SONAR Sightings for June 24: Tennessee to Ohio, Atlanta rejections, more

The highlights from Friday’s SONAR reports are below. For more information on SONAR — the fastest freight-forecasting platform in the industry — or to request a demo, click here. Also, be sure to check out the latest SONAR update, TRAC — the freshest spot rate data in the industry.

NTI as a point of reference

The National Truckload Index is a daily look at how spot rates in specific lanes hold up in comparison to the national average, giving carriers and brokers an idea of which lanes to gravitate toward or avoid.

Friday’s National Truckload Index Daily: $2.83 per mile

Ontario, California to Dallas: $2.60 per mile – 1,410 miles

• Spot market rates from Ontario to Dallas have decreased slowly relative to other lanes, dropping 19 cents in the past three months and placing its value at 23 cents below the current national average.
• The Outbound Tender Volume Index for Ontario has risen 56 points in the past eight days to the current 546.9. That’s an 11.4% increase week-over-week (w/w), although rejections out of Ontario are among the lowest in the country — currently at 2.9%. This increase in volume but 110 basis-point (bps) decrease in rejections signifies that carriers are more inclined to cling to their contract rates to cover the cost of fuel in Southern California.
• In Dallas, outbound tender volumes are increasing 1.7% w/w, with rejections rising up to 6.3% overall in the past few days. This movement in rejections will put upward pressure on spot rates coming out of Dallas.

Memphis, Tennessee, to Columbus, Ohio: $3.36 per mile – 588 miles

• As far as competitive spot rates go, it doesn’t get much more competitive than this in the current market. In just over one transit day, carriers can make 53 cents more than the national average with a great chance of booking a load afterward.
• The Outbound Tender Volume Index for Memphis has slowly recovered from the dip during Memorial Day, rising nearly half a percent over the past week to sit at 203.1. Rejections are currently at 7.3%.
• Columbus is definitely a market that carriers should consider getting into quickly while it’s on the rise. Outbound volumes are rising w/w and rejections are currently at 8.6%.

Watch: Carrier update

Market blowup

Overview: Atlanta rejections surpass the national average

As the freight recession continues, tender rejections have dropped more than 1,100 bps since the beginning of March, placing them now at a national average of 7.75%.

To read how rejections reflect volume click here.

However, though Atlanta has naturally followed the trend, it has in recent days spiked above the national average, climbing roughly 125 bps in the past four days alone to sit at 8.75%.

This upward trend in rejections is the key indicator of capacity tightening ahead of the holiday. As the Empire City of the South continues to experience increase, spot rates will react positively. Carriers should keep their eyes open for any opportunities to work their way into the market that will grant them more bargaining power on rates.