Data issued this week by Portland, Oregon-based freight marketplace platform and information provider DAT, a subsidiary of Roper Technologies, continued the ongoing themes of strong volumes and healthy capacity levels for spot market truckload freight, according to the DAT Truckload Volume Index.
Looking at different segments, DAT reported the following readings, including:
“Spring came late to the spot market this year,” said DAT Senior Industry Analyst Mark Montague in a statement. “Late-season snowstorms in Minnesota and Colorado, as well as flood-related damage in and around Nebraska, led to delays in truck and rail traffic. “Overall freight availability remained high in April compared to recent years, despite the small seasonal decline. As we head into peak season for spot market freight, we expect regional capacity shortages to emerge and boost rates higher through the end of the second quarter.”
Market sentiment early into 2019 indicated that industry stakeholders generally expected that volumes would drop, due to 2018 volumes being very high, but instead volumes have remained consistently solid since 2018, said Peggy Dorff, DAT market analyst, in an interview, adding that these numbers are a byproduct of capacity rather than additional freight availability…even though it was not divided evenly among industry players.”
Dorff noted that while the first half of 2018 was extraordinary for spot market pricing, it began in earnest in late 2017 and into 2018, with contract activity kicking in four-to-six months after that.
“It can take a while for the contract market to catch up,” she said. “What we are seeing in the spot market as a leading indicator is that true spring activity keeps getting ‘postponed.’ Things always go up in June, but there is usually a little more life to the rate picture at this point. It is still positive for volumes, while rates are slower at this point.”