Are Van Rates Rebounding?

For the first time in over a month, van rates are beginning to improve, as reported by DAT. This past week, rates in the top 100 lanes posted more increases than decreases. As states begin to reopen, demand is returning.

April was not an easy month for truckers. In addition to hotel and restaurant closures making it more difficult to be on the road, both rates and volumes fell precipitously. Plummeting oil prices and decelerating manufacturing sent the market into chaos. An excess of drivers on the road put downward pressure on rates. Spot market rates shrank to four year lows, and in some cases, drivers were asked to haul at less than one dollar per mile. The load to truck ratio fell to 1.7 for reefers and 5.3 for flatbeds. Poor conditions and low rates led drivers to protest in Washington DC at the beginning of the month. (It’s still going on, by the way. Click here to see some updates.)

Now, hopefully the combination of spring produce loads and states reopening will pull us out of a trucking slump. DAT notes that rates out of Memphis are improving in particular. Charlotte to Buffalo saw the largest increase, to $2.04 per mile. Load-to-truck ratios are showing improvement across equipment types, pushing rates up. 

Hopefully, rates and volumes will turn out to have bottomed out in April, and we can put that month behind us.