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ArchiveRates

Spot-contract van gap hits narrowest point since March 2022

DAT said in January 2024 that December spot rates edged up while contract van rates fell to their lowest level since February 2021.

By Transport News Staff · Added to the archive

In January 2024, DAT Freight & Analytics reported that spot truckload rates rose in December 2023 and that the gap between spot and contract van rates had closed to its narrowest point since March 2022. DAT published the figures on Jan. 17.

DAT said a convergence of spot and contract rates would signal an end to the cycle of falling truckload prices that had run through 2023.

Rates

DAT's benchmark spot van rate averaged $2.10 a mile in December, up 3 cents from November. Spot reefer and flatbed rates each slipped 2 cents, to $2.47 and $2.41 a mile.

Line-haul spot rates, which strip out an amount equal to an average fuel surcharge, rose for all three equipment types. The van line-haul rate was $1.65 a mile, up 7 cents. Reefer rose 4 cents to $1.98 and flatbed rose 4 cents to $1.87.

Contract rates moved the other way. The contract van rate fell 4 cents to $2.49 a mile, the lowest since February 2021. Contract reefer fell 6 cents to $2.88, and contract flatbed fell 3 cents to $3.14.

"At 39 cents, the spread between spot and contract van rates is still substantial but was down 7 cents compared to November," said Ken Adamo, DAT's chief of analytics.

Volumes

The DAT Truckload Volume Index fell for all three equipment types from November. The van index was 221, down 8.7%. Reefer was 182, down 5.7%, and flatbed was 203, down 14.7%. The van and reefer indexes were each down nearly 2% from a year earlier.

Adamo said lower van volumes suggested shippers drew from inventory ahead of the holidays, and that weak volumes tempered the bump in spot rates.

What it meant for carriers

Load-to-truck ratios showed a soft market. The van ratio was 1.9, down from 2.1 in November and 3.4 in December 2022. The reefer ratio fell to 3.4 from 4.4, and the flatbed ratio fell to 5.1 from 5.9.

Adamo said shippers entered 2024 "in a strong position as they negotiate contract rates," while carriers on the spot market had "some optimism that the market will turn."

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