The new year is bringing good news to third-party logistics firms as tight capacity sends the rates they charge shippers higher and their spot market business flourishes. Capacity demand has been building since the spring of 2016, said Mark Montague
November marked another solid month for spot market activity, according to data issued by DAT Solutions. With spot market load volume and rates having risen for 18 months, the national average spot van rate hit $2.07 per mile.
After years in the making, the ELD mandate takes effect today, with big questions surrounding how it will disrupt and impact the industry.
The blockchain technology behind Bitcoin could speed up and cheapen industry sectors including freight logistics and supply chain management. DAT Solutions announced recently that it joined a trucking industry group to promote blockchain technology.
Trust and transparency are words not normally associated with truckload pricing. Enter Craig Fuller, armed with terabytes of pricing data from DAT, and an abiding faith in Adam Smith's "invisible hand" of the free market.
The electronic logging device (ELD) mandate, set to go into effect Dec. 18, will focus attention on companies that habitually make drivers wait long hours to load or unload freight.
Spot market activity, in terms of metrics like loads, capacity, and rates, continues to show very positive momentum, according to DAT Solutions. Perhaps the most telling data point was that some spot rates came in above seasonal norms.
Freight surged in October and carriers are bracing for what could be a record-breaking holiday shipping season. American Trucking Associations said its seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index climbed to 147.6 in October.
Morgan Brennan of CNBC interviews TransRisk CEO Craig Fuller, as he describes the role of a trucking futures index. The index, which is under development, is based on DAT spot market rate data.