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Surging trucking demand reaches a milestone: It’s better than ’19

The volume surge in freight primarily as a result of restocking store shelves is continuing and has reached a significant milestone in a key supply/demand metric.

FreightWaves’ outbound tender rejection index (OTRI) has surpassed year-ago values. The OTRI measures carrier willingness to accept loads tendered to them by shippers under a previously agreed upon contract. It is expressed as a percentage of loads rejected to total loads tendered.

With the surge in demand for trucking services given the need to restock shore shelves, the OTRI stood at 9.76% Monday. Outside a brief surge in December, it’s the highest it’s been since the start of 2019 when the OTRI was on its long slide toward the sub-5% level through much of the summer.

The Outbound Tender Volume Index gauging the volume of freight was measured Monday at 11570.35. It crossed last year’s level several weeks ago. The OTRI includes supply-and-demand components so it is considered a more transparent indicator of capacity.


“This is a pretty big moment in the freight market,” FreightWaves carrier expert Zach Strickland said Monday on “FreightWaves NOW” in discussing the numbers. “It indicates increased spot market activity, increased rates and increased margins.”

Friday on “FreightWaves NOW,” Strickland said other spikes in the OTRI often happen because of a contraction in the supply of trucks, such as around the holidays. “But now we’re seeing a straight-up demand increase,” he said.

Seth Holm, senior research analyst on FreightWaves’ Freight Intelligence Group and the shipper analyst for FreightWaves’ market expert team, noted in Friday’s Daily Pickup that the Allentown, Pennsylvania, market has been one of the strongest for demand. “A significant portion of the increase in Allentown can be attributed to the large Procter & Gamble distribution center located near there,” Holm wrote in his commentary. “P&G is a major beneficiary of the panic-buying and destocking of toilet paper under its Charmin brand. We believe shippers that sell consumables and consumer staples will fare better and be exposed to far less downside as the coronavirus spreads.”

Strickland noted on “FreightWaves NOW” that some smaller markets have seen eye-popping increases in their localized OTRI, citing Augusta, Maine, as one example. The OTRI there now exceeds 40%.


Monday on “FreightWaves NOW,” shipper analyst Luke Falasca noted that the volume surge is strong enough that even a usual backhaul market like Denver has seen a surge in volumes moving out.


21 Comments

  1. Johny

    It doesn’t matter it goes up as much as it will trucking company don’t pay shit to truck drivers. Plus shipping and receiving folks doesn’t have respect at all for truck drivers.

  2. Troy

    Lol… Yeah proctor gamble is laughing all the way to the bank. Loads are paying 1.75 a mile minus the 35 percent broker fee your getting 1.14 a mile. Whooping f~Ing doo

  3. Noble1 suggests SMART truck drivers should UNITE & collectively cut out the middlemen from picking truck driver pockets ! UNITE , CONQUER , & YOU'LL PROSPER ! IMHO

    What this coronavirus outbreak has shown the world is that those upon which we depend on as a whole to look out for our well being have greatly failed . They are unorganised , misleading , and certainly not our guardians . They don’t walk their talk either .

    Example:
    Look at Trump give his public speeches in regards to the coronavirus while closely surrounded by his team when health officials are telling the public to remain 1 meter apart from one another as a preventive health measure during this time of crisis . I ask you are these the so called “leaders” that we are to follow ? You the people who have voted for such “leaders” should really open your eyes , observe , and question yourselves and your choices .

    Now that our “leaders” have allowed the virus to spread worldwide into a pandemic and use it to CONtrol us as they please with their draconian laws and fear mongering leading to panic while they themselves smirk , what is their angle ? Conspiracy ? no , but suspicion rises to the top . Something is amiss here and it’s quite evident .

    The prime minister in France shuts down restaurants , events ,schools , public gatherings etc , prevents citizens to visit their elders , or family from visiting dying elders in hospitals , while encouraging the public to come out and vote is highly suspicious and darn well negligent .

    I suggest to observe these so called “leaders” very closely for they themselves are arrogantly making mistakes that contradict what is coming out of their mouths . Can we trust them ? I’ll let you answer that question for yourselves . Could we trust the Asian government when the supposed coronavirus outbreak first commenced ? Did they attempt to supress the truth and communication concerning the virus until they couldn’t ? What were they telling the world ? Snake soup ?

