Freight Futures contract to watch today: Spot National Contract (VNU)
The spot National Trucking Freight Futures contract (FUT.VNU202001) continued to drift lower on Thursday and closed down by a fraction to $1.449/mile. Following a steady climb in spot month rates through the holiday season (DATVF.VNU), the forward curve (FWD.VNU) shows a continued drop through February 2020 before another rebound. For the fourth consecutive session, the East regional contract (FUT.VEU202001) was also down, settling 0.25% lower at $1.622, while the South regional contract (FUT.VSU202001) fell 0.4% to $1.231. Ending fractionally higher for the third straight day was the West regional contract (FUT.VWU202001), at $1.493.
Though the lanes in the East have been undergoing a correction this past week, the PHL to CHI contract (FUT.VPC202001) broke ranks and rose 0.3% to $1.085. Both the CHI to ATL (FUT.VCA202001) and ATL to PHL (FUT.VAP202001) contracts slid 0.4% to settle at $2.036 and $1.744, respectively. In the West, the LAX to SEA contract (FUT.VLS202001) took a breather from its 10-day climb and closed unchanged at $2.027. The SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL202001) has found its footing and rose for the second day in a row to $0.959, up 0.3% on the day. In the South, the LAX to DAL contract (FUT.VLD202001) finished unchanged at $1.443, while the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL202001) slipped 0.9% to $1.020. For the week, the contract is down $0.017.
