PORTLAND, Ore. -- For the week ending May 14, spot market truck capacity recorded the highest volume for a single week in the past six months as truck availability increased 8.0 percent nationwide on TransCore's DAT Network of load boards. Truck postings for all equipment types rose: flatbeds are up 8.4 percent, refrigerated (“reefer”) vans rose 8.3 percent and dry vans increased 4.9 percent, week-on-week.
Overall load volume declined 2.3 percent, according to TransCore Trendlines. Loads designated for flatbeds remained stable while postings dipped for reefers by 6.2 percent and for dry vans by 4.3 percent.
As equipment capacity rose and load volume declined, the overall load-to-truck ratio dipped from 7.6 to 6.9 loads per available truck (down 6.7 percent). The ratio fell for each segment: reefers are down 13 percent, dry vans dipped 8.8 percent and flatbeds declined 7.5 percent, week-on-week.
TransCore Trendlines, published weekly with spot market and contract market rates, and other key indicators from TransCore's U.S. Freight Index, is the standard barometer for the spot freight market. It is based on more than 60 million loads and trucks posted annually on the DAT Network of load boards by freight brokers, 3PLs, shippers and carriers across the U.S. TransCore Trendlines also includes industry data from the American Trucking Associations and the U.S. Department of Energy.