Freight trends from DAT One and DAT iQ - (week 46)

Spot load posts dipped 5% last week; remained above 2 million

Load posts on DAT One fell 5% to 2.04 million during the week of Nov. 8-14 (Week 46). Despite the decrease, the number of available loads has been above 2 million for 10 consecutive weeks as shippers position goods ahead of the holidays. The total number of truck posts slipped 1% to 251,080.

Broker-to-carrier 7-day average spot rates:

▼ Dry van: $2.04 per mile, down 2 cents week over week

— Refrigerated: $2.45 per mile, unchanged

▼ Flatbed: $2.38 per mile, down 3 cents

Dry van

▼ Van loads: 951,829, down 4% week over week

▼ Van equipment: 176,207, down 1%

▼ Linehaul rate: $1.68 per mile, down 1 cent

Reefer

▼ Reefer loads: 510,783, down 1% week over week

▼ Reefer equipment: 43,458, down 2%

▼ Linehaul rate: $2.08 per mile, down 1 cent

Flatbed

▼ Flatbed loads: 576,588, down 12% week over week

▼ Flatbed equipment: 31,415, down 1%

▼ Linehaul rate: $2.04 per mile, down 2 cents

U.S. National Average Diesel Price (Source: EIA)

▲ $3.84 per gallon, up 9 cents week over week (ending Nov. 10). ▲ 32 cents YOY

Market notes from Dean Croke, DAT iQ industry analyst:

Year-over-year posting totals show the current contrast of this year’s spot market: The number of loads posted to DAT One during Week 46 was 21% higher year over year while the number of trucks on the network was 26% lower. Reefer truck posts were down 39% compared to last year, and dry van truck posts down 21%. Flatbed load posts were 12% lower year over year, while flatbed equipment posts were virtually unchanged.

While dry van load and equipment posts were relatively stable nationwide, some major regional markets saw increases. On the West Coast, Stockton and Ontario reported 5% and 7% increases in load post volumes, respectively. Similarly, markets in the Carolinas saw about a 5% increase in load-post volumes.

DAT’s top 50 van lanes by load volume averaged $1.97 per mile last week, down 3 cents week over week but 29 cents higher than the national 7-day rolling average spot rate. In the 13 key Midwest states, which represent 45% of national load volume and often indicate future national trends, the average spot van rate decreased by 3 cents to $1.91 per mile. That’s 23 cents higher than the national 7-day rolling average.

A surge in load posts led to tight reefer capacity across the West from Nogales, Arizona, to Medford, Oregon. Reefer load post volumes in the West spiked by 34% last week and are up 41% during the previous four weeks. In Fresno, the largest produce market in California, load posts were up 40% last week and 70% in the last month.

In DAT’s Miami market, reefer load posts increased 19% week over week and were up 40% over the last month, driven by long-haul lanes to markets across the South and Northeast. Citrus, leafy greens, and berries are beginning to move, including the initial strawberry crops from the Plant City area.

Last week, the national average flatbed spot rate experienced the largest single-week drop since the start of August, falling 4 cents to a national average of $2.01 per mile. The rate is still 5 cents per mile higher than last year.