PORTLAND, Ore. -- TransCore’s North American Freight Index that monitors spot market truckload freight movement throughout the United States and Canada ended the year with a 55 percent increase when compared to December 2009. Spot market freight volumes for the third and fourth quarters in 2010 are the highest since 2005, a peak year for spot market volume.

Load availability in December increased by 0.2 percent from November, signaling robust freight shipping on the spot market.

TransCore’s Truckload Rate Index showed that spot market line-haul rates for vans remained stable at $1.28. Freight typically picks up in Q1 and continues through Spring. The national average spot market line-haul rates for refrigerated (“reefer”) trucks softened by $0.05 (3.3 percent) and flatbed rates dipped by $0.01.

Spot market rates are the rates that brokers and third-party logistics (3PL) companies pay to the carrier.