Dive Brief:
- National average van linehaul rates, not including a fuel surcharge, were up 3 cents to $1.60 per mile in August year over year, increasing for the first time since March 2022, DAT reported Wednesday.
- Similarly, national average reefer linehaul rates increased by 1 cent to $1.96 per mile compared to August 2023, and flatbed rates were $1.92, 2 cents higher year over year.
- The year-over-year trend, “should continue into the fall shipping season,” Ken Adamo, DAT chief of analytics, said in a news release. “However, year-over-year comparisons are little consolation for truckers looking for better pricing now.”
Dive Insight:
Contract rates were still negative year over year, a prolonged drag since August 2022 that highlights pricing challenges, DAT noted.
August also wiped away spot rates gains from the summer. Dry van decreased by 5 cents compared to July, while reefer sank by 4 cents and flatbed by 7 cents, per DAT.
Meanwhile, a DAT volume index increased by 2.8% month over month for van, while reefer volumes increased by 4.3% and flatbed inched higher.
Trucking executives, analysts and some data have hinted at multiple encouraging developments in regards to the market and potential turnaround to the freight recession.
“It's a little early to call it a full inflection,” Werner Enterprises Chairman and CEO Derek Leathers said last week at the Morgan Stanley 12th Annual Laguna Conference. “But at the same time, we like what we saw in Q2 post road check. We like the way rates kind of stabilized and have seemingly stayed there and then the opportunity now in front of us with peak season, etc., to really start to see a return to normal seasonality.”
