Freight Futures markets to watch today: South Regional and Lane Contracts
The first trading session of December saw Trucking Freight Futures end on a mostly down note. The December National contract (FUT.VNU201912) ended the day 0.2% lower at an even $1.50/mile. The East regional (FUT.VEU201912) and West regional (FUT.VWU201912) contracts also finished the session lower by 0.4% and 0.24% to $1.523 and $1.648, respectively. The South regional contract (FUT.VSU201912) closed unchanged at $1.327.
The overall bearish sentiment was reflected in the individual lanes where 5 of the 7 contracts finished lower. In the East, the ATL to PHI contract (FUT.CAP201912) closed down $0.12 or 0.71% to $1.677 as did the PHI to CHI contract (FUT.VPC201912), which dropped $0.009 or 0.92% to $0.971. The CHI to ATL contract (FUT.VCA201912) closed higher by 0.26% to $1.922. In the West, both the LAX to SEA (FUT.VLS201912) and SEA to LAX (FUT.VSL201912) contracts closed down by 0.24% and 0.32% to $2.054 and $1.242, respectively. The forward curve for LAX to SEA (FWD.VLS), however, shifted slightly higher beyond the spot month. In the South, volatility returned with each lane moving in equal but opposite directions. The LAX to DAL contract (FUT.VLD201912) ended up $0.019 to $1.635 while the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL201912) closed down by $0.019 to $1.020. The forward curves for the respective lanes (FWD.VLD, FWD.VDL) shifted in a similar manner to the spot contracts.
