The highlights from Monday’s SONAR reports are below. For more information on SONAR — the fastest freight-forecasting platform in the industry — or to request a demo, click here. Also, be sure to check out the latest SONAR update, TRAC — the freshest spot rate data in the industry.
NTI as a reference point
National Truckload index is a daily look at how spot rates in specific lanes hold up in comparison to the national average in order to give carriers and brokers an idea of which lanes to gravitate toward or avoid.
Monday’s National Truckload Index Daily (NTID): $2.91
Columbus, Ohio, to Burlington, New Jersey: $3.74 a mile — 527 miles
- In the past three months, spot rates have dropped $1.16 a mile to settle at $3.74. Currently 83 cents higher than the national average, spot rates in this lane have remained relatively consistent over the past month.
- After experiencing a severe drop at the end of May and into the beginning of June, the Outbound Tender Volume Index for Columbus is down 7% in the past three months overall. However, in recent days it has seen a 12.6% rise to 270.3 basis points (bps).
- Burlington falls into the Philadelphia market, which currently has 8.7% tender rejections, and the Outbound Tender Volume Index for the market has risen 9% in the past 30 days — signifying plenty of volume to be booked on the back end of this lane.
Chicago to Dallas: $2.59 a mile — 968 miles
- Since February, spot rates in this lane have been dropping in unison with the national average, but now rates have begun to dip even lower. In May as the national average began to hit a floor and plateau, rates from Chicago to Dallas continued to fall. They still appear to be doing so, currently 32 cents less than the national average and still on a downward trend.
- After rising back up following a drop during the Memorial Day holiday, OTVI for Chicago is still down 12% in the past 90 days, with rejections at 6.6% in the past 30 days. That indicates that the Chicago market is trying to hold strong and consitent despite the national drop in volume.
- At the end of the road, Dallas’ OTVI has dropped 8% in the past three months to 413.4 bps (still higher than other hubs such as LA or Chicago), but has 6.8% worth of tender rejections. That is a good number to verify that the chances of booking a load on the way out are high.
Watch: Carrier update
Maritime lane to watch: China to US
As all eyes are on these two economic superpowers, it is only fitting to begin this new section with them.
Updated weekly, SONAR Container Atlas currently has spot market rates per 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU) from Shanghai to the port of LA at $8,613, and $10,722 to the port of New York. These rates have remained consistent in the past month after seeing roughly a $2,000 drop in each since the beginning of March.
For related articles on volumes between China and US, click here
Overall 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) volume from China to the U.S. has dropped 36% since this time last year, with booking volumes following the trend and dropping 22% in the same time period and booking lead-times at a historic low of approximately eight days.
