Weekly Spot Market Rates Inch Up Following Best July on Record

Activity on one of the nation’s largest spot freight markets, along with most rates, have crept slightly higher over the past week, following a dip the week before.

DAT reports total spot market load availability August 4 through 10 increased 0.1% from the previous seven days.

Rates during the same period increased or held steady, with vans adding 1.1% for an average of $1.86 per mile. Reefers and flatbeds both registered $2.20 per mile, a 0.9% pickup for the former but unchanged for the latter.

Load-to-truck ratios improved for vans and reefers 1.8% and 2% respectively, while the flatbed figure fell 4.7%.

This comes as DAT says spot market freight volume rose 0.5% in July, exceeding June levels for the first time on record.

It says this year's atypical, extended freight season can be attributed to a combination of pent-up demand for flatbeds due to weather-related delays in housing starts, as well as a robust harvest that added to July demand for refrigerated trailers in the West and Midwest. Flatbed loads increased 6% percent and reefer freight availability rose 1.8%, while van loads declined 6.2% compared to June.

Year-over-year freight availability rose 13% overall, with increased volume for all equipment types. Flatbed volume rose 20%, reefer loads increased 26% and van freight added 6.8% compared to July 2012.

A seasonal month-over-month decline in spot market rates is expected in July, as capacity becomes available in many parts of the country. Rates rose 1.2% for flatbeds. However, they declined seasonally for other equipment types, dipping 0.7% for vans and 3.4% for reefers, as additional truckload capacity became available to meet seasonal demand.

On a year-over-year basis, flatbed rates declined 6.7% and van rates slipped 2.1% from the record highs of July 2012, but reefer rates rose 1.2%

Additional trend information and analysis is available at DAT Trendlines or the DAT blog.