Freight Futures lanes to watch today: DAL to LAX (VDL) and SEA to LAX (VSL)
The Trucking Freight Futures markets have settled into a pattern. The spot National contract (FUT.VNU201909) finished the day 0.14% lower at $1.465 per mile, driven by a 0.3% drop in the East regional contract (FUT.VEU201909) to $1.682. Both the West (FUT.VWU201909) and South (FUT.VSU201909) regional contracts settled unchanged at $1.489 and $1.224, respectively.
For the lanes in the East, the story continues to be a decline in rates in and out of ATL as the run-up in September rates due to Dorian slowly ebbs from the market. The September CHI to ATL contract (FUT.VCA201909) lost another $0.15 to $2.168 and the ATL to PHI contract (FUT.VAP201909) was down $0.01 to $1.907. Meanwhile, the PHI to CHI contract (FUT.VPC201909) continued to advance and closed higher by almost 1%, at $0.97, due to trade flows. In reaction to the latest developments in the U.S.-China trade war, trading interest on the lanes into LAX has renewed. The spot month DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL201909) was up 0.6% to $0.902 to lead a bullish forward curve (FWD.VDL). While the spot SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL201909) settled 0.64% lower to $0.929, the rest of the forward curve (FWD.VSL) strengthened.
