DAT Truckload Volume Index remains largely mixed for spot truckload volumes and rates

Spot truckload volumes and rates remained mixed again in May, according to the new edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which was released today by DAT Freight and Analytics.

The DAT Truckload Volume Index reflects the change in the number of loads with a pickup date during that month, with the actual index number normalized each month to accommodate any new data sources without distortion, with a baseline of 100 equal to the number of loads moved in January 2015. It measures dry van, refrigerated (reefer), and flatbed trucks moved by truckload carriers.

DAT’s data highlighted the following takeaways for truckload volumes, and rates, for the month of May, including:

• the van TVI, at 247, was up 3% compared to April and down 1.4% annually;
• the refrigerated TVI, at 200, was up 5% compared to April and up 6% annually;
• the flatbed TVI, at 309, was down 4% compared to April and up 3% annually;
• national average spot rates mostly saw gains, with van, at $1.99 per mile, up $0.03 over April, reefer, at $2.36 per mile, up $0.09 over April, and flatbed, at $2.57 per mile, flat compared to April;
• the van linehaul rate, at $1.61 per mile, rose $0.05 compared to April, the reefer rate, rose $0.10, at $1.95, and the flatbed rate, at $2.12, was up $0.01; and
• contract truckload rates saw sequential declines, with van, at $2.39 per mile, down $0.01 compared to April and down $0.04 annually, reefer, at $2.72 per mile, down $0.02 compared to April and down $0.07 annually, and flatbed, at $3.07 per mile, down $0.01 compared to April and down $0.03 annually

The firm said that van and reefer rates typically head up in May, driven by demand to move produce and retail goods in advance of Memorial Day increases, coupled with drivers planning downtime around the three-day Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Roadcheck enforcement, which takes place in mid-May.

DAT Chief of Analytics Ken Adamo said in an interview that the bright spot for May was Roadcheck week, which he said was a very good week for carriers that were in service—and a difficult week for brokers and shippers from a budgetary standpoint.

“We maybe saw a two-to-three percentage point increase over a typical Roadcheck week because there was some [speculation] in the market around early enforcement of the White House executive order around English language proficiency requirements for drivers but then it came right back to normal and is in line with the last three years.”

In terms of the impact of tariffs and trade policy on May volumes and rates, Adamo observed that the market has seen some effects of the previous 145% tariffs on imports from China, as well as the subsequent drying up of imports volumes. But that comes with the caveat that this situation impacts roughly 15%-to-20% of the spot truckload market, and what he called a “dominating force” in markets like Southern California and Houston.

“It is not a massive amount of volume that is affected there, but it is probably enough to be causing the effects we are seeing, in that market activity should be a little bit higher than where it is now, which is kind of a tough pill to swallow,” he said. “May was barely a net positive month for capacity, which marks a second straight month that the FMCSA reported a net increase in interstate motor carrier counts, with that number [currently] hanging on as a net positive for June—so by all indications, the market should at least be plotting a very tepid upward recovery and it is just not.”

To that end, he explained that it was expected that May would have performed better, whereas Adamo likened it to a three-part month, with a slower first part, a pretty busy middle part, and a week post-Memorial Day, as it fell early this year, leading to a slow start in June.