A reduction in truck capacity was a concern for the trucking industry when the electronic logging device mandate soft enforcement period ended April 1, yet capacity has increased 11% on the spot market since then, according to DAT Solutions.
The ratio of loads to trucks on the spot market has been rising steadily for nearly two years, according to Eileen Hart, vice president of marketing and corporate communications for DAT Solutions.
DAT Solutions debuted “DAT OnTime,” a load tracking application for brokers and 3PLs that it called a natural extension to its load board services. It is tailored to intermediaries, who do not have technology on board the trucks themselves.
Mark Montague of DAT Solutions said the statistics on freight rates and loads-to-trucks indicate the April deadline did not cause the same type of spike as the initial Dec. 18 implementation date of the ELD mandate.
With the rise of fast delivery from online retailers, Beaverton-based DAT Solution's software is in demand to connect products to available truck loads.
DAT Solutions LLC, which matches available loads to trucks in the spot market, says shipments on its “load board” rose 27% from February to March while the number of trucks available increased only 14%.
Data from DAT Solutions LLC shows 91 percent of small, independent truckers — the segment that has been the last to meet the guidelines — were compliant either by adopting ELD technology or by being granted temporary exemptions from the governmen
Many truckers and industry insiders thought that a federal rule that requires truckers to use electronic logging devices to track driving time would disrupt freight and logistics. It hasn’t happened yet, according to a survey by DAT Solutions.
The demand for trucks to move construction materials, machinery, and other flatbed loads has been off the charts lately. Flatbed load-to-truck ratios have been rising since November and hit an all-time peak as I write this in mid-March.
Cost cuts and higher margins at U.S. trucking and railroad operators is pinching their biggest customers [...] Dry van rates could rise as much as 10 percent in 2018, while “spot” rates hit record levels in January, according to DAT Solutions.