Broughton Capital, an independent financial research firm, has unveiled a set of tools for truckload industry market watchers called DAT Freight Barometers.

Based on data from DAT Solutions’ truckload freight marketplace and the company’s DAT RateView database, Broughton has developed proprietary econometric algorithms that provide “predictive value in determining the magnitude and direction of trends in both spot and contract market rates, as well as predictive value for the overall economy,” said Donald Broughton, managing partner of Broughton Capital.

DAT's load board network expects to host 141 million posted loads and trucks in 2017, about 485,000 loads per business day, and its truckload rates database houses more than $33 billion of spot and contract freight payments.

“We have long considered DAT the equivalent of the NYSE and NASDAQ of trucking,” said Broughton, who focuses on financial performance of companies in the transportation sector and the underlying goods flow and economic factors driving that performance. Freight barometers based on DAT data have been developed for the three major equipment types: van, flatbed, and refrigerated vans.

For more information on DAT Freight Barometers, contact info@broughtoncapital.com.

DAT data also will be used by TransFX for its upcoming Truck Futures Exchange. The indexed data, which will be drawn from a limited number of high-density trucking freight lanes, will form the foundation for the company’s hedge contracts.

“We’re delighted to see that the data integrity processes we’ve spent years developing for our freight exchange and rates databases are enabling new business opportunities based on the data,” said Don Thornton, DAT senior vice president.