Freight Futures lane to watch today: Atlanta, GA to Philadelphia, PA (VAP)
Wednesday was the second consecutive day of relative calm in the Trucking Freight Futures markets as they finished mixed to fractionally lower. The spot National contract (FUT.VNU202003) settled lower by a fraction to $1.383/mile as did the East regional contract (FUT.VEU202003), which ended Wednesday’s session at $1.527. Also fractionally lower was the South regional contract (FUT.VSU202003), which closed at $1.205. The West regional contract (FUT.VWU202003) ended the session unchanged at $1.417.
In looking at the lanes, the ATL to PHL contract (FUT.VAP202003, FUTC1.VAP) in the East has continued to buck the downward trend and rose again by 0.22% to $1.805. The forward curve for the lane (FWD.VAP) points to a target rate of $2.48/mile in June 2020, $0.68 (37.4%) above today’s close. Comparing today’s market expectation to the June 2019 peak, the expected rate would be approximately 10% lower for the lane at the 2020 peak. The CHI to ATL contract (FUT.VCA202003) slipped 0.11% to finish at $1.768 while the PHL to CHI contract (FUT.VPC202003) dropped 0.2% to settle at $1.010. It was a mixed bag in the West, with the SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL202003) rising by 0.22% to $0.892, while the LAX to SEA contract (FUT.VLS202003) skidded a fraction to $1.943. In the South, the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VLD202003) crept lower by 0.2% to settle at $1.353 and the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL202003) held firm at $1.056.
