We are regularly enhancing and improving SONAR to meet the needs of the ever-changing freight market and the needs of our customers. To help keep SONAR users informed, we deliver a brief recap of newly released data sets, market indices, and product feature improvements in our This Week in SONAR series.
Daily Estimated Miles Driven
The Daily Estimated Miles Driven index (DEMD.USA) is an estimation of the amount of miles driven in a day by a semi truck, or tractor, in the United States. The index is calculated using the wholesale—or rack—diesel volume; then it takes consumption by personal vehicles, smaller vehicles, buses and trains out of the diesel volume; and finally, the gallons of diesel is converted into miles using the national average fuel economy for semi trucks: 5.9 miles per gallon.
The estimate of miles driven can display the amount of movement occurring for a given day and provides context to capacity. In the FreightWaves’ SONAR chart below, the beginning of 2019 shows a slight decline in miles driven which coincides with the freight recession. This is best seen with the 2-day moving average option in SONAR, represented by the red line on the chart. This index also demonstrates how holidays impact miles driven, as seen at the beginning of the year and the start of July.
DHL Supply Chain Pricing Power Index
The DHL Supply Chain Pricing Power Index is a weekly analysis produced by FreightWaves’ Freight Intel Group estimating the current negotiating power between shippers and carriers in regards to paper and spot rates. The Freight Intel Group synthesizes a multitude of indicators to come up with a weekly value. The data points include volumes, rejections, spot and paper rates, survey data, economic data and policy, as well as critical events.
An article is published each Thursday afternoon on FreightWaves.com detailing each of the data sets utilized. The article also includes a 3-month forward looking estimate.
SONAR is the fastest and most comprehensive freight market data and analytics platform in the world. These are just a few of the hundreds of unique data sets available to SONAR subscribers. Not a SONAR user yet? Sign up for a free test drive here.