ACT Research and DAT Freight & Analytics announce strategic agreement

Two well-know trucking industry brands—ACT Research, a provider of data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles, and DAT Freight & Analytics, operator of the largest North American-based truckload freight marketplace, with a database of $137 billion in annual market transactions—recently announced they entered into an agreement that they said “will enhance the service offerings of both organizations.”

A DAT spokesman told LM that this agreement builds on an existing relationship and will deepen the level of collaboration between two of the most trusted and respected sources of industry intelligence.

“DAT and ACT will work together to develop new market reports and forecasts based on DAT RateView, the industry’s most comprehensive database of truckload pricing data, and ACT’s economic analysis and commercial vehicle data,” he said. “Currently, ACT incorporates DAT data into its quarterly freight rate and volume forecast report, which was 98.7% accurate in Q2 2022. There’s a harmony to DAT and ACT data and areas of expertise that will benefit everyone involved in transportation, logistics, equipment manufacturing, finance, public policy and more.”

DAT Chief of Analytics Ken Adamo said in a statement that ACT Research provides a critical service to the industry. 

“We’re excited about how our collaboration will enhance their spot and contract rate forecasting to benefit shippers, carriers, brokers and all stakeholders alike,” he said.

And ACT Research Vice President and Sr. Analyst Tim Denoyer said that DAT maintains the largest database of truckload transactions than any other marketplace in the industry, adding that “joining forces to harness the power of DAT’s dearly valued RateView data, with our strategic forecasting services, will enhance our offerings to the industry.”

What’s more, the companies said that ACT utilizes proprietary Class 8 equipment population and driver analysis, with award-winning economic forecasting, to predict DAT rates over a two to three-year window.

“We add value by applying our expertise in freight volume and capacity dynamics to predict where rates are headed in the future,” said Denoyer. 

ACT's Q2 2022 forecasts for DAT spot rates, net fuel, from a year out, were 98.7% accurate in the ACT Freight Forecast, and the standard deviation of this data set on a quarterly basis is 19%, the companies said.