Freight Futures market to watch today: Van National Average (VNU)
The Trucking Freight Futures markets appear to be nestled into a fairly narrow and comfortable trading band. On Thursday, the spot National contract (FUT.VNU201911) settled fractionally lower to $1.484/mile as did the West regional contract (FUT.VWU201911), which fell by 0.2% to $1.626. The East regional contract (FUT.VEU201911) inched up 0.1% to $1.471 while the South regional contract (FUT.VSU201911) ended the trading session unchanged at $1.356. The forward curve for the National average (FWD.VNU) supports this sentiment with rates in a $0.20 band through the end of 2020. This said, the ongoing U.S.-China tariff discussions could certainly flip the market in an instant.
Looking at the East, the CHI to ATL (FUT.VCA201911) and the ATL to PHI (FUT.VAP201911) contracts both rose by 0.2% to settle at $1.901 and $1.582, respectively. The West region was driven fractionally lower by a 0.6% decline in the spot SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL201911) to $1.150. In the South, a fractional rise in the LAX to DAL contract (FUT.VLD201911) to $1.738 was offset by a similar drop in the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL201911) to $0.974.
