chart of the week

2020 is a much different bull run in trucking than in 2018.

The housing market has been sliding since early 2018, but there are optimistic signals for a turnaround in 2019. Freight markets can only benefit from a strong housing market.

The inbound container flows had a big impact to freight volumes in the port cities of Savannah and Los Angeles this past year.

National spot market price movement has a surprisingly tight relationship with new truck orders.

Capacity is still being added to the market. Truck orders numbers for both new and used models support this.

Specialty retail and electronics retail stores are the least efficient loading and unloading docks for carriers according to FreightWaves latest index.

Manufacturing numbers are not looking as robust after a booming early 2018. The flatbed freight market may be in line for a big correction as well.

After a period of attempting to improve detention times with carriers, they appear to be falling into the old habits of making load/unload times are lower priority according to FreightWaves’ Detention Minutes Index.

Los Angeles has had the heaviest freight volumes in the U.S. for the past several months, but carriers should be paying attention to where that freight is headed.

National freight volumes are flat year-over-year, but capacity is as loose as ever. What is driving the discrepancy?

Increasing spot rates lead carrier revenues in 2018, will revenues start to fall now that rates have started to come down again?

National spot rates have been flying high for the past year, but have only recently fallen under previous year values as illustrated on FreightWaves newest charting feature.

Atlanta to Philadelphia’s spot rate has hit its lowest point in 3 years. The absolute rates may be similar, but the freight markets could not be further apart.

The two Super Bowl teams and their fanbases are very different, just like their freight market identities.

The DOE fuel price keeps sliding as wholesale or rack prices are increasing. This can have a negative impact to carrier margins in early 2019 after receiving the benefit of expanding fuel spreads in late 2018. SONAR’s newest index can help you monitor this.

How can air cargo and dry van spot market rates be related? Could the movement of these two seemingly unrelated rates provide more evidence the market is slowing?

The falling Purchasing Managers Index tends to be correlated with the general freight market, the Cass Freight Shipment Index illustrates this. Is it time for carriers to pull back?

Record intermodal shipments on the rail for the second year in a row has deep implication for the trucking market into 2019. Trucking will benefit, at least partially, from Norfolk Southern’s latest decision.

Carriers lower rates heading to the West Coast this year as inbound container volumes flood the ports.

Carrier operating ratios continue to fall in October with a less volatile freight market.

The freight market has softened significantly in the last few months, but it is not due to a drastic reduction in volume.

The big oil news of the week was OPEC deciding to cut production in an attempt to stop the price of oil from dropping further. Carriers should be happy with this in the long run but gained a short term boost to margins in the meantime.

The spot market has been cooling over the past several months, but the players seem more uncertain than ever.

The benchmark price of domestic crude oil has dropped by 25% since early October. Historically, that would be a great thing for truckers, but with carriers operating more efficient trucks and oil production tied into the freight economy more than ever, it could be a warning sign for the broader freight market.

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, drivers are spending less time on the road and more time at home. This is shrinking the availability of capacity in the market.

Ontario California has toppled the Atlanta market, the reigning capital of freight volume in the country. Surging volume is to blame. How long will the elevated volume last?

Lead times increasing are a sign that shippers are taking capacity shortages seriously. Carriers and brokers that depend on spot market freight are left wanting.

East coast bound containers from China are getting a pre-holiday discount as shippers increase volume to North America in front of tariff increases.

Demand for flatbeds always drop off this time of year, but is this a sign of a broader industrial slowdown?

Outbound tender volumes have shot up 26% out of the Savannah market as the Southeast deals with hurricane Michael

Trucking volumes have dropped by 6% since the beggining of the month of October. Is this an indication that the market is slowing or is it a normal seasonal pattern?

Since the ELD hard mandate went into effect, the trucking market has added 4% more truck capacity

Hurricane Florence has practically shutdown any outbound trucking activity out of the North Carolina coastal market

Charlotte and Atlanta see outsized inbound volumes as carriers move relief suppies into staging areas

Truckers are not singing the blues in Memphis (except on Beale Street): It’s currently the number one headhaul market in the U.S.

For the trucking market, the third quarter has been stronger than the second, but no one would know it

Carriers and brokers have been talking about how slow August has been. Good news: According to our technical indicators, the market is about the turn back in their favor

The top five trucking origin points represent 18% of the volume in the freight market, according to a new index added to SONAR this past week

Tesla’s auto production in Fremont and high container volumes out of Oakland are driving demand for trucks in the San Francisco market

Tesla’s auto production in Fremont and high container volumes out of Oakland are driving demand for trucks in the San Francisco market

Wall Street is in a panic over fears that the truckload sector has peaked. Wall Street is wrong. We break down the reasons using data from SONAR.

Tender rejections continue to fall towards the May 2nd low, indicating that capacity is loosening in the market. If it reaches the critical level of 19.12%, it could mean that the rest of the summer will be disappointing for carriers that reported a bullish summer outlook.

July has started off slower than carriers would like, showing normal freight patterns. Softer demand is also impacting utilization in the market.

Holidays have a huge impact on the freight markets, with drivers going off-duty and altering their work schedules. In this chart of the week, we examined how different holidays impacted available capacity.

The Freightos Baltic Container Price Index shows the volatility of container prices out of China to the North American West Coast as importers try to adjust to a new era of global trade.

The Cass Shipment Index (CFIS.USA) is showing freight market volumes that are nearly as strong as the 2006 peak season. This is a bullish sign for the second half of 2018.