Trends in truck capacity and freight demand continue to point toward a tight market to close out 2014, with the New Year to bring even more stress on truck supply and considerably higher shipping rates, according the latest roundup of industry indicators.
“One thing that has become evident about life in America since the Great Recession is that regardless of how bad things get we will eventually figure out ways to generate more and more freight,” says Stifel analyst John Larkin in his Monday market update for investors. “In parallel, our ability to supply the capacity required to move that freight is decreasing as less people choose trucking as a career and those driving are increasingly constrained by regulation.”
He cautions, however, that “exclusively using driver pay as the lever to add back capacity seems unrealistic as retailers are beginning to balk at the rate increases above and beyond what they’ve conceded over the past year.”
Available loads and capacity were both up during the week ending Nov. 15, according to DAT Solutions.
The number of spot market loads posted on the DAT network of load boards increased 2.7 percent compared to the previous week while the number of van, refrigerated, and flatbed trucks rose 4.5 percent.
The national average van rate lost a penny to $2.02 per mile but remained above $2 for another week, as it has for most of 2014. The average rate for refrigerated loads was unchanged at $2.31 per mile while the flatbed rate ($2.32 per mile, down 2 cents) slowed in a seasonal trend, according to DAT.
