Loadsmart First Look Weekly Market Recap for July 28 – Aug 3.

Join Loadsmart’s Carrier Sales Manager, James Fahey, for less than 60 seconds on this episode of Loadsmart First Look Weekly Market Recap.

This is a weekly series that brings the insights we use to get your shipments from A to B from our carrier sales floor to your home office. Each week keep up with what we saw last week and what we expect to see this week in the freight market.

What we saw last week

• EOM means higher rates and increased volumes
• Though employment, manufacturing and industrial production are down, the amount of finished goods flowing through the supply chain is continually increasing and straining tight capacity. OTRI has increased again from 18.57% to 19.18%. While we hit a new 2.5yr high for outbound tenders, as the US consumer is hungry for finished goods. As rejections continue to climb, national long-haul rates are averaging $1.88/mi, while spot rates are inching within cents of contracted rates, a massive inflection point for shippers to be cognizant of.
• In addition, we saw DAT Spot rates increased again 2.6% last week marking 13 consecutive weeks of rate increases.
• Rail carload data is showing the industrial sector is starting to recover, up 6.5% from last week, and though still down year over year, this could indicate a strong Q3 and Q4 for transportation providers.
• Markets in Southern California, Texas, Little Rock, Memphis and Harrisburg show high tender rejection rates on “tweener loads” (loads that run between 450-800 miles), indicating that carriers have other options on mid-haul or long-haul loads.

What to expect this week

• Hurricane Isaias made landfall in FL over the weekend and bring disruptions into the FL market. Anticipate inbound rates to spike, while outbound orders may fall due to production issues. The storm is projected to turn northeast throughout the week and affect large swathes of the Northeast Seaboard, bringing rain and coastal flooding.
• The Ports of Long Beach and LA have seen another spike in container volumes, which could further strain capacity in SoCal. Intermodal cap is already tight in the area, well ahead of intermodal peak season, and tweener rejections are elevated out of California, as carriers are seeking to stay in the region. Expect tweener and long haul volumes rates to further increase.
• The Port of New York reached a YTD-High for imports last week, volumes for Port of NY and NJ have seen a 32% increase over the past two weeks. This coincides with capacity constraints in much of the Northeast.
• Initial jobless claims have increased for the past two weeks to 1.434million and continued claims rose 5.4% up to 17.02million. As Congress is still working to extend unemployment benefits and a second round of stimulus, expect headwinds until approved.

Stay Up to Date

With all the latest weekly and monthly market insights on our Youtube page. Questions about anything you saw? Email sales@loadsmart.com and let’s talk about how we can help you take advantage of real-time market conditions.