Freight Futures lanes to watch today: National and regional forward curves
Trucking Freight Futures finished Tuesday’s trading session mixed to moderately lower. The September National contract (FUT.VNU201909) finished the day 0.14% lower at $1.448 per mile, and the East regional contract (FUT.VEU201909) declined 0.31% to $1.627. Both the West regional (FUT.VWU201909) and South regional (FUT.VSU201909) contracts closed the session unchanged at $1.497 and $1.222, respectively. As the markets are now less than a week from spot-month expiration, it is important to look at the forward curves to get an overall sense of market sentiment. The National (FWD.VNU) and East region (FWD.VEU) forward curves have shifted fractionally lower by approximately $0.001 and $0.003, respectively. The West region (FWD.VWU) has shifted upward by about $0.002 on average and the South region (FWD.VSU) has stayed relatively unchanged.
On the individual lanes, three posted gains and four declined. The leading gainer was the PHI to CHI contract (FUT.VPC201909), which rose 0.31% to close at $0.977; it continues to strengthen on fundamentals. On the downside, the SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL201909) declined 0.65% to $0.917, and the ATL to PHI contract (FUT.VAP201909), which continues to be under pressure, shed $0.011 to $1.824.
