SONAR Sightings for July 12: Outbound volume back on the rise

The highlights from Tuesday’s SONAR reports are below. For more information on SONAR — the fastest freight-forecasting platform in the industry — or to request a demo, click here. Also, be sure to check out the latest SONAR update, TRAC — the freshest spot rate data in the industry.

Market watch

A week after the holiday and it’s back to business for the trucking sector; markets across the country are seeing volumes rise to healthy portions.

Taking the Fourth of July into consideration, it is best to look at volumes on a two-week basis in order to provide a more accurate insight into the market trends.

Atlanta is seeing a very significant rise in outbound tender volumes, a 3.1% ascension on a two-week basis and a 4.5% weekly increase in its Headhaul Index, signifying that there are more loads going out than coming in.

Rejections, however, have taken a slight dip to 10.1%, still well above the national average of 7.3%. The rejections out of Atlanta are lowest into higher-density markets such as Houston or Chicago, reasons attributed to the probable chances of booking a load afterward.

SONAR Tickers: OTRI.USA, OTRI.ATL

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.

NTI Daily

Lane to watch: Atlanta to Memphis, Tennessee

Spot market rates from Atlanta to Memphis took a tumble going into the month of July, expectedly, but have since been ticking upward.

Currently valued at $3.16 a mile, carriers can make 37 cents more than the national average for spot rates in only one transit day, with ample opportunity to secure a load on the way out.

Memphis’ Headhaul Index is on a weekly rise of 5.6% with rejections at 7.6% — 30 basis points above the national average. This rise in volume and increase in rejections tightens capacity, placing pricing power into the carriers’ hands, which will then begin to put upward pressure on spot rates coming out of the Memphis market.

SONAR Tickers: HAULW.ATL, HAULW.MEM

Watch: Carrier update

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Corey Smith

Corey is a staff writer for FreightWaves with experience in air, intermodal and parcel operations, as well as LTL and full truckload transportation management. He is a graduate of the University of Memphis, majoring in supply chain management, and enjoys basketball, cinema and traveling.