PORTLAND, Ore. -- For the week ending May 21, dry van and flatbed freight availability showed a 0.5 percent increase over the previous seven days, according to TransCore Trendlines, a weekly barometer for spot market freight trends. However, truckload freight availability for refrigerated (“reefer”) vans increased 7.0 percent week-on-week on TransCore's DAT Network of load boards. The increased demand for refrigerated transport is associated with seasonal produce.

Truckload capacity was also largely unchanged for all equipment types, with a total decline of 1.7 percent in truck postings week-on-week. The resulting load-to-truck ratio increased from 6.9 to 7.0 loads per truck. The load-to-truck ratio is a key indicator of trucking demand and capacity on the spot market.

TransCore Trendlines provides load-to-truck ratios, spot market and contract market rates, and other key indicators from TransCore's U.S. Freight Index, the standard spot freight market barometer. It is based on more than 60 million loads and trucks listed annually on the DAT Network of load boards by freight brokers, 3PLs, shippers and carriers across the United States. TransCore Trendlines also includes industry data from the American Trucking Associations and the U.S. Department of Energy.