DAT

A legal battle between DAT and OTR Solutions has been decided in favor of OTR.

DAT is positioning itself not just as a load board, but as the freight industry’s central exchange through its acquisition of factoring and fintech provider Outgo.

Owner-operators Toni and Chris Murphy of New Egypt, New Jersey, said it’s been hard to fight back against an invisible tech-savvy fraudster who stole their trucking company’s identity.

After experiencing two years of record growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacksonville, Florida-based Surge Transportation, a digital freight brokerage, sought to find a buyer and slashed its rates nearly a year before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.

Since we compete, as a policy, we no longer cover anything (good or bad) about DAT. They only get a passing comment if they are involved in an external news item where they are not directly related.

Digital freight matching has turned a corner in the marketplace.

Knight-Swift Logistics will be part of a pilot program that will test DAT Solutions’ new Book Now automated freight tendering solution.

We gear down into the backhaul of our week with news of a headline glitch. Starting early Thursday, small-business truckers who rely on the spot market began reporting problems logging in to the DAT load board to find freight. While the DAT online load board and mobile app are back up and working now, DAT […]

Starting early Thursday, small-business truckers who rely on the spot market began reporting problems logging in to the DAT load board to find freight.


DAT has sent out tweets indicating no ETA on a full return to service.

Freight load board is back in service after ransomware, which was more frequent in 2019.

November contracts from Los Angeles to Dallas traded at $2.103/mile as positive consumer confidence numbers were released.

On Monday afternoon at Transparency19, Addison Armstrong, executive director of trucking freight futures at FreightWaves, moderated a conversation between Nodal Exchange, where freight futures are traded, DAT, whose rate indexes the futures contracts are settled against, and K-Ratio, a commodities trading advisor based in Chicago advising carriers and shippers on hedging strategies.  Danny Gomez, senior […]

National spot market price movement has a surprisingly tight relationship with new truck orders.

Inexpensive cloud-based technology is leveling the playing field between small, mid-sized, and large 3PLs.

Insurgent digital brokerage apps are increasing their share of downloads while load boards are largely stagnant.

J.B. Hunt wants to make freight marketplaces more efficient by making information more transparent.

FreightWaves, in partnership with Nodal Exchange and DAT, launched the world’s first financially settled Trucking Freight Futures contracts at 9 a.m. Friday, March 29. The first trade came through within 20 minutes of opening, at 9:18 a.m.

The futures contracts will provide a way for carriers, shippers and third-party logistics providers to hedge their exposure to truckload spot rate volatility.

Increasing spot rates lead carrier revenues in 2018, will revenues start to fall now that rates have started to come down again?

Freight Alley in Chattanooga was the scene on the afternoon of February 21, when executives from FreightWaves, Nodal Exchange, DAT and K-Ratio presented the Trucking Freight Futures roadshow. Trucking Freight Futures debut on the Nodal Exchange on March 29.

The Trucking Freight Futures Road Show rolled into the “Big D” – Dallas! Learn more about Trucking Freight Futures and what participants discussed in Dallas!

National spot rates have been flying high for the past year, but have only recently fallen under previous year values as illustrated on FreightWaves newest charting feature.

Options are a key hedging tool, because they can require a far smaller initial outlay for a company to protect itself from wild price swings.

Trading of futures contracts can help market participants minimize their exposure to risk. Freight brokerage K+L Freight has launched a subsidiary, K-Ratio, to help its customers navigate the Trucking Freight Futures market when it launches on March 29.

Financial market executive gives a vote of confidence in the success of the trucking futures market by taking the helm

Atlanta to Philadelphia’s spot rate has hit its lowest point in 3 years. The absolute rates may be similar, but the freight markets could not be further apart.

FreightWaves, DAT, Nodal Exchange, and K-Ratio pitched trucking freight futures to a diverse group of financial institutions and media and tech companies on Wall Street on Wednesday.

In addition to overseeing FreightWaves’ legal and compliance elements, Martin will serve as Market Expert for compliance and legal aspects of the freight industry

The history books will say many things about 2018, but whatever else is recorded, it will go down as one of the strongest years for spot and contract pricing increases in the history of trucking in the U.S. Will that trend continue?

Leading freight exchange marketplace celebrates 40th anniversary with market and software innovations.

The spot market has been cooling over the past several months, but the players seem more uncertain than ever.

Jubitz brings in about $40 million of the company’s $175 million annual revenues as the industry contracts and braces for tech and regulatory headwinds.

The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index reached another record high in October while the company’s Intermodal Price Index points to rising intermodal costs.

For the trucking market, the third quarter has been stronger than the second, but no one would know it

SONAR’s new index shows the cost difference for Asian exporters moving goods into East Coast or West Coast ports. When combined with trucking spot prices, the Panama spread helps explain recent shifts in trade flows.

The Dry Van Weekly Barometer is predicting stronger contract pricing in coming months.  Even though it has pulled back from extreme highs, it continues to reflect one of the highest levels of demand in excess of capacity in the history of the barometer.

All three modes of truckload freight are reflecting an environment in which demand exceeds capacity by a wide margin, which sets up for continued strong contract pricing.

The Cass indexes are showing no signs of a freight slowdown, despite some concern that a peak may have been reached.

Fergus Caldicott, long-term DAT executive and VP of Technology has been appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer at FreightWaves.

Introducing the latest additions to our SONAR platform: DAT lane pricing / Lane Tender Rejection Rates

After setting one record high after another in the early weeks of 2018, the weekly DAT Dry Van and Reefer Barometers have pulled back but remain in a strong growth range.

