Strong Start for Truckload Freight Market in 2017

The new year has started on a roll for freight volumes — accompanied by higher fuel prices and winter weather. 

According to DAT Solutions, The total number of posted loads increased 17% while available capacity was up 9.5% during the week ending Jan. 7. Tighter capacity pushed van and flatbed load-to-truck ratios higher while the refrigerated freight ratio dipped:

+ Van L/T: 4.9 van loads per truck, up 10%
+ Flatbed L/T: 28.6 (up 7%)
+ Reefer L/T: 10.7 (down 4%)

National average spot reefer and van rates both made gains:

+ Reefers: $2.03/mile, up 5 cents to an unseasonable high
+ Vans: $1.77/mile, up 4 cents

The average flatbed rate fell 3 cents to $1.92/mile.

Van Activity Up: Van activity picked up gradually in the week following the holidays. Van load posts were up 20% compared to the previous week and truck posts increased 9%. But rates fell sharply in many key markets especially in the Midwest and West. In some markets, winter weather made freight difficult to move:
+ Los Angeles, $2.08/mile, down 8 cents
+ Chicago, $2.12/mile, down 11 cents
+ Houston, $1.57/mile, down 2 cents
+ Atlanta, $1.96/mile, down 3 cents
+ Philadelphia, $1.75/mile, down 3 cent

Reefer Demand Falls: Demand for reefer trucks slipped compared to the boom week between Christmas and New Year’s but the load-to-truck ratio remained unseasonably high. Spot market load posts increased 3% but truck posts rose 7%. Volume kept climbing in Nogales, Ariz., with Mexican produce crossing the border, and load counts also started the year strong in Philadelphia, a big market for produce imports from Europe.

Average rates on several lanes declined last week:

+ Chicago-Denver, $2.11/mile, down 86 cents
+ Dallas-Phoenix, $1.30/mile, down 42 cents
+ Miami-Baltimore fell to pre-Christmas levels at $1.72/mile
+ Elizabeth, N.J.-Boston came back down 38 cents to $3.50/mile: still high but traffic and weather make travel difficult on that lane, plus there’s not much freight coming out of Boston.

Flatbed Gains Ground: Flatbed load posts increased 26% and truck posts increased 18% last week. That pushed the load-to-truck ratio up to 28.6, the highest weekly flatbed ratio since September 2014.

Fuel Increases Again: Spot TL rates include a fuel surcharge. The national average price of on-highway diesel gained a penny to $2.60/gallon.

Rates are derived from DAT® RateView, which provides real-time reports on prevailing spot market and contract rates, as well as historical rate and capacity trends. All reported rates include fuel surcharges.

Tags: DAT Solutions, Reefers, Van Activity

Category: Featured