Truck market remains soft in January

Capacity widened in 2015, while rates declined with the elimination of fuel surcharges, causing overall spot market truck freight availability last month to fall 35 percent compared with January 2015, according to the DAT North American Freight Index.    Compared to January 2015, overall truck freight availability for the spot market last month fell 35 percent, according to DAT Solutions. It is the 13th month in a row of year-over-year declines, due to a combination of tepid freight growth and abundant capacity.
   Van demand was down 32 percent, reefer volume fell 37 percent, and flatbed freight availability lost 42 percent year-over-year. Line haul rates declined 7.4 percent for vans, 7.9 percent for reefers, and 8.1 percent for flatbeds compared January 2015.
   Total rates paid to carriers declined by 14 percent year-over-year, however, due to a 49 percent decline in fuel surcharges, which comprise a portion of the rate.
   Portland, Ore.-based DAT Solutions operates a large industry network of load boards for matching shippers truckers with available capacity and shippers with loads that need to be moved. Data from the transactions can be used to analyze market supply and demand, pricing, and other trends. Intermediaries and carriers across North America listed more than 95 million loads and trucks on the DAT Network of load boards in 2015.
  Spot market freight volume, following normal seasonal patterns, declined 9.1 percent in January, and truckload line haul rates edged down, compared to December, according to DAT’s freight index.