I hope everyone enjoyed the short work week due to Memorial Day. I have the chart summaries for the Big 3 rates, which might give hope to the van drivers out there. Also we’ll have a look at the FreightWaves SONAR National Truckload Indices. Finally, I have my “Pick of the Week.” I hope y’all like creole cooking.
Van rates get a slight gain, while the others slip
Finally, van drivers (TSTOPVRPM.USA) had the opportunity to breathe as rates (inclusive of fuel) rose $0.03 again this week. This makes a $0.11 rise from the bottom two weeks ago. The flatbed (TSTOPFRPM.USA) and reefer (TSTOPRRPM.USA) drivers, on the other hand, faced a slight drop of $0.04 and $0.03, respectively. As produce markets down south go into watermelon season, we should see demand for reefers increase. Flatbeds should hope the housing market does not cool off too quickly. They’re still king of the rate mountain right now.
Diesel still creeping upward toward that $6.00 mark, while Truckload Index barely above $2.00
Yeah, that rate versus fuel comparison chart is not pleasing to the eyes either. Using both National Truckload Index charts (NTID.USA and NTIDL.USA, the latter is pure linehaul pay); you can see the $0.86 per mile fuel pricing added in. Take that $5.63 TruckStop diesel fuel price per gallon (DTS.USA), divide it by the infamous 8 miles per gallon burn rate, and that is just over $0.70 per mile in fuel burn cost. Not going to be long before there’s fist pounding on desks about wanting higher fuel surcharges.
Think I might want creole for supper…
Now I’m getting hungry for some boudin balls, preferably deep fried and about baseball- sized. New Orleans seems to be a good market to run out of with the deep blue color of high freight rejections. That means more pricing power to the owner-operators. Maybe run some roll paper from the Port of New Orleans up to the Procter & Gamble plant at Neely’s Landing, Missouri. Both markets seem like good eating, if P&G’s gate isn’t backed up to the highway…
