Market Conditions 12/18/2016-12/24/2016

This week's market had another significant increase in load to truck demand for van and reefer freight. Load availability increased 5% and truck availability decreased by 12%. When taking all averages, reefer rates increased 3.5%, van rates increased by 1.5%, and flatbed rates remained flat. Taking an average of rate points from various metrics, we have found the national average rates to be the following: Reefer: $2.13/mi, Van: $1.80/mi, Flatbed: $1.93/mi.

Refrigerated Freight

The reefer market's high demand for trucks continued through this week. The final Christmas orders combined with drivers parking their trucks for the holiday caused certain regions to delay certain shipments. The entire country with the exception for California and the Northeast had a shortage of trucks. The Buffalo and Rochester markets continue to have the densest load to truck ratios in the Northeast, shipping various foods and dairy. California's outbound rates have increased because of the seasonal push but demand for trucks remains low. Melons, stone fruit, grapes and mixed vegetables are all shipping out of California.

We anticipate next week (week of December 25th) to continue with increased load volumes but have significantly higher truck capacity. The Mexican border crossings have started and will continue with elevated load volumes. Central and south Florida will continue to increase the volumes of squash, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, and green beans. Georgia and central/northern Florida continue shipping moderate volumes of produce.

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Friday:

-DAT Power Load to Truck Reefer Densities 12/24/16

The rates below are average direct from customer rates. The bold line is the origin, left column is the destination. The following two columns are weekly ranges from the previous week. The next two columns are this week's ranges and the final column on the right is the percent changes from last week to this week.

-United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Market News https://www.marketnews.usda.gov 12/24/16

Dry Freight

On a national average, load availability increased by 6%, truck postings decreased 5%. Similar to the reefer market, the van market was tight for the entire continental United States with the exception of California and certain regions of the North East.

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Friday:

-DAT Power Load to Truck Van Densities 12/24/16

Flatbed Densities

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Friday:

-DAT Power Load to Truck Flatbed Densities 12/24/16

Diesel Pricing

Fuel prices increased by 3.4 cents, bringing the national average price to $2.527 per gallon. This marks a $0.243 increase from the same week last year.