Volvo Construction Equipment (CE), a significant contributor to flatbed and specialized truckload demand, reported North American net sales were $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2024, down 15% from $9.5 billion the previous year. Sales in North America were down 20% to $2.1 billion. The North America total machine market contracted, largely due to a normalization of replenished dealer and rental fleets in North America, prompting an 8% drop, according to the company.
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“Despite lower volumes, we have been able to maintain a healthy profitability, whilst at the same time introducing new products and services, including a new range of articulated haulers to our existing portfolio,” said Melker Jernberg, President of Volvo CE.
Load-to-Truck Ratio
Flatbed load post volumes are just under 30% higher than last year, following last week’s 18% increase. Last week’s flatbed load-to-truck ratio (LTR) ended at 33.20.
Spot rates
After being flat over the past month, last week’s national average flatbed rate increased by almost $0.02/mile to an average of $2.02/mile. Compared to last year, the current 7-day rolling average is $0.06/mile or 3% higher, $0.06/mile lower than 2018 and identical to 2019.
