The highlights from Friday’s SONAR reports are below. For more information on SONAR — the fastest freight-forecasting platform in the industry — or to request a demo, click here. Also, be sure to check out the latest SONAR update, TRAC — the freshest spot rate data in the industry.
Market watch
Markets in the Midwest have experienced increased volatility since the holiday. On a two-week basis, outbound tender volumes for Columbus, Ohio, have seen a 5.4% increase; Indianapolis a 2.1% decrease; Joliet, Illinois, a 1.7% decrease; Chicago a 1.3% increase; and Milwaukee a 1.4% decrease.
Detroit, on the other hand, has seen a surge unlike any of the others over the summer and has recovered very quickly after the holiday dip. Outbound tender volumes for Detroit on the same two-week basis as the other markets have grown 39.9%.
This is largely attributed to the fact that the largest driver of demand are city tenders within a 100-mile radius. The major auto manufacturers in the market strategically place their top suppliers close to the assembly plants.
But wasn’t the auto sector slowing down? Well, Ford reported slight growth during Q2, contradictory to what economists had predicted for the industry. Ford stated that the new electric F-150 Lightning sold 2,296 of the trucks since it went on sale in May, according to an article from CNBC.
Ironically enough, tender volumes in the Detroit market began to rise exponentially during the month of May. The City Outbound Tender Volume Index for Detroit rose 300% from May 12 to May 27.
Ford also had a large number of “red-tagged” F-150s parked in and around the Detroit area that were waiting to receive semiconductors (and other parts), which also was a likely contributor to the tender growth within the market.
Most importantly, Class 8 retail sales were the highest of the year last month. Despite the freight shortage and carriers decreasing the size of their fleets, a study by ACT Research showed that class 8 net orders in the month of June were 15,500 units.
NTI as a point of reference
The National Truckload Index is a daily look at how spot rates in specific lanes hold up in comparison to the national average, giving carriers and brokers an idea of which lanes to gravitate toward or avoid.
Lane to watch: Detroit to Allentown, Pennsylvania
In reference to SONAR Sightings from Thursday, tender rejections in the Northeast have been ticking upward in recent days but have changed in the past 24 hours.
Requiring only one transit day and currently paying 62 cents per mile above the national average for spot rates, Detroit to Allentown will place carriers into a market with a chance of booking a load coming out.
Outbound tender volumes in Allentown are rising 1.7% on a two-week basis, with rejections dropping, but still remaining above the national average, to 7.9%. However, the loosening of capacity will place pricing power in favor of shippers, which will begin to put downward pressure on spot market rates. Carriers only need to stand firm on their rates and use the rise in volume as a leveraging point.
