DAT is also exhibiting at GATS in booth No. 21093 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center through the end this Saturday, the 29th.
Spot market flatbed freight availability tumbled 13 percent last week after a prior-week gain, DAT reported. Posted truck capacity increased, too, so the national average load-to-truck ratio declined from 12.8 to 10.4 loads per truck on DAT Load Boards.
Individual markets, however, offered a lot of loads, a relative scarcity of trucks in places like Pittsburgh, Pa.; Mobile, Ala.; Savannah, Ga.; and Oklahoma City created opportunity. The entire Pacific Northwest showed high demand the hot states map above from August 16-22 — those states had high load-to-truck ratios. Oregon markets had plenty of loads last week, as did Eastern Washington. Loads were not nearly as plentiful in Montana and Wyoming, however, so check outbound freight volumes before taking a load into those states.
In spite of the big availability/demand tumble last week, national average flatbed rates were stable on the spot market at $2.07 per mile. Declining rates in Birmingham, Ala.; Harrisburg, Pa.; and Baltimore, Md. offset increases in Tampa, Fla.; Pittsburgh; and Fort Worth, Texas.Plentiful freight in Texas and in spots around the nation, nonetheless, has not always translated to great flatbed rates lately. In Texas, things have been trending up, DAT says.
Grab a load from Houston to Lubbock. If you don’t complete the 581-mile trip in a single day, you’ll start your return trip to Houston late on day 2. Look for a load from Houston to Fort Worth, which is paying $1.86 per mile this week on average. In Fort Worth, you should have no problem finding a second load to take you back to Houston – worst case, you can deadhead a few miles to Dallas. If this works with your schedule, you can make $330 more in the 3 days than you would have running a load straight back from Lubbock. Based on lane average rates for flatbed last week, you’ll boosting your average rate from $1.88 to $2.15 per loaded mile. Examine the numbers in the chart below:
Rates are derived from DAT RateView, based on actual rate agreements between freight brokers and carriers. Reference rates include fuel surcharges but not accessorial or other fees.
