After a strong end to spring and start to summer for owner-operators working the spot market, the week following the July 4 holiday may have been a bit of a reality check, as rates slid and fuel prices jumped.
Broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop.com system fell sharply during the week ending July 10, as dry van and reefer rates lost gains made during the holiday week and flatbed recorded its second largest weekly drop ever.
Truckstop.com and FTR Transportation Intelligence reported that decreases in spot rates for dry van and refrigerated van equipment were large but in line with their typical same-week patterns year to year. Despite the drop, van spot rates were stronger year over year than they had been during the previous week, and flatbed spot rates were just slightly weaker.
Dry van spot rates fell just under 14 cents after rising more than 11 cents to an all-time high during the previous week, while refrigerated spot rates plunged just over 26 cents after jumping nearly 25 cents during the previous week. Flatbed rates fell 14.6 cents -- the largest drop on record except for one week in mid-April 2020 as the economy was locking down for the COVID-19 pandemic.
DAT Freight & Analytics also reported declines across the board during the same week following July 4, though more muted than in Truckstop.com’s data. DAT reported dry van rates (all-in) were down a penny from the previous week to $3.05/mile, reefer rates down 3 cents to $3.43/mile, and flatbed rates down a cent to $3.67/mile.
Before the holiday period up-and-down with rates, June saw broker margins shrink as spot rates climbed to record highs. Overdrive reported Tuesday that approximately 20% of loads moved in June ended up as a loss for brokers.
Adding market insult to injury, diesel prices shot up for the first time in more than two months, with renewed conflict in Iran.
After falling by more than a dollar over the last nine weeks, diesel’s national average jumped 21.8 cents during the week ending July 13, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Regionally, New England was the only part of the country to see prices dip with a 3.1-cent decline. The Gulf Coast region saw a massive 32-cent increase during the week, while the Lower Atlantic and Midwest regions both jumped by more than 20 cents.
California continues to boast the nation’s highest fuel prices at $6.13/gallon, followed by the Central Atlantic region at $5.20/gal.
The cheapest diesel is in the Gulf Coast region at $4.55/gal., followed by the Rocky Mountain region at $4.60/gal.
Prices in other regions, according to EIA:
- New England -- $5.19
- Lower Atlantic -- $4.75
- Midwest -- $4.66
- West Coast less California -- $5.05
ProMiles’ diesel averages during the same week increased by just 2.6 cents to $4.69 /gal. nationwide. According to the ProMiles Fuel Surcharge Index, the most expensive diesel can be found in California at $6.31/gal., and the cheapest along the Gulf Coast at $4.25/gal.
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