Load posts up 23% last week; truck posts down 16% as truckers sit out Roadcheck

The total number of loads on the DAT MembersEdge load board network increased 23% during the week of May 15-21 while the number of available trucks plunged 16% compared to the previous week.

Last week included CVSA’s International Roadcheck. It’s likely that more truckers than usual decided to take days off during the inspection event, which led to tighter capacity on the spot market. Dry van equipment posts fell 16% compared to the previous week, reefer equipment posts decreased 17.8%, and flatbed equipment posts fell 11.8%.

Dry van load posts increased 36.3% week over week and reefer load posts jumped 75%, with fresh produce and grocery items on the move prior to Memorial Day weekend. Flatbed load posts rose 7.8% week over week.

Load posts-to-truck ratio

Load-to-truck ratios increased for all three equipment types. The van load-to-truck ratio was 5.6 as a national average, up from 3.4; the reefer ratio was 11.5, up from 5.4; and the flatbed ratio was 70.4, up from 57.6.

Higher load-to-truck ratios mean better pricing power for carriers, and indeed national average spot rates increased.

Van freight averaged $2.73 per mile, up 4 cents compared to the previous week; that’s the largest week-over-week increase for the van rate so far this year. Spot reefer freight averaged $3.04 a mile, up 8 cents, while the flatbed rate increased a penny to $3.30 a mile.

These are national average broker-to-carrier rates based on actual loads moved last week and they include a portion for fuel, which was 73 cents a mile for vans, 80 cents for reefers, and 87 cents for flatbeds.

There were 4.8 million loads on the network last week, 3% less than the same period last year but historically high compared to other years. Looking at last week’s reefer load-posting activity, there were more reefer loads on MembersEdge than there have been during the same point in any of the previous five years.

The number of flatbed load posts on the network was 21% higher than it was at this time in 2018, a benchmark strong year for spot flatbed freight.

Markets where the volume is building include Los Angeles, Ontario and Fresno in California; border markets in Texas like Laredo and McAllen; and Georgia and central Florida, where peach, blueberry, and vegetable harvests are under way after delays due to a March freeze. The challenge is that the rate coming out of these markets needs to be such that it’s worth your while to go in, especially at current diesel prices—inbound freight may be scarce or not pay well.

While reefer volumes last week were a positive sign, produce season is off to an excruciating start. According to the USDA, national weekly truckload volumes (domestic and imported) are down 22% year over year, and volumes overall may not be enough to push spot rates up materially to the traditional July seasonal peak.

DAT offers market analysis every Wednesday on Land Line Now, and detailed market updates at www.dat.com/blog/category/market-update.

DAT MembersEdge is a service provided exclusively to OOIDA members at a discounted price. LL

Listen to this week’s Land Line Now discussion on Memorial Day freight with Stephen Petit of DAT.