On this frozen edition of CCJ Indicators, freight remains strong, but fuel prices and the easing of capacity constraints continues to tug rates downward.
Here’s a look at trucking indicators from the most recent week:
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Freight stayed strong in December: The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, as measured by the DOT’s monthly Freight Transportation Services Index, remained nearly unchanged in December from November. The TSI did see a one-tenth of a percent decline from November’s all-time high, snapping a string of five months of increases. Freight shipments in December were up 4.2 percent both year-to-date and compared to December 2013. Trucking was one of the segments that saw growth in the month. The index reading was up 30.9 percent from the April 2009 low in the most recent recession.[/gttable]
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Rates slip — again: Rates on the spot market in recent weeks continued the downturn seen of late, due at least partly to lower fuel prices. The national average spot rate for reefer fell 13 cents in the week ended Feb. 7, according to DAT Solutions, while fan and flatbed rates fell 7 cents. DAT did report a surge in demand for van and reefer, however. Internet Truckstop reported in its most recent Trans4Cast an average rate drop of a penny for the week ended Feb. 13 , putting the average rates for the three major segments at $1.98:
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Intermodal upswing: Intermodal saw a strong performance in 2014, according to numbers reported last week by the Intermodal Association of North America. Intermodal volume grew by 4.8 percent in the year, with domestic containers leading the gains with 5.7 percent year to year growth. In the fourth quarter, intermodal volume grew by 3 percent, IANA reported, with domestic containers again leading the way with a 5.1 percent quarter-over-quarter increase:
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