Market Update

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 30TH

MARKET NOTABLES OF THE WEEK

  • Dry van outbound tender rejection rates have climbed to over 35% in the Tulsa, Joplin, St. Louis and Evansville markets as spot rates jump in the Midwestern region. Heavy dry van freight volumes continue to ship from the Harrisburg, Columbus, Memphis and Houston markets.
  • Heavy reefer freight volumes continue to ship from the Salt Lake City, Twin Falls, Southern California and Little Rock markets. Reefer outbound tender rejection rates pick up in the Savannah, Minneapolis, Twin Falls and Little Rock markets as spot market rates increase for on-demand capacity.
  • Pittsburgh’s average outbound tender rejection rates for all loads increased from 20% to 26% in the past week.
  • Chicago’s dry van outbound to inbound ratio has increased to 49.35 as outbound freight volumes increased.
  • The outbound to inbound ratio in Dallas is up over 36% week over week, signaling tightening market conditions.
  • The outbound to inbound ratio in Elizabeth, NJ is up over 30% week over week. Elizabeth’s outbound tender rejections are still over 21% with no major week over week volatility.

U.S. MACRO MARKET NOTABLES OF THE WEEK

  • Demand for trucks across the nation continues to rise, keeping capacity tight, on average, for shippers. Both reefer and dry van tender rejection rates remain elevated, indicating that spot rates on average are well above contracted rates.
  • As disaster relief efforts ramp up, shippers in the Southeast and Southwest should prepare for capacity demands to increase slightly as supplies ship to the affected areas of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas.
  • National spot market rates continued to climb for both reefer and dry van loads as national volumes increased another 3% with a 1% increase to accepted volumes. It is hard to discern what level of impact the hurricane had or will have on capacity this week as most of the damage has yet to be evaluated. Regardless of Laura, capacity is expected to tighten in front of Labor Day weekend in every corner of the country with special attention in the West as volumes and outbound rejection rates continue to climb as we enter the traditional peak maritime import season.