DAT News

Most years, van volumes and rates fall in July and pick back up again in August. The timing is off this year. Rates and volumes mostly held steady this past July, but loads and rates dropped off last week. We could still see another rebound in a couple of weeks.

So, where can you find a load for your van right now? The top five markets for load posts on DAT TruckersEdge are Atlanta, Chicago, Elizabeth NJ, Dallas, and Indianapolis. There were more loads in Northern New Jersey last week, and Indy had a good week, too. The other three markets (Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas) lost traction, but they are not moving out of the top 5.

Darker colored states above have higher load-to-truck ratios, meaning there’s less competition for van freight in those states.

The rates below include fuel surcharges and are averages based on real transactions between carriers and brokers.

RISING

43 of the top 100 van lanes saw prices go up last week, but most of the increases were small.

• Biggest gain last week: Philadelphia to Boston up ▲10¢ to $3.19/mile (That rate sounds great but you have traffic and tolls on I-95, plus it can be tough to find a load out of the Boston area)
• Second-biggest gain last week: Chicago to Buffalo up ▲8¢ to pay $2.26/mile on average
• Seattle and Denver had the biggest improvements in volumes last week.
• Rates didn’t change in Denver, but Seattle prices got a boost
• The bad news is that the Seattle average was still just $1.19/mile outbound.

Also, some truckers are getting loads from FEMA this week to bring emergency supplies to the flood zones in Louisiana. That can be dangerous work, and it’s hard to find a load back out, so be careful out there.

FALLING

• Los Angeles rates dropped to a 6-week low last week, an average of $2.07/mile.
• The lane rate from L.A. to Chicago dropped ▼17¢ to just $1.16/mile, which makes your trucks more competitive with the railroad, but that’s just not an attractive rate for 2,000 miles
• Memphis to Charlotte fell ▼14¢ to just $1.67/mile
• Charlotte to Buffalo rates lost ▼22¢ to $1.95/mile, the first time that lane has averaged less than $2.00 in a while.
• Trucking Success partners with DAT to offer a special on the TruckersEdge load board. Sign up for TruckersEdge today and get your first 30 days free by signing up at http://www.truckersedge.net/promo123 or entering “promo123” during sign up.