Outbound freight volumes climb in Midwest markets

Ashley Coker

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Several markets across the Midwest are experiencing climbing freight volumes, evidenced by jumps in FreightWaves’ SONAR’s Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) values. Cleveland, Indianapolis and Milwaukee saw some of the most significant increases.

(Image; FreightWaves’ SONAR)

(IMAGE; FREIGHTWAVES’ SONAR)

OTVI is an index of accepted outbound tender volumes on a given day. The index was created with a base of 10,000 on a national level from March 1, 2018 volumes.

The chart allows users to judge volumes in markets. As load volumes increase, capacity tightens.

Outbound tender volumes increased 9.36 basis points, or 7.01 percent, in the Cleveland market between Sunday, April 7 and Monday, April 8.

Indianapolis saw a 3.49 percent jump in outbound tender volumes, and Milwaukee saw a 3.57 percent increase.

Learn more today

LEARN MORE TODAY

Grand Rapids is a standout among the Midwest markets. The Grand Rapids market saw an increase in tender rejections, alongside a 5.11 percent climb in outbound tender volumes.

(Image: FreightWaves’ SONAR)

(IMAGE: FREIGHTWAVES’ SONAR)

FreightWaves’ SONAR Outbound Tender Rejection Index (OTRI) measures a carriers’ willingness to accept the loads that are tendered to them by shippers under contract terms. It is expressed as a percentage of loads rejected to total loads tendered.

Climbing outbound tender rejections indicate that capacity is tight or that carrier’s can find higher rates on the spot market.

Grand Rapids experienced a small increase, just 0.19 percent, in outbound tender rejections between Sunday, April 7 and Monday, April 8.

“The increase was nominal, but tender rejections in the area are already relatively high, averaging over 10 percent since the start of April, after averaging 8.12 percent in the second half of March,” FreightWaves Director of Freight Market Intelligence Zach Strickland said. “National rejection rates fell below 5 percent for the first time since inception Monday, making this market even more of an anomaly.”

While outbound tender volumes climbed on the national level during this same time frame, the increase, coming in at 0.89 percent, was small compared to the jumps seen in the Midwest markets.

National outbound tender rejections are continuing to fall.

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Chris Henry

Chris Henry has spent his entire 20-year career in transportation. In 2014, he founded the online motor carrier benchmarking service StakUp. As a result of a partnership with the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) in 2015, StakUp was rebranded as inGauge and Henry became the program manager for the TCA Profitability Program (TPP), an exclusive benchmarking initiative that includes more than 230 motor carrier participants throughout North America. Since joining the program, participation in TPP has grown over 300%. In June 2019, StakUp was acquired by FreightWaves and Henry became its vice president of carrier profitability, in addition to his role with TPP. Henry earned an MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a bachelor of commerce degree from Nipissing University.