A majority of the U.S. continues to be locked in a deep freeze, and the low temperatures and snowy conditions are putting a squeeze on the freight markets.
On this episode of #WithSONAR, Luke Falasca and Kyle Taylor look at how rates and capacity are being impacted with major markets like Houston and Dallas being knocked off-kilter. They host Kyle Lintner, principal and managing director of K-Ratio, to share his thoughts on the problems plaguing carriers right now.
Taylor said it has not been a good week for freight, with a lot of “sitting and waiting” by drivers stranded and shippers trying to move freight. Falasca says freight volumes decreased between 3% and 4%, but tender rejections jumped nearly 10%.
When it comes to trends, Lintner said that when highly impactful events happen, like severe winter weather or COVID shutdowns, it expedites changes in behavior, which changes trends. He used COVID-19 specifically to highlight consumer changes that led to massive implications for freight markets.
Lintner said those changes can stick around even after the underlying events are over and linger in freight metrics like spot rates.
Looking forward, Lintner said the big equalizer for the 2021 market state will come as new truck orders pick up and shippers move to place more capacity online. “We should see spot rate softening at that point,” said Lintner, which will bring markets back to normal levels.
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