Total spot market rates hit another all-time high during the week ending May 8, largely on the strength of flatbed, according to the latest weekly report released May 11 by FTR Transportation Intelligence and Truckstop.com.
The firms reported that the total market broker-posted rate rose last week by 6.7 cents a mile -- the largest increase in four weeks -- to $3.39/mile, which was 39% higher than the same week a year ago, or 32% higher when excluding a calculated fuel surcharge.
For April Trucker of the Month Sam Kelly, this week started strong. Monday evening, he shared rate confirmation on a refrigerated truckload negotiated with a broker -- Kelly runs self-dispatched, but leased to CST Lines -- that was all-in at $5,800.
Kelly's message with the share? "Just know blitz-week are all in!" he said, along with a few laughter emojis.
The rate on the run amounted to roughly $8.60/mile outbound from North Mississippi with three drops in South Carolina, with some added time on the run built-in, of course, likely to eat up two days' time with a scheduled final drop Wednesday.
As shown in the chart above, for the average spot load nationally, reefer rates jumped 5.9 cents last week to just $3.07/mile by comparison. Rates on loads originating in the Southeast and on the West Coast were largely responsible for the overall increase, though rates were also up modestly in the Northeast and slightly in the Mountain Central region.
Utilizing average cost figures from ATBS's March owner-operator income performance update, and adjusting for fuel prices' rise since, we ran this Southeast origin load through Overdrive's Load Profit Analyzer with the following results, comparing potential profit at Kelly's rate to potential with a load offer at last week's average rate.
Granted, Kelly's costs may come in higher than the average owner-operator; above calculations don't reflect actual performance, as it were.
Yet, clearly, opportunities are out there if you can find them. (Game out scenarios with your own costs via the Load Profit Analyzer at this link.)
[Related: The problem-solver: Trucker of the Month Sam Kelly's big biz comeback]
Flatbed spot rates continue on a tear, with the biggest jump last week by equipment type in the Truckstop.com system, the firms said, with a 7.7-cent increase to $3.53/mile. That rate is just a fraction of a cent off of flatbed’s all-time high set in late May 2022.
Additionally, dry van saw a 4.3-cent increase in per-mile rates to $2.61 -- 43.5% higher than the same week a year ago, or 34% higher when excluding a fuel surcharge. Sharp spot rate increases for loads originating on the West Coast and in the Southeast offset modest declines in other regions except the Mountain Central region, which recorded a modest increase, the firms noted.
Truckstop and FTR underscored what Sam Kelly saw with the load detailed above -- with this week including International Roadcheck, it “almost certainly will yield all-time-high spot rates for flatbed equipment and the total market,” while “both dry van and refrigerated spot rates are much too far below their respective records at the end of 2021 to set all-time highs this week.”
The DAT load board, likewise, tracked spot rates rising modestly across all three equipment types during the week of May 3-9, extending a multi-week trend.
DAT reported dry van rates up about a penny from the prior week to $2.37/mile, while reefer rates were essentially flat at $2.73/mile. Flatbed rates in the DAT system saw a slight 1-cent increase to $3.06/mile.
“The average van rate on DAT’s top 50 lanes, based on load volume, was flat at $2.36 per mile last week, but 35 cents higher than the national 7-day rolling spot rate,” noted DAT market analyst Dean Croke. “The 13-state Midwest region, which accounts for nearly half of the country's load volume and serves as a critical economic barometer, saw average linehaul van rates hold steady at $2.29 per mile.”
Diesel held flat during rates’ run-up
Good news for owner-operators last week, at least according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, is that while spot market rates increased, fuel prices were mostly unchanged from the prior week.
EIA reported a national average of $5.64 per gallon for the week ending May 11, down a tenth of a cent from last week.
Every region across the country saw prices fall, based on EIA’s numbers, except in the Midwest, which saw a 7.3-cent increase. The largest decrease was seen in the West Coast less California region, where diesel was down 9.5 cents.
California remains the only region above $6/gallon, and is actually well above the $7 threshold at $7.32/gal. The cheapest diesel is in the Gulf Coast region at $5.15/gal.
Prices in other regions, according to EIA:
- New England -- $5.85
- Central Atlantic -- $5.86
- Lower Atlantic -- $5.28
- Midwest -- $5.82
- Rocky Mountain -- $5.49
- West Coast less California -- $5.91
ProMiles’ diesel averages during the same week climbed significantly by 24.5 cents to $5.47/gal. nationwide. According to the ProMiles Fuel Surcharge Index, the most expensive diesel can be found in California at $6.80/gal., and the cheapest in the Rocky Mountain region at $5.11/gal.
[Related: Overdrive's Load Profit Analyzer: How to use to assess rates, costs]