After setting one record high after another in the early weeks of 2018, the weekly DAT Dry Van and Reefer Barometers have pulled back slightly before stabilizing in a strong growth range.

Trucking passes all five of Paul Newman’s tests for a successful futures market. That’s why we’re building a financially-settled freight futures contract with Nodal Exchange and DAT.

Both Dry Van Weekly Barometer and Reefer Weekly Barometer are predicting stronger contract pricing in coming months.

Brokers continue to see more business and higher revenue, according to the latest data compiled by DAT.

After setting one record high after another in the early weeks of 2018, the weekly DAT Dry Van and Reefer Barometers have finally pulled back slightly, before stabilizing in a strong growth range.

DAT is reporting dry van rates are decreasing. The Tender Rejection Index is indicating this trend should continue over the next few weeks.

DAT reported flat to lower rates in this weeks national averages. The TRI has been suggesting a softening market for the past few weeks. 

“We are seeing what you are feeling,” says DAT data analytics consultant, Alex Perry.

DAT’s new OnTime application tracks a truck’s shipment via an app on a driver’s smartphone, giving shippers and 3PLs a low-cost way to monitor their goods movements.

What happens with increased turndowns in this context is that carriers don’t want to go inbound into a place—in this case, Philadelphia—as they assess the cost of outbound.

By one measure, the flatbed market has never been stronger.

Stifel says UPS is now under-priced; Hapag-Lloyd offers digital rates platform for its customers; the Hudson Tunnel revamp just got harder; freight brokers do record volumes in January.

Current financial news headlines are full of stories about inflation and the resurgence of inflation in the U.S. economy.  

Freight brokers’ revenues went up but margins went down in 2017; Amtrak blames CSX for yesterday’s crash; Hazelwood won’t testify in Pilot trial; oil tanker shipping rates crater; click through for more!

Truck costs from the Imperial Valley and Yuma areas are setting records, with some lanes to the East Coast breaking records. Though there is some mystery about the spike in the rates, it most likely can be boiled down a several reasons.

Outbound rates from the Great Lakes have held steady at the high prices reached during last September’s nationwide spike, but over the past 7 days, they’re trending upward again.

Have the good days of high rates ended? While not declaring an end to rising van spot rates, a blog post yesterday by DAT Solutions’ Matt Sullivan did note some indications that the rapid rise may be slowing.

Carriers will have an amazing opportunity to participate in RFPs during this bid cycle. Before investing a ton of time, we discuss how best to think of the opportunities

An unstable Polar Vortex first warmed the Great Lakes and then brought Siberian temperatures to the region, creating disruptive snowfalls and historically low end-of-year temperatures. These weather events only add to numerous factors keeping spot rates sky-high.

Mark Lavender, special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, awarded DAT’s Tami Hart with a “challenge coin” at the DAT User Conference in October for her efforts in helping the Bureau identify and track down hundreds of cases of false payments, cargo theft, and other transportation fraud.

Following a Thanksgiving week that saw loads depressed, but not rates, the spot freight market was going full steam ahead last week with loads climbing 64% on the DAT network of load boards.

Data from the freight markets indicate a super-strong economy 

Data from the freight markets indicate a super-strong economy 

TransRisk, the developer of the first trucking futures contract, raises a venture capital round led by Bill Ford’s mobility venture investment fund. Seven other venture investors participated in the capital raise. 

For the first time since DAT began reporting its data in the current format, the monthly spot rate has exceeded the contract rate at the same time in all three modes.  And the latest DAT Trucking Freight Barometers are continuing to signal that the ‘fall surge’ is happening for the first time since 2007.  Now is a good time to have secured capacity and a bad time to be locked into contract rates.

DAT Solutions has joined the Blockchain in Trucking Alliance (BiTA). The Alliance is promoting blockchain technology and standards in the transportation industry. DAT operates North America’s largest digital freight marketplace.

One of the largest financial exchanges in the world has partnered with DAT and Chattanooga-based TransRisk to launch a futures contract based on trucking spot rates. The venture brings together the benchmark pricing index with one of the largest financial exchanges in the world. 

Founded with the purpose of addressing volatility for brokers, carriers and shippers in major shipping lanes through risk-management solutions, TransRisk is one step closer to doing just that. The company, along with DAT Solutions and Nodal Exchange jointly announced an agreement to develop, market and list the first and only trucking freight futures and options on futures contracts.

An already robust spot truckload freight market is now reacting to the effects of Hurricane Harvey, and with Irma on the horizon and wild fires burning out west, is now showing few signs of slowing down.

Freight, orders and optimism continue to populate the minds of many carrier and shipping executives these days as more data points suggest the economy is continuing to improve. And it’s optimism that even uneven retail sales and consumer confidence can’t hide.

DAT has been one of the leading data providers for load and rate information for years thanks to its large database. Now, the company’s data is being used in even more ways, reinforcing the value the overall dataset provides.

When capacity is tight, spot market rates increase, and that hurts brokers. There are other factors that affect rates, of course, but 3PLs have had few options to manage the underlying fundamentals that so negatively hurt their businesses. That is about to change.

“If you look back at the DAT truck data, which is essentially the NASDAQ of truck freight brokerage, you would know ahead of time,” Donald Broughton told CNBC, explaining why the firm’s data is a good indicator of economic trends.

The Northeast has exited a period of cloudy, rainy weather that has held down freight volumes into and out of the region. That is just one of the weather-related stories this week that have affected rates across the nation.