June freight volumes have been rising the past two weeks, ever since International Roadcheck took some capacity off the road during the first week of June. In fact, June freight volumes in the Top 100 van lanes are up 22% compared to June 2018. So why are rates 41¢ per mile lower this year? There are a number of contributing factors. For one, a record number of truck purchases last last year has led to increased capacity. That… Read More

Are you looking to expand your motor carrier business? The key is finding new business partners that you can trust. Every subscription to the DAT TruckersEdge and DAT Power load boards comes with the DAT Directory, our extensive database of transportation companies that lets you connect with and evaluate new business partners with ease. The video below gives a… Read More

It's no secret that truckload rates aren't where they were a year ago. We don't expect prices to reach the same levels we saw in 2018, but we've been predicting a second quarter rebound for quite some time now -- really since last December, when we also said that we expected a softer than usual first quarter. A number of factors delayed that rebound, but there are signs emerging that it's finally here. The first delay was the scope of… Read More

You may not have a problem getting carriers to cover a load, but every freight broker occasionally hits the wall with those hard-to-book shipments. Maybe the shipper requires a less common trailer type, or maybe the load is going into or coming out of a less desirable location. If you've posted a load onto the DAT load board and carriers haven't responded, try these 3 truck-finding… Read More

Summer freight is on its way, just as spring has finally sprung -- and it’s not all about Roadcheck.  The annual Roadcheck inspection blitz kicked off the month by tightening capacity for much of the first week in June. The lane rates that rose sharply during that week dropped back down again after the inspections ended, but van load volumes and rates continue to climb in the Southeast and along the West Coast.  The end… Read More

Just as we saw with van freight, reefer rates and load-to-truck ratios cooled down last week after rising sharply the previous week due to the International Roadcheck inspection blitz. On the other hand, reefer freight volumes were up 20% compared to the previous week. Produce season is on, and we saw big volume increases coming out of both California and Texas. Although the national reefer load-to-truck ratio was down 30% last week… Read More

Few issues get truckers more worked up than the lack of available truck parking. But this year there's actually some good news to report. Eight Midwestern states launched the Truck Parking Information Management System (TPIMS), a coordinated effort by state DOTs that helps truckers locate safe, legal parking spaces at both public rest stops and private truck stops. Other states have their own… Read More

Author Earl Nightingale once said that to get rich, you just have to find a need and fill it. In the eight years I’ve been an independent owner-operator, that's how I've tried to run my business. My company has never been awarded contract freight, so all of my loads have come from hundreds of freight brokers. Pinpointing a specific need and filling it is key to running the spot market .  Other than being able to drive a truck,… Read More

For many motor carriers, June couldn't get here fast enough. This is typically the busiest time of the year for spot freight, and it brings in some of the highest rates of the year for trucking companies. Last week, prices increased on 90 of the top 100 van lanes, and on DAT load boards, there were more load posts than any other single week since last September. Of course, much of last week's jump in rates and load-to-truck ratios… Read More

What do you get when you combine produce season with International Roadcheck week? You guessed it: a jump in both rates and load-to-truck ratios. As we saw with van freight, reefers got a big bump last week. Many drivers stayed home rather than face inspections,… Read More