As the trucking industry navigates through a prolonged down cycle, the latest data from DAT Freight and Analytics reveals a significant drop in load posts on its platform, marking a challenging period for carriers.
The trucking spot market has remained in a down cycle for more than a year as the number of trucks and drivers diminished — albeit at a slower rate than the decline in overall freight demand.
Much remained the same in the OOIDA Foundation's January Markets Update. Rates are flat, capacity is loose, operating costs are high and volumes/demand are soft, according to the report. As a result, the overall outlook is still negative.
Load-to-truck ratios are approaching an all-time low. We’ll speak with Robert Rouse of DAT about similarities between now and how things looked during the pandemic.
Number of loads posted to DAT’s spot market truckload load board the week ending Feb. 24, down 8.6% from the week before and 59% behind the same week last year to the lowest level since April 2020, according to DAT Solutions.
Much remained the same in the OOIDA Foundation’s January market update. Rates are flat, capacity is loose, operating costs are high and volume/demand is soft, according to the report. Consequently, the overall outlook is still negative.
Shippers, know thyselves. That is the core message to shippers preparing to engage in the Request for Proposal (RFP) process with carriers. A shipper’s instinct can be to look out at the vast landscape of carriers without gazing inward first, but they cannot afford to skip the critical initial step of thoroughly understanding their own profile before negotiating a transportation contract with a carrier.
Ikea's bombshell lawsuit against Convoy, the dead and now back again digital freight brokerage, revealed not only that many carriers remain unpaid by Convoy, but also how much Convoy charged Ikea to run certain lanes.
Status quo procurement strategies aren’t going to cut it anymore. Transportation procurement is changing rapidly, driven by market volatility, evolving consumer expectations, and supply chain disruptions.
Produce season will have a tremendous impact on not just reefer volume, but truckload capacity across the board – and with that, pricing.