Soggy week ahead in several large freight markets (with forecast video)

Heavy snowfall could develop on the northern side of the storm, with up to 6 inches of accumulation in the St. John Valley, just north of Caribou and Presque Isle. This will affect drivers on US-1. Some spots in northern Maine will see mainly sleet and freezing rain.

Another wave of rain and snow may hit the Great Lakes and Northeast later in the week, on Thursday or Friday. This storm could be stronger, but it’s too early to tell with a high level of certainty at this point. Look for updates throughout the week on the FreightWaves website and social media accounts.

Periods of rainfall will also hit the Southwest this week from Tuesday to Friday. Totals of 2 to 5 inches are possible for parts of the Phoenix metro area, with an inch or two in Tucson. Several inches of snowfall may pile up in the high elevations north of Tucson.

Impact on freight

The rainfall in the Midwest and Northeast regions is not likely to cause flash flooding or river flooding, but it could slow down freight flows just a bit today and tonight in the Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana markets. Despite declines in outbound market shares (OTMS.CMH, OTMS.IND) over the past week, these markets rank 10th and 11th, respectively, based on the latest analysis from FreightWaves SONAR. Outbound tender market share measures the percentage of the nation’s outbound volume produced by each of the 135 markets.

Today, Columbus has 2.14% of the nation’s outbound freight, while Indianapolis has 1.92%. In the tree map below, markets with the highest market shares are in the largest squares and rectangles on the left; lowest values are toward the right side. The top number is the percentage change over a chosen time period – in this case the past week – and the bottom number is the market’s current share.

Tonight and Tuesday the rain may have minor impacts in some of the largest markets such as Harrisburg and Allentown, Pennsylvania (OTMS.MDT, OTMS.ABE), as well as Elizabeth, New Jersey (OTMS.EWR). These markets rank third, fifth and eighth, respectively. The heaviest rainfall will likely hit the 16th-ranked Phoenix market, where localized flash flooding is possible. 

All of the markets mentioned, except for Columbus and Indianapolis, have higher market shares week over week. So the wet weather is heading through growing markets with increasing volumes, but impacts should be manageable for shippers, carriers and drivers.

Have a great day, and be careful out there!