It looks like Hurricane Matthew had a fourfold impact on van freight in the Southeast. There was a surge before the storm, and a slump during the hurricane itself. Then there was another surge in freight to bring in relief supplies. The roads are mostly open again, but it’s likely that normal business was still disrupted last week, because rates and volumes were down.
Flatbed freight was up in the region, though, which means rebuilding efforts are underway. Nationally, flatbed load posts increased 6.6 percent last week, as truck posts held steady. That caused the load-to-truck ratio to rise for the second consecutive week, up 6.3 percent to 15.6 loads per truck.