TL rates climbing; shippers should prepare for higher costs

Shipper alert:  trucks are harder to find this summer, and that trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down through the busy holiday season.

Reporting from our friends at DAT shows that prices are climbing as capacity shrinks.  Contributing factors include the annual Road Check week, high demand in the spot market, and the highest load-to-truck ratios we’ve seen since 2014.

For more information, see DAT’s news releases on the subject here:

http://www.dat.com/blog/post/Van-Rates-Hit-Highest-Mark-in-2-Years 

http://www.dat.com/company/news-and-events/news-releases/dat-freight-index-spot-tl-freight-activity-signals-economic-growth

What does this mean for shippers?

Shippers should be proactive with communication and lead time for all outbound loads.  Not only is capacity tight but carriers are capitalizing on demand with the highest rates in two years.  Shippers should settle in for the foreseeable future and expect a carrier-favorable market in the coming months.  For questions and concerns, please speak to your Sunset representative directly to mitigate extreme cost fluctuations; we are here to advise!