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.
Truck tonnage moving on US highways slipped in September, after an increase in tonnage and shipments in August and despite high load volumes on US spot market load boards. That slight slip belied a strong year-over-year increase in tonnage.
Four decades after its founding as Dial-A-Truck, the business now known as DAT Solutions is considered the trucking industry’s premier load board, freight-rate aggregator and industry data provider.
In September, the DAT North American Freight Index was up 9% over August, and spot market freight availability saw a 74% annual increase. DAT officials explained that demand for truckload capacity, already at a premium due to economic growth and seas
DAT Solutions announces five additional partnerships with transportation management software (TMS) providers that have integrated DAT products into their applications.
Already, analysts and transportation providers say the storm, which followed on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, could have lasting impacts on truck rates and capacity through January 2018. "It's not just the Southeast," Mark Montague, industry pricing
Although the roads will be rough and difficult to drive for awhile, Mark Montague of DAT Solutions says there will always be some truckers up to the task and that will cost shippers more money.
DAT Solutions LLC says pricing on the spot truckload market for dry-van transport rose 11% last month.