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The gap between contract rates and spot market rates in the truckload industry tightened in April, according to the latest Chainalytics-Cowen Freight Indices.
Dry van contract rates, which were generally 1% to 1.6% higher than spot rates in the winter, trimmed to less than 0.5% higher.
Refrigerated spot market rates were higher than contract rates at the end of April for the first time since Jan. 15, although at only 0.2%. The spring harvest generally creates greater demand for temperature-controlled trucks than in the winter.
“This indicates the market has picked itself off of the early 2017 lows. … This could be because new contract rates are renewing at lower levels, the spot market has picked up, or both,” Cowen and Co. analyst Jason Seidl said . “We are still quite a ways off from the recent peaks of November and December 2016, when our indices registered 4.3% in dry-van and 6.1% in refrigerated. [Spot van rates were higher.] Our latest results averaged -0.3% and -0.2% in April [combining all weeks], respectively.”
During the last half of 2016, spot market prices surged in both modes, peaking at 3.4% higher than contract rates in dry van and 5% for refrigerated trucks, on average.
| By Transport Topics |
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