    You be the judge . Something smells and it ain’t pretty .

    In my humble opinion …………..

  4. Lil Smokey

    🚛 The fear of Coronavirus in the USA is having a serious cause & effect issue of supply versus demand as consumers scramble to stock there homes with needed supplies as suggested advisers. Which is causing a demand for more stock. Warehouses & transporters are being pushed for inventory. A positive in a negative situation. Its came at a time that Trucking news was speaking of the unbelievable news coming out of J.B.Hunt transportation involving the name Towery “Tyree” Maurice Burris-Hunt. The reported 2013 grandson that received controlling stock via Estate Trust that implemented changes in the trucking division. FTC Identity theft report filed detailing an identity theft & impersonation. As news is circulating through the trucking world of a identity switch and power struggle taking place in Shelby Cleveland County NC and Lowell Arkansas. Arkansas State police alerted of an attempted murder plot. The Coronavirus has docked in the US just in time detour the conversation.

  5. Noble1 suggests SMART truck drivers should UNITE & collectively cut out the middlemen from picking truck driver pockets ! UNITE , CONQUER , & YOU'LL PROSPER ! IMHO

    I don’t think people need to be in the industry nor a genius to know that consumer staple demand for essentials is increasing due to the current panic buying leading to freight for such to increase as well . It’s quite obvious (wink) .

    1. Mark Coffey

      Every American should give thanks to God, then to the truckers out there everyday. Thank you lads! You are the backbone of this country through thick and thin. Always there. Be well, be safe and keep on truckin!

      1. Noble1 suggests SMART truck drivers should UNITE & collectively cut out the middlemen from picking truck driver pockets ! UNITE , CONQUER , & YOU'LL PROSPER ! IMHO

        Who or what is this “God” that you speak of aside from what you have been lead to believe ?

          1. Noble1 suggests SMART truck drivers should UNITE & collectively cut out the middlemen from picking truck driver pockets ! UNITE , CONQUER , & YOU'LL PROSPER ! IMHO

            Ok excuse my ignorance I haven’t been indoctrinated , I’m educated .

            So while one says God another says Allah . I will assume that one has been indoctrinated in Christianity while the other has been indoctrinated in Islam .

            Who or what is this “Allah” ? Let’s assume I just arrived on this planet and I’m trying to understand what you humans believe in as far as a supreme being is concerned .

            So my question is as asked above : What or who is this God Allah ?

            Thanks .

          2. Noble1 suggests SMART truck drivers should UNITE & collectively cut out the middlemen from picking truck driver pockets ! UNITE , CONQUER , & YOU'LL PROSPER ! IMHO

            Allow me to make this very simple for you to answer and take it step by step .

            First -Does this God Allah have a gender ?
            Is it to be addressed as a male or female or other ?

            I would assume male due to the title of reference indicating masculinity .

            Correct ?

    2. Tucker

      What after years of being spit on by the public and the Department of tyranny now we are supposed to like our wounds that haven’t healed at all and help the nation in junk NEW trucks at 63-65 mph. Hell 80% of what’s being called drivers now dont speak englsh much less know how to drive a truck. In Austin Texas drivers pulled over regularly dont have a class c license much less an a. And many companies are stuck with drivers that it takes a team truck 3 to 4 hours to bump a dock with all the room in the world. And ( team) drivers get less mileage than what i used to get for years running solo.

Comments are closed.

John Kingston

John has an almost 40-year career covering commodities, most of the time at S&P Global Platts. He created the Dated Brent benchmark, now the world’s most important crude oil marker. He was Director of Oil, Director of News, the editor in chief of Platts Oilgram News and the “talking head” for Platts on numerous media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business and Canada’s BNN. He covered metals before joining Platts and then spent a year running Platts’ metals business as well. He was awarded the International Association of Energy Economics Award for Excellence in Written Journalism in 2015. In 2010, he won two Corporate Achievement Awards from McGraw-Hill, an extremely rare accomplishment, one for steering coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the other for the launch of a public affairs television show, Platts Energy Week.