The U.S. supply chain is healing from early pandemic shocks that sent shipping costs skyrocketing and squeezed supplies of everything from toilet paper to pasta, but more than three years later, material shortages and hiring woes linger.
Cass Transportation Indexes reports that April saw another decline in rates, both month-to-month, and once again on a much larger scale y/y
Lower produce volumes and excess truck capacity make playing the post-Covid spot market a riskier game this summer—but clever carriers can still win.
Small operators have borne the brunt in 2023, and analysts blame bad spot rates and pricey fuel, but the losses have leaked to larger fleets of 100 trucks or more. However, this hasn’t yet put much of a dent in the huge 2020-2022 carrier surge.
From the COVID pandemic until spring 2022, shippers were at the mercy of a constrained market. With little to no leverage – and with goods to move – shippers paid higher rates to get their products to market.
Truckload freight volumes dropped and national average spot rates for dry van and refrigerated loads fell for the fourth consecutive month in April, said DAT Freight & Analytics, which operates a major online freight marketplace and the DAT iQ data analytics service.
This week took us to Denton, Texas, where Peterbilt hosted thousands of dealers, customers and press for the unveiling of its new Model 589 classic-styled conventional.
Nearly two years into an integration partnership with DAT Freight & Analytics, the numbers bear it out: truck fleets using SmartHop’s freight booking and fleet management platform are benefiting from increased revenue and average rate per mile, as well as time saved.
US truckload rates continued to slide in April and show no signs of hitting a bottom, with logistics companies believing an oversupply of capacity must be thinned before the decline stops.
Truckload freight volumes declined and national average spot rates for refrigerated loads fell for the fourth consecutive month in April, according to DAT Freight & Analytics.