Load volume has been increasing for weeks on the spot market, DAT reports, and rates finally responded in reefer and dry van segments last week. Van rates rose 7 cents per mile, compared to the April average, and reefers added 11 cents. Flatbed rates rose just a penny, however, following a similar increase in national-average fuel surcharge.
At once, loads are readily available for all equipment types in the Sun Belt states, and rates are rising steeply in the Southeast and California. “Freight and rates are picking up pretty much all over the country,” notes DAT’s Ken Harper, “but lanes favoring carriers (more than 3 loads per truck) are in the Southern “belly band,” from South Carolina/Georgia over to California. This is true regardless of equipment type.”