Freight Futures daily curve: 1/3

Freight futures data to watch today: January 2020 Spot Futures

As anticipated, Trucking Freight Futures rallied broadly on Thursday after the December 2019/January 2020 spot contract roll created a new market dynamic whereby the new January spot contract prices were substantially lower than December’s final settlement. The January VNU contract (FUT.VNU202001) settled $0.033, or 2.3% higher at $1.448/mile, still substantially lower than the December (FUT.VNU201912) final settlement of $1.539. The East regional contract (FUT.VEU202001) climbed 2.5%, the West regional contract (FUT.VWU202001) 1.9% and the South regional contract (FUT.VSU202001) 2.7%, to $1.607, $1.492 and $1.246, respectively—all well below the December final settles.

On the individual lanes, six of the seven spot contracts finished higher. In the East, the CHI to ATL contract (FUT.VCA202001) was up $0.047, or 2.4%, to $2.009, with the ATL to PHL contract (FUT.VAP202001) jumping $0.068, or 4.1%, to $1.732. The PHL to CHI contract (FUT.VPC202001), which was up 7.3% on the roll, finished virtually unchanged at $1.079. In the West, the SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL202001), which entered the session 24% lower on the roll, gained back 5.1% to close at $0.992, while the LAX to SEA contract (FUT.VLS202001) picked up a modest 0.35% and ended at $1.991. In the South, the LAX to DAL contract (FUT.VLD202001), which opened 15.8% below its December predecessor, recouped nearly 5% and settled at $1.442. The DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL202001) was off 0.2% on the day to $1.050 after a 4.6% surge on the roll.

SONAR Ticker: Tree Watchlist – January 2020 Futures Settlement Prices (FUT.VXX202001)