Spot Truckload Capacity Tightens at Start of June

Demand outpaced capacity during the week including Memorial Day as the number of truck posts on DAT Solutions network load boards dropped 18% while load posts fell just 9% over the past week, according to newly released figures.

Evan Lockridge・Former Business Contributing Editor

June 6, 2018

Spot Truckload Capacity Tightens at Start of June — Demand was higher than capacity in the week that included Memorial Day, according to DAT Solutions.
Source: DAT Solutions

2 min to read

The scarcity of trucks during the shorter workweek, along with higher fuel costs, put pressure on national average spot truckload rates:

Van: $2.19 per mile, up 4 cents
Flatbed: $2.75 per mile, up 2 cents
Reefer: $2.55 per mile, up 4 cents

Van truck posts fell 20%, a more typical decline for a holiday-shortened week, but the number of van load posts was down just 3%. The national van load-to-truck ratio climbed 21% to 8.5 to 1.

Rates on the top 100 van lanes increased 3.2% and are up 7.8% in the last month. Also, on a per-lane basis, rates were higher on 67 lanes compared to 28 down and five neutral.

Regionally, California and the Southeast were strong for spot van freight. Hot van markets included Atlanta, where outbound volume slipped only 2% compared to the previous week despite one less shipping day.

The average outbound rate from Atlanta was $2.63 per mile, a 9-cent increase. Los Angeles rose 12 cents to $2.81 per mile; Dallas was up 10 cents to $2.23 per mile; and Memphis gained 6 cents to $2.81 per mile.

Two key lanes to watch:

Houston to New Orleans, up 11 cents to $3.31 per mile after a 25-cent gain the previous week
Philadelphia to Boston, up 22 cents to $4.18 per mile

The national flatbed load-to-truck ratio edged closer to 100 again last week. Load posts were down 12%. Truck posts, on the other hand, declined 21%, which pushed the ratio up to 99.4 to 1.

Reefer load posts decreased 13% and truck posts fell by 11%. As a result, the national reefer load-to-truck ratio dropped 3% to 9.4 to 1.

Spot refrigerated rates continued to build after a strong run-up to Memorial Day weekend, led by demand in California. Los Angeles outbound averaged $3.43 per mile, up 10 cents; Fresno was $3.09 per mile, 14 cents higher; and Sacramento was $3.13 per mile, up 16 cents.

Key reefer lanes last week: