March.

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