Spot markets climb for 17th straight month

PORTLAND, OR – Spot market rates for all equipment types continued an uninterrupted 17-month climb in October, with a 65% increase in volume over the same month last year.

Digital truckload freight marketplace DAT Solutions says the month was down 3% from September, despite the strong gains over last year.

Usually the start of the holiday retail season, the company says October is typically a high point for contract freight. This year that demand was compounded by a surge of port traffic on both coasts, as well as the on-going recovery and rebuilding efforts after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Increases in truckload capacity continues to shift freight to the spot market.

DAT senior industry analyst Mark Montague says results for early November coupled with these recent trends indicate that spot freight volume and rates are likely to rise again before the end of the year.

Freight availability increased 66% from the same month last year, even after an 8% seasonal decline from September. The additional demand boosted the spot van rate by five cents to a national average of US$2.02 per mile, including fuel, setting a record.

Demand for refrigerated (reefer) capacity was also up by 68% over October 2016, but was down 5% when compared with the previous month. The U.S. national average reefer rate rose to $2.31 per mile, the highest monthly rate since December 2014. With increased demand for fresh and frozen food during the holiday season, DAT expects that rate to continue to rise throughout the months of November and December.

Expansion driven by on-going Hurricane rebuilding efforts in Texas and Florida kept demand for flatbeds high, with a 105% increase year-over-year – achieving the highest-ever level for the month of October. The national average rate was up to US$2.33 per mile, a 41-cent increase compared to October 2016.

Flatbed rates typically decline seasonally in the winter, and DAT says rates had already begun to slip lower in the first week of November.

All DAT’s numbers are based on actual transactions between freight brokers and carriers as recorded in DAT RateView.


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