DAT

The firm said that spot load posts for the week were up 10.8% sequentially, coming in at 2.25 million, which helped to counter declines seen in previous weeks, as well as signaling high seasonality with retail goods and produce on the move.

Flatbed activity spikes amid seasonal trends, while tariffs and supply chain anxiety cloud outlook.

Driven by a combination of seasonal slowing, winter weather conditions, and ongoing uncertainty regarding tariffs and economic conditions, spot truckload volumes trended down in February, according to the new edition of the DAT Truckload Index, which was issued this week by DAT Freight and Analytics.

DAT cited inventory replenishment efforts by shippers following the holidays—coupled with pulling forward imports ahead of anticipated tariff actions and also trying to secure flexible, short-term spot market capacity to better deal with harsh winter weather—as the main drivers for spot truckload freight volume gains.

DAT observed that spot rates declined even though there was an uptick in demand for trucks.

Spot market trucking activity demand and rates saw gains over the month of December, in advance of the holidays, according to the new edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index, which issued today by DAT Freight and Analytics.

The van TVI, at 246, was up 18% compared to October and down 1% annually, while the refrigerated TVI, at 242, was down 23% compared to October and up 7% annually, and the flatbed TVI, at 242, was down 23% compared to October and down 5% annually.

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.

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;