A freshly updated freight rate survey lends even more credence to the pain that small fleets and owner-operators have felt for the past year trying to do business by relying on the volatile spot market and with prices for diesel fuel at all-time highs.
Load posts are down right now, but expect things to change once spring shipping season takes off. Details on that and the spot market as a whole with data and analysis courtesy of DAT.
Successful businesses can turn the smallest edge into the biggest advantage. In a volatile freight market, such as the industry faces to start 2023, shippers and brokers who communicate better and are more accommodating to the carriers hauling their freight can find that edge.
The DAT Truckload Volume Index hit new highs for January, indicating solid seasonal demand for truckload services, said DAT Freight & Analytics, operators of the industry’s largest online freight marketplace and DAT iQ data analytics service.
DAT operates the largest truckload freight marketplace in North America. Ken is responsible for DAT iQ, DATs data science team and its pricing database for shippers, 3PLs, trucking operators and freight brokers.
Without OOIDA’s work over the past 50 years, there’s no telling how many bad ideas would have made their way into the regulations.
Spot flatbed load posts in Houston, the leading US flatbed market, are rising by double-digit percentages in mid-February from previous weeks, pushing up outbound spot flatbed rates.
Lower demand in the spot market means “there’s no better time for a shipper to find efficiencies,” a C.H. Robinson executive said.
A sluggish economy means pricing is likely to remain flat through the first half of 2023.
With spring and the 2023 cropping season approaching, planting decisions are starting to take shape. More producers are starting the year in stronger financial positions, with less carryover of unpaid operating debt.