Freight Futures markets to watch today: Eastern Forward Curves
The spot National Trucking Freight Futures contract (FUT.VNU201912) finished the day 0.2% lower to $1.497/mile and was dragged lower by a nearly $0.01 or 0.7% drop in the South regional contract (FUT.VSU201912) to $1.318. The East regional contract (FUT.VEU201912) closed fractionally higher to $1.525 while the West regional contract (FUT.VWU201912) settled unchanged at $1.648.
The individual lanes continue to be stuck in a general pattern with the East lanes showing tepid strength as reflected in the futures forward curves chart below; the West lanes being mixed to weaker; and the South lanes under consistent downward pressure. This overall trend appears to be consistent with the macro changes in maritime freight flows to the U.S. In the East, the CHI to ATL (FUT.VCA201912) and ATL to PHI (FUT.VAP201912) contracts rose by 0.36% and 0.12% to $1.929 and $1.679, respectively. The PHI to CHI contract (FUT.VPC201912) slipped fractionally to $0.965. In the West, a 0.15% gain in the LAX to SEA contract (FUT.VLS201912) to $2.057 was offset be a 0.24% drop in the SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL201912) to $1.239. In the South, both the LAX to DAL (FUT.VLD201912) and DAL to LAX (FUT.VDL201912) contracts skidded by $0.01 each to $1.625 (down 0.6%) and $1.010 (down 1%), respectively.
