Flatbed

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 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;

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.

Following May, which saw volume gains help to bump up spot truckload rates, the June edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, was somewhat different, in that spot truckload rates were up, while the actual number of loads moved headed down, DAT Freight and Analytics recently reported.

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.

The van TVI, at 245, down 4% compared to January, with the reefer TVI, at 193, down 4% compared to January, and the flatbed TVI, at 242, increased 3% compared to January.

The November edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI), which was recently issued by DAT Freight & Analytics, showed a solid post-Thanksgiving bump in truckload freight volumes compared to previous Novembers.  

DAT reported that the van TVI was up 3.5% compared to September, at 263, and up 9.5% annually, with the reefer TVI up 4.3% compared to September, at 196 and up 9.0% annually, and the flatbed TVI was down 3.2% compared to September, at 245, and up 0.5% annually.

Seasonal trends impacted lower spot market volumes and rates in the September edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index.