DAT Freight & Analytics

Earlier this week, Beaverton, Ore.-based DAT Freight & Analytics, operator of the largest North American-based truckload freight marketplace sad it has acquired Trucker Tools, a Reston, Va.-based provider of trip planning, shipment visibility and freight matching solutions.

For the week of December 1-6, DAT reported that 2.18 million loads were available, representing a 114% sequential increase, as well as posting the highest weekly tally since the week before the July 4 holiday.

DAT reported that 1.02 million loads were available, representing a 46% sequential decline and a 12% annual increase. The firm added that there was a total of 223,837 available trucks posted on the DAT One network, falling 30% sequentially and down 25% compared to Thanksgiving week in 2023.  

Following the beginning of what it called the start of a new truckload cycle arriving in September, in the form of increasing spot truckload volumes and rates, the new edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which was recently issued by DAT Freight and Analytics, pointed to further inroads being made in October.

DAT reported that 1.8 million loads were available, representing a nearly 8% sequential decline and a 15% annual increase. The firm added that there was a total of 307,925 available trucks posted on the DAT One network, falling 6% and marking the lowest tally going back to the week of Labor Day.

The firm reported that 1.94 million loads were available, which marked a 10% sequential decline, while ahead of the same week in 2023 by 19%. And it added that there was a total of 335,458 available trucks, down 1.5% sequentially.

DAT's Ken Adamo notes September showed the spot truckload market is firmly into a new freight cycle after nearly 22 months of rather extreme expansion and 27 months of contraction.

DAT reported that total spot loads posted on the DAT One Network sequentially increased 14.9%, to 2.01 million, representing the highest weekly tally of available loads going back to the week of July 7-July 13. While loads saw gains, DAT said weekly truck posts headed down 16.3%, to 275,594, with the company citing velocity in East Coast freight networks seeing what it called a dramatic slowdown, driven by the pairing of bad weather and, on a lesser level, the short-lived port strike.

The van TVI, at 289, was up 2.8% over July and up 6.3% annually,and the refrigerated TVI, at 220, was up 4.3% compared to July and up 17.6% annually; The flatbed TVI, at 287, was up 0.3% compared to July and down 0.3% annually, snapping a three-month stretch of sequential declines;

The van TVI, at 273, topping June’s 266 reading, and up almost 10% annually and down 6% compared to an all-time high reading of 289 set in May.

DAT said that the number of loads on the DAT One load board marketplace dropped for the second consecutive week, falling 3%, to 1.83 million, compared to the previous week, while falling 7% annually, with truck posts down 6%, to 324,253.

DAT said that the number of loads on the DAT One load board marketplace were down 48%, to 1.26 million, for the week of June 30-July 6, and the number of trucks posted decreased 21%, to 262,943. The company noted that this week includes the July 4 holiday, adding that many businesses utilized as a four-day weekend, with the holiday suppressing volumes compared to the week of June 23-29, which it stated is “one of the busiest on the freight calendar, with 2.4 million loads posted,” and...

At the mid-point of 2024, for the week of June 23 through June 29, the last week before the end of the second quarter and in advance of the July 4 holiday, a tightening of spot truckload capacity translated into an 8.4% gain in load posts for the DAT One load board marketplace, according to data provided to LM by DAT Freight & Analytics.  

The van TVI, at 289, was up 4% compared to April and up 13% annually, hitting a new all-time high, and the refrigerated TVI, at 224, up 4% compared to April and up 25% annually, also hitting a new all-time high.

The van TVI, at 278, is up 7.3% compared to March; the refrigerated TVI, at 213, is up 5.4% compared to March; and the flatbed TVI, at 304, increased 8.2% compared to March, rising for the fifth consecutive month.