Reefer Rates: Shorthaul Up, Longhaul Down

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Reefer volumes were down during the first week in July, but that was to be expected. But load counts didn’t slip as much as vans during the short 4th of July week, with strong demand on shorter hauls.

Shipments for the top 10 fruits and vegetables out of California ticked slightly down in June, but the July forecast remains strong. Fruit from the Pacific Northwest should also be above average in late summer and fall.

RISING LANES

The biggest increases were on 4 lanes under 450 miles

  • Midwest volumes are building, and rates from Grand Rapids, MI, to Madison, WI, were up 60¢ to $3.15/mile
  • Chicago to Minneapolis also added 26¢ to $2.45/mile
  • Farther west, Dallas to Houston jumped up 37¢ to $2.90/mile
  • And in the Northeast, Northern Jersey to Boston gained 21¢ to $3.95/mile

FALLING LANES

Longer lanes were down, and the sharpest declines were out of Central Florida. There was a late-season bump in rates out of Lakeland, FL, at the end of June, but those prices have come crashing back down to earth.

  • One example was the lane from Lakeland to Charlotte, which plunged 66¢ to $1.63/mile
  • Stronger volumes out of the Midwest led to some rebalancing on the Atlanta to Chicago lane, down an average of 34¢ to $1.88/mile
  • Similar to vans, most of the big shifts in pricing happened in the Midwest and East Coast, but Ontario, CA, to Seattle fell 37¢ to $2.59/mile

Find loads, trucks and lane-by-lane rate information in the DAT Power load board, including rates from DAT RateView.

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