DAT Truckload Volume Index sees more new records set

The most recent edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI), for the month of October, which was recently released by DAT Freight & Analytics, again set a new all-time high, with the firm observing that truckload prices, at all-time highs, reflect how shippers are willing to pay premium rates to move their freight.

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.

October’s TVI reading—at 239—was up 2% over September, which was off 1% from August. The TVI hit its all-time high in June, coming in at 237.

DAT’s data highlighted the following takeaways for truckload volumes, load-to-truck ratios, and rates, for the month of October, including:

• the national average spot truckload van rate headed up $0.03, to $2.87 per mile (including fuel surcharge), with the monthly average up for the fifth consecutive month and up 47 cents annually;
• the national average reefer rate—at $3.29—rose $0.04 compared to September, for a new high, and the flatbed rate was down $0.01, to $3.08, which DAT said came amid a seasonal drop in freight related to construction and heavy machinery, with both reefer and flatbed rates topping the $3.00 per mile mark for the sixth month in a row;
• loads posted to the DAT load board network were off 3.3% in October, with truck posts up 4.2%, and the national average load-to-truck ratio came in at 5.6, off from September’s 6.3, while the reefer ration fell from 13.5 to 12.0, in tandem with fall harvest activity abating;
• the national average contract van rate—at $2.90 per mile—rose $0.07 over September, and the national average reefer rate—at $3.07—rose $0.09, with the national average flatbed rate—at $3.33—rose $0.02; and
• the national average surcharge for diesel fuel—at $0.39 cents a mile—set a new record, while heading up $0.20 annually, with the national average for on-highway diesel—at $3.61 per gallon—marked the highest monthly average going back to November 2014

“Congested ports, intermodal yards and warehouses acted as a drag on the number of loads moved last month,” said Ken Adamo, Chief of Analytics at DAT Freight & Analytics, in a statement. “As a result, retailers and online sellers took on higher truckload prices in order to make sure their freight is positioned for success for the November and December shopping period.”

“There is no firm ceiling or an absolute maximum of freight that can be moved or charged,” he said in a recent interview. “It is like stocks or anything else, which have support levels. Something systemic would have to change for more freight to move or for rates to go higher. For the long-haul stuff, we have been stuck at the rates we are currently at for several months now, with some ticks up here and there, but by and large, there has not been huge upward movement.”

On the volume side, he said that truckload is moving about as much as it can. And much of that ties back to the myriad global supply chain issues that have been in the spotlight in recent weeks, he added.

As an example, there are items like exercise equipment and appliances that are expected to be ordered and move through the supply chain, whereas there have also been shortages items found in supermarkets and retail stores, which Adamo said are raising a lot of eyebrows.

Adamo said there is a possibility less freight may move in December, due to the Thanksgiving holiday and a shorter month, adding it would not be surprising, from a volume perspective, to see sequential declines in November, in advance of the December through the June-July period, which are typically the record months of the year.