DAT’s Oct. 5-11 update on rates shows a small dip in flatbed rates but small increases in dry van and reefer.Spot market volume in September jumped 32 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the monthly DAT Freight Index, continuing more than a year of strong year-over-year increases.
Though freight availability dropped 5.5 percent from August (in line with seasonal trends), load availability compared to September 2013 rose in all three segments — dry van, reefer and flatbed.
Dry van loads rose 42 percent, DAT reports, while reefer rose 24 percent and flatbed 46 percent.
Rates on the spot market also rose for all three in September year-over-year, DAT says: 15 percent for van rates and 16 percent each for reefer and flatbed.
Compared to August, van volume rose 3 percent, but reefer and flatbed both saw declines, with reefer falling 4.1 percent and flatbed falling 12 percent.
Van rotes rose 2 percent compared to August, while reefer dropped 2.8 percent and flatbed rates fell 2.1 percent.
In DAT’s weekly update on load availability and rates, issued Oct. 15, flatbed rates from Oct. 5-11 fell 0.8 percent and reefer rates rose 0.4 percent. Van rates remained level.
