Spot Market Freight Rates Recover from Last Week
Spot market freight rates have recovered somewhat after declining across the board last week, according to new numbers from the freight matching service provider DAT.


Spot market freight rates have recovered somewhat after declining across the board last week, according to new numbers from the freight matching service provider DAT.
From April 13 through April 19 reefers increased an average of 1.3% from the previous seven days, hitting $2.28 per mile, its best performance in four-weeks as Florida markets rose sharply, while California markets showed strength.
Flatbed rates gained 0.4% for an average of $2.35 per mile, remaining near peak levels as capacity remains tight, despite recent declines in the national load-to-truck ratio the last two-weeks.
The average rate for vans fell 1% to an average of $2.06 per mile, its lowest level in four-weeks.
This activity occurred as the amount of overall freight available fell 2.6% while load-to-truck ratios declined 7% for vans, 5.4% for flatbeds and 6.6% for reefers.
“Freight availability and rates are calming down in the van segment, just as flatbeds are heating up, wrote Peggy Dorf, DAT market analyst, on the company’s Freight Talk Blog. “Temperature-controlled freight is expected to surge from May through June or later, at the height of the fruit and vegetable harvest. We expect freight volume and rates to remain very dynamic through this quarter and the next.”
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