SONAR Sightings: Atlanta sees sharp volume rise; Southern markets prepare for Ian

“An area that’s difficult to cover has been Georgia. We have all recently noticed that Georgia, Atlanta in particular, is an area trucks are wanting to avoid,” said Emily Evans, a senior account manager at Kenco Transportation.

Inbound tender rejections to Atlanta are up in the last week, rising 118 basis points (bps) since Sept. 20 to 4.9%. Outbound capacity, on the other hand, is loosening this week. The Outbound Tender Reject Index in Atlanta is down 15 bps to 3.8%.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Truckload volumes out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are continuing to trickle downward as the end of the month draws near.

Outbound tender volumes from Harrisburg began to drop on Sept. 13 and since then are down 10.7% to 335.4. This is the third time in the last 30 days that the Outbound Tender Volume Index for Harrisburg dipped below 350 points.

Even with the decrease in volume, inbound capacity remains beneath outbound demand. The Outbound Tender Reject Index ticked up 31 bps this week to 6.6%.

Harrisburg’s neighboring market, Allentown, Pennsylvania, is experiencing similar trends.

Since Sept. 13, the Outbound Tender Volume Index for Allentown is down 26.5 points, or 8.3%, to 293.3. This is the lowest level that Allentown has seen since April 2020, excluding the major holiday drops.

As in Harrisburg, Allentown’s outbound volumes still remain above inbound capacity, causing rejection rates to slightly rise. The Outbound Tender Reject Index for Allentown is up 9 bps this week in parity with Harrisburg’s at 6.6%.

NTI as a point of reference

The National Truckload Index is a daily look at how spot rates in specific lanes hold up in comparison to the national average, giving carriers and brokers an idea of which lanes to gravitate toward or avoid.

Markets prepare for Hurricane Ian

The markets in Florida and southern Georgia are seeing an increased amount of inbound freight volumes as they prepare for severe weather.

Shippers are sending loads into markets just outside of the expected areas where Hurricane Ian is expected to make landfall. Shippers send freight to these areas because the final destination where relief will be needed is not yet known, but they position it to be easily accessible to get relief measures started as soon as possible.

Florida is seeing increases in inbound capacity this week in Jacksonville, up 10.5%; Tallahassee, up 8.2%; and Lakeland, up 9.8%.

In Georgia, inbound tenders are up 8.3% in Macon and 1.6% in Savannah.

Mobile, Alabama, is seeing an increase in inbound freight this week as well, rising 4.8% on Monday.

Watch: Carrier update