SONAR Sightings for July 25: Seattle outbound volume remains elevated two weeks after Prime Day

Seattle is historically a backhaul market with more inbound loads than outbound freight to match up with capacity.

However, The Headhaul Index for Seattle is positive for a change this week. That index is on a 24.2% increase on a week-over-week basis (w/w), signifying Seattle finally has more outbound freight than inbound.

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.

Lane to watch: Ontario, California to Seattle

With a confidence score of five — indicating there is a significant amount of freight being booked in this lane at around the same rate with little volatility — spot market rates out of Southern California have been trending down in 2022, and Ontario to Seattle is no exception. Since mid-May, spot rates have seen a slight recovery and have now plateaued at their current value of $3.68 a mile — 95 cents above the national average.

Though outbound volume from Ontario (and across the nation) has remained stale in recent weeks, it still holds the most market share in the country with 3.8%. The stagnant levels in volume, combined with factors such as the price of fuel in California, has caused carriers to accept whatever freight they can book to exit the market. This has caused rejection levels to drop in recent months and they are currently only valued at 3.4% overall.

Now that Seattle is seeing an increase in its outbound volume, carriers entering the market will have a probable chance of booking a load afterward.

Watch: Carrier update