February Freight Levels Slow As Expected
For the spot market, February is typically regarded as the slow season that almost always follows a strong holiday season. The 2016-2017 holiday season started in late October and lasted through the middle of January 2017, thanks to an extended freight season due to e-commerce sales. This February (when compared to last February) we are witnessing increased freight levels and pleased to see that rates are significantly up from a year ago.
Freight Levels Low
While February 2017 freight levels are above levels from last year at this time, historical trends tell us that we should expect to hit a slowdown until things pick up again in Q2 2017. Spot rates are down, as carriers look to fill extra capacity after the holiday boom. 2016 was a difficult year, as shippers leveraged the abundance of capacity mid-year and received substantive rate concessions. However, contract rates have stabilized. The good news is that national van contract rates are still floating at nearly 25 cents above spot, creating sufficient opportunity to generate revenues.
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