January cold snap leads to spot-market surge, DAT says
A weather-related bump in demand for truckload capacity pushed spot freight volumes to all-time highs for January, according to a report from DAT Freight & Analytics.
All three equipment types in the DAT Truckload Volume Index, a measure of loads moved in a month, increased compared to December, the company said:
- Van TVI — 250, up 11% month over month and 6% higher year over year.
- Refrigerated TVI — 206, up 14% month over month and 1% year over year.
- Flatbed TVI — 232, up 11% month over month and 6% year over year.
“Winter weather increased the need for trucks at a time when shippers were moving holiday returns and springtime retail goods through supply chains, and for-hire carriers were rejecting a higher percentage of contracted loads,” Ken Adamo, DAT chief of analytics, said in a news release. “This was not a case of freight volumes sustainably trending higher. Barring some other disruptive event, we expect demand for truckload capacity to meet seasonal expectations during the months ahead.”
The release said load-to-truck ratios, which measure the number of loads posted to the DAT One marketplace relative to the number of trucks, increased for all three equipment types:
- Van ratio — 2.7, up from 1.9 in December
- Reefer ratio — 4.1, up from 2.6
- Flatbed ratio — 8.3, up from 5.1
Reefer rates jumped
Demand for trucks on the spot market pushed broker-to-carrier rates higher, with the reefer rate jumping 10 cents from December to $2.57 a mile in January. The flatbed rate rose 6 cents to $2.47 a mile. Year over year, average spot rates were down 24 cents for vans, 21 cents for reefers and 29 cents for flatbeds.
Rates for contracted van and reefer freight were unchanged month over month. DAT’s benchmark contract van rate was $2.49 a mile, and the reefer rate was $2.57.
The gap between spot and contract rates narrowed compared to December, the release said. The gap was 35 cents for van freight, down 4 cents; 31 cents for reefer loads, down 10 cents; and 63 cents for flatbeds, also down 10 cents.
