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Lincoln’s logs: Target the upper Midwest

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Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

FreightWaves’ Lincoln Duff delivered an insightful freight market tidbit Thursday, August 29.

Hello TPP Group Members, and welcome to my favorite day of the year: The start of college football! (Note: last week didn’t count, it was a good primer, but the football was sloppy and Florida was lucky to get that win). 

For those of you who, like myself, spend months thinking about your team and convincing yourself they’ll go 15-0, the wait is almost over! Unfortunately your team will most likely not go 15-0, and could even lose this weekend, but right now we’re all filled with optimism and hope! With all of that said, let’s get to today’s Freight Market Playbook.

Target the upper Midwest

After a quick huddle with some of the FreightWaves Market Experts and SONAR, it was clear today’s touchdown will be found in the upper Midwest. Tender rejections have spiked over the last few days, specifically the Dakota regions and western Minnesota. Tender rejections in those areas are up over 30%, with reefer tender rejection rates spiking up over 60%. 

What does this mean for you?

Shippers have fumbled the ball and the carriers can take advantage of the turnover. Because of the spike in tender rejections, these shippers are having a hard time covering their freight, and even a harder time with reefer loads. If you have a truck in the area look for spot loads and bid higher than normal. This is a great chance to increase revenues or for your brokerage operations, drive up margin…a real Hail Mary.

Bottom line: 

Accept all loads into the upper midwest, then increase your bids for spot freight in the area. If you have reefer trailers send all of them you can up there, as you should be able to drive up rates this week. 

Follow these leads today and you should have a nice comfortable win, just like I hope all of your teams do… unless you root for Ohio State!