DAT report: flatbeds on fire

A rate of $2.14 remained in place for the second consecutive week in the DAT spot market freight trends report on national vans. Reefer rates were steady; flatbed rates were not. 

• The biggest change in the DAT report for the week ended March 10 is that flatbed rates jumped 11 cts, to $2.50. The load-to-truck ratio for flatbeds was at a record high of almost 90-1 last week. “Flatbed load posts increased 10%, and truck posts declined 1%,” DAT said in its online commentary accompanying the release of the data. “That pushed the load-to-truck ratio 11% higher, from 79.9 to 88.5 loads per truck.” That’s the highest number DAT has recorded for flatbeds.
• It wasn’t just a fluke week. DAT said that for February, flatbed load posts were up 17%, but truck posts were down 2%. That led to a monthly average rate of 66.5 loads per truck, and that’s up 150% from February of last year.
• The national average van rate held at $2.14. Reefer rates also held steady, at $2.40. The load-to-truck ratio for vans dropped to 6.8. For reefer rates, it dropped to 10.5
• Specific cities for van rates were mostly unchanged. Los Angeles ($2.14), Dallas ($1.89), Chicago ($2.67), Atlanta ($2.40) were all status quo. Philadelphia was up 10 cts to $2.18, reversing a 10 cts drop a week earlier. 
• For February as a whole, the national average van rate was down 11 cts from January, which DAT said was a record high. The rate was still 51 cts above February 2017.