Spot Market

The confluence of COVID-induced disruptions to supply chains and unpredictable trucking demand levels will mean sharply higher truckload rates well into 2021, a leading TL executive is predicting. Mark Rourke, president and CEO of Schneider, the nation’s second-largest truckload carrier, said the nation’s supply chains are in “a highly unique period” in our recent history.

Rates based on rolling averages, through September 27, came in at: $2.37 per mile for van, unchanged on a weekly basis (and is up 14 cents compared to the national contract rate); flatbed rose 1 cent, to $2.40 per mile; and refrigerated was unchanged, at $2.57 per mile.

The August edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which was issued this week by DAT Freight & Analytics, a subsidiary of Roper Technologies and operator of an online marketplace for spot market truckload freight, highlighted how spot market truckload rates approached all-time highs in August, with various trucking segments seeing rate and load-to-truck ratio gains.

The July edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which was issued this week by DAT Freight & Analytics, a subsidiary of Roper Technologies and operator of an online marketplace for spot market truckload freight, pointed to gains, at a time when market conditions and freight demand remain impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

It would be in the best interest of all parties to speed up the adoption of digital standards and platforms for demand planning, tracking and settlement for all modes of transport.

In a mid-quarter update of the Coyote Curve by Coyote Logistics, a subsidiary of freight transportation and logistics services bellwether UPS, provided a wide-ranging overview of the freight market conditions, from three different perspectives: a look back at the second quarter; expectations for the third quarter; and a 2020-2023 forecast.

The June edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which was issued this week by DAT Freight & Analytics, picked up where May left off, as spot market rates and volumes, for the equipment types tracked by the firm, showing a return to typical seasonal trends, due to signs of improving economic demand.

With the second quarter quickly coming to a close, data issued by DAT, a subsidiary of Roper Technologies and operator of an online marketplace for spot market truckload freight, showed significant increases in truckload rates and ratios, for the week of June 22-28, as shippers take steps to get their freight moving in advance of the Fourth of July holiday and the mid-year point of 2020.

DAT reported that posted loads, for the week, headed up 15.6%, following a slower trajectory the previous week, with spot van and refrigerated rates regaining momentum that had been building up in previous weeks.

The most recent edition of the Coyote Curve by Coyote Logistics, a subsidiary of freight transportation and logistics services bellwether UPS, indicated that truckload market conditions remain challenged, due largely to COVID-19, with the caveat that they may have bottomed out in April.

DAT said that its DAT Truckload Volume Index, which reflects the change in the number of loads with a pickup date during that month, with the actual index number normalized each month to accommodate any new data sources without distortion, with a baseline of 100 equal to the number of loads moved in January 2015, fell 19% from March to April and was off 8% annually.

The most recent edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which was recently issued by Portland, Oregon-based freight marketplace platform and information provider DAT presented a bit of a mixed bag for spot truckload volumes and rates, with reefer and dry van volumes and rates up for the first three weeks and the final week of the month less than seasonal trends.

On the heels of an active March, which largely saw notable gains for spot market load volumes and rates for van and reefer equipment, that were driven by various factors, including urgent orders, or restocking, of retail goods, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, spot truckload volume and rates saw significant declines from March 30-April 4, according to data issued this week by DAT.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently caught up with Ross Spanier, Senior Vice President of Solutions at GlobalTranz, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based full-service 3PL focused on freight brokerage and technology services provider. In a wide-ranging conversation, Berman and Spanier discussed the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on supply chains, as well as capacity conditions, rates, and intermodal, among others.

Spot market load volumes and rates for van and reefer equipment saw mostly significant gains, for the week of March 16-March 22, brought on by urgent orders, or restocking of retail goods, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to data issued by Portland, Oregon-based freight marketplace platform and information provider DAT