Market Conditions 5/7/2017-5/13/2017

Market volumes this week have demonstrated an increase in load to truck demand ratios in most markets. Load availability increased 1.2% and truck availability decreased by 0.7%. Load to truck ratios for flatbed freight still remain high on a national average with more than 40 loads to each truck. Reefer and van ratios are also elevated with rates continuing to respond to the increased demand. When taking all averages, reefer rates increased by 0.5%, van rates increased by 1%, and flatbed rates increased by 0.5%. Taking an average of rate points from various metrics, we have found the national average rates to be the following: Reefer: $2.03/mi, Van: $1.74/mi, Flatbed: $2.14/mi.

Densities for flatbed freight were similar to last week's while reefer and van freight densities continued to rise. Volumes at the Mexican border hubs continue to remain elevated for van and reefer freight. Production and shipping continues to be on the rise for flatbed and van freight especially in the South and Midwest. We expect volumes and rates to drop a few points next week in the wake of the Mother's Day push.

Refrigerated Freight

Volumes in the reefer market increased this week with produce shipments continuing to rise in the southern states. The Arizona and Texas border crossing volumes remained very high again this week. Volumes in central and southern Florida have begun to drop but rates have held steady. The heaviest volumes have transitioned to northern Florida and Southern Georgia. Florida continues to ship mixed vegetables, corn, and melons. California's produce season is also in full swing with rates continuing to increase on all outbound lanes. In the Northeast, the Buffalo and Rochester markets continue to have the densest load to truck ratios, shipping various processed foods and dairy. The Heartland, parts of the Midwest, Texas and Arkansas held onto their elevated load to truck ratios for another week. With increased inbound reefer freight to the Northeast and upper Midwest, outbound rates continue to take a hit, keeping the balance of rates on a national average.

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Friday:

-DAT Power Load to Truck Reefer Densities 5/13/17

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 5/13/17

Dry Freight

On a national average, load availability increased by 1% and truck postings remained relatively flat. Similar to the reefer market, the van market had the highest load to truck densities in California, Arizona the Heartland, Texas, Midwest, and the Gulf Coast states. These areas of higher densities also offer the highest outbound rates.

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Friday:

-DAT Power Load to Truck Van Densities 5/13/17

Flatbed Densities

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Friday:

-DAT Power Load to Truck Flatbed Densities 5/13/17

Diesel Pricing

Diesel prices dropped 1.8 cents this week, bringing the national average price to $2.565 per gallon. This marks a 29.4 cent increase from the same week last year.