DAT September Truckload Volume Index sees lower volumes and rates

The September edition of the DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI), which was recently issued by DAT Freight & Analytics, was indicative of ongoing trucking trends and themes, in the form of declining volumes and rates.

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, load-to-truck ratios, and rates, for the month of September, including:

• the van TVI was down 5.7% compared to August, at 230, and down 7.0% annually;
• the reefer TVI was down 6.2% compared to August, at 167 and down 6.2% annually;
• the flatbed TVI was down 9.3% compared to August, at 245, and up 2.1% annually;
• the DAT benchmark spot rate rose $0.02 over August, to $2.11 per mile, for its third increase in the last eight months, with the reefer rate up $0.01, to $2.52 per mile, and the flatbed flat, at $2.51 per mile;
• linehaul rates, which DAT said subtract an amount equal to a fuel surcharge, saw September declines, with the van line-haul rate down $0.01 from August, to $1.56 per mile, reefer down $0.02, to $1.92 per mile, and flatbed off $0.04, to $1.85 per mile;
• the national average van load-to-truck ratio was flat, at 2.8, with the reefer ratio, at 3.4, was below August’s 4.4, and the flatbed ratio, at 6.9, topped September’s 6.0 reading; and
• DAT’s benchmark rates for contracted freight were up, with the van rate up $0.02, to $2.59 per mile, the reefer rate up $0.02, to $3.01 per mile, and the flatbed rate up $0.01, to $3.20 per mile

“Seasonality took hold in September,” said Ken Adamo, DAT Chief of Analytics, in a statement. “Retailers had not yet replenished inventory ahead of the holidays, produce season was winding down and construction shipments slowed. At the same time, there were no disruptive events to push freight to the spot market. Hurricane season has been mild, and our data showed the United Auto Workers strike had little impact on freight movements in September.”

In an interview with LM, Adamo said September’s TVI data is reflective of market conditions that have been intact for all of 2023, and it resembles 2019, in that the year kicked off at a bottoming of the market and remained there for the entire year.

He added that September was not a stellar end to the quarter, with the caveat that the second half of the month was better than the first half of the month but not nearly enough to buoy it upwards.

“From a carriers’ perspective, things like fuel prices and low rates are squeezing them and they are not seeing the volume that they would need; it is kind of like the three legs of the stool,” he said. “And if you are a broker, this is kind of the scariest part of the entire freight cycle for brokers, because it has been bad for carriers for a while. Brokers on the other hand, as the market is falling, they actually see a little bit of a margin expansion once things have arrived to the bottom and stayed there, which is when their margins compress the most and is the shortest portion of the freight cycle. It is the most dire if you're a brokerage, especially a brokerage that's not making any money.”