DAT: Truckload rate recovery is based on tight capacity, not broad demand

Truckload rates continue to rebound quickly from a three-year recession, but that recovery is being driven more by tighter trucking capacity than by stronger freight demand, according to a report today from DAT Freight & Analytics. The report is latest study to reach that conclusion, following similar analysis from transportation analytics firm FTR and from freight payments manager U.S. Bank. Portland, Oregon-based DAT today said that dry van spot rates had topped contract for first time since February 2022, and that flatbed rates had hit a record high. But it also noted that truckload rates climbed faster than freight volumes last month, a disparity that points to tighter truck capacity rather than stronger freight demand. “The difference between spot and contract rates has narrowed steadily for more than a year, and carriers are gaining pricing power across the board,” said Dean Croke, DAT industry analyst. “Van spot beating contract for the first time in four years, and flatbed hitting an all-time high in the same month, shows real capacity pressure. If demand were driving this, volumes would be climbing too, and they’re not.”