Looking for truck loads? Here are the five best places to find a van load fast. The list is based on the markets with this week’s highest number of load posts on DAT load boards, combined with outbound load-to-truck ratios above the national average of 1.7 loads per truck.
Rate information from DAT RateView™
Photo by Wikimedia Commons author Nserrano
Los Angeles had the fifth-highest number of load posts this week for vans, but at 3.9 outbound loads offered per truck, L.A. boasts the highest load-to-truck ratio of the major metro areas. Spot market freight rates in L.A. were mostly stable in September, while other markets declined. Last week, a van load going from L.A. to Phoenix paid an average of $2.62 per mile. according to DAT RateView.
Photo by Wikimedia Commons author GandZ
Only Atlanta has more load posts than Cleveland. Atlanta also has a lot more trucks, which makes Cleveland a better bet. If you’re closer to Columbus or Toledo, those are good options too. Columbus jumped to third in load availability after an end-of-quarter shipping surge boosted demand in the last few days of the September. Cleveland and Toledo are both hubs for automobile-related industries too, and U.S. auto sales rose 16% in September. Toledo’s load-to-truck ratio of 3.5 loads per truck is also well above the national average.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Fall harvest season came late to Grand Rapids this year. It’s finally here, and van demand is up in that market as a result. Vented vans can sometimes substitute for reefers to haul fall season crops, like the apples coming out of Grand Rapids. Green Bay is another Upper Midwest market benefiting from fall harvests, with 3.7 loads available per truck this week. In the past 15 days, loads heading to Philadelphia are averaging $2.30 per mile.
Photo by Wikimedia Commons author Riction
Charlotte has the second most load posts in the Southeast (9th in the country), with fewer trucks competing for those loads than in Memphis and Atlanta.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Memphis still has an above-average load-to-truck ratio and is 12th for load volume. Retail season should start pushing outbound rates up soon.
Top risers:
Seattle isn’t in the top-20 for load volume, but outbound van rates there are up 13% in the past month thanks to increased port traffic. Demand has also spiked in Medford, OR, with 12.3 loads per truck. Since August, the average rate on the lane to L.A. is up 19¢ per mile.
