Freight Futures lane to watch today: Philadelphia to Chicago (VPC)
The Trucking Freight Futures National contract continues to be locked in a narrow trading band with the spot contract (FUT.VNU201910) finishing the day unchanged at $1.429 per mile. Also finishing the day unchanged was the East regional contract (FUT.VEU201910), which settled at $1.460. The West regional contract (FUT.VWU201910) closed up fractionally to $1.540 while the South regional contract (FUT.VSU201910) settled lower to $1.286.
The DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL201910) drew trading interest throughout the day, pushing the contract up 0.4% to $0.860. The entire forward curve for the lane (FWD.VDL) also shifted higher. In the East, the PHI to CHI contract (FUT.VPC201910) closed higher by 0.5% to $0.952. Fundamental changes in trade flows to the East Coast as well as the bump that intermodal is bringing to trucking on the lane continues to be reflected in the market. The accompanying chart shows the upward shift of over $0.05 per month in the forward curve (FWD.VPC) over the past month (FWD30.VPC). Continuing with the East, both the CHI to ATL (FUT.VCA201910) and the ATL to PHI (FUT.VAP201910) contracts closed slightly lower to $1.864 and $1.565, respectively.
