DAT reports new records in its August Truckload Volume Index

As has been the case for a while, another month brought another batch of record data, according to the most recent edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI), which was issued last week by DAT Freight & Analytics.

The DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI) reflects the change in the number of loads with a pickup date during that month, with the actual index number normalized each month to accommodate any new data sources without distortion, with a baseline of 100 equal to the number of loads moved in January 2015. It measures dry van, refrigerated (reefer), and flatbed trucks moved by truckload carriers.

The August reading for the TVI—at 231—increased 2% from July and posted a 17% annual increase and is one of the five highest months on record. July came in at 222, which was preceded by June’s 237 (the all-time record), and May’s 212.

DAT’s data found the following takeaways for truckload volumes, load-to-truck ratios, and rates in August:

• the national average spot truckload van rate on the DAT One load board network, at $2.71 per mile (including fuel surcharge), topping the previous high in July;
• the national average spot reefer rate, at $3.10 per mile, was up $0.03 compared to the previous high in July, topping the $3 per mile mark for the third time, while setting a new record and the national average spot flatbed rate, at $3.08 per mile, saw a $0.05-cent gain compared to July, also topping the $3 per mile mark for the fourth time, reflecting a seasonal tapering off in demand;
• contract truckload rates, for all three equipment types, saw gains. The national average van rate was $2.81 per mile, up 5 cents compared to July, the previous record. The contract reefer rate increased 4 cents to $2.94 per mile, while the flatbed rate rose 1 cent to $3.30 per mile;
• the number of loads posted to the DAT One Network was up 11.9% from July to August; and
• load-to-truck ratios were up or flat in August, with the national average reefer ratio rising from 12.6 in July to 14.9 in August and paced by late-summer harvests and grocery stocking in advance of Labor Day, the flatbed ratio, at 44.1 was basically flat compared to July, with various sectors, including construction, agriculture, and energy, seeing seasonal declines; and
• the national average price per gallon of diesel fuel was $3.85, for the month, marking its highest reading since October 2018, with the $0.35 cents per mile van freight surcharge was flat compared to July and up $0.15 annually

DAT Freight & Analytics Chief of Analytics Ken Adamo said in an interview that August is typically one of those rebound months following a huge fourth of July push.

“Things after that and into the first half of August are generally slower, from a seasonality perspective,” he said. “When you look at what happened in August and what is happening in September, there is this sort of pressure release valves that exist all throughout the supply chain that take that pressure off. The reason why it slows down after the fourth of July is you start to see a lot of that ocean traffic come in and building considerably ahead the retail peak.”

What’s more, in a typical year, when ocean freight comes into U.S. ports, it gets moved to a warehouse or a store and is a relatively quiet occurrence, explained Adamo.

But things are much different on that front now, in that records are being set daily and weekly, for vessels at anchor and port throughput, which Adamo said leads to downstream implications, as there are many containers on these vessels, which need to move to their final destinations.

“We have not seen any relief, and it is only continuing to build,” he said.    

Over the last several months, Adamo noted that DAT’s monthly TVI has been on a linear trend of breaking records without any types of random spikes.

“We really are in unchartered territory right now,” he said. “We have been bumping around this $2.75 per mile level for really all of 2021, and we saw that from the Polar Vortex. For those industry stakeholders with lots of exposure to truckload, there has been a question of ‘will we test that as we go through Peak Season?’ Support levels very much exist, as trucking is a very transactional market, and that is what we see here. And then it is a question of if things break through from here?”

With the market seeing ongoing levels of high volumes and rates, Adamo said that pressure—as it relates to Peak Season—will still exist.

“It is just a fact,” he said. “More stuff is going to need to move. There is going to be extremely strong consumer demand seasonally. Those pressures are going to exist into Peak. Whether or not we are at an all-time rate high heading into it makes no difference.”