Overdrive’s fifth weekly survey of small fleets and independent and leased operators showed them sinking further into stagnation due to coronavirus cutbacks. Rating their status, a third of respondents chose “totally shut down,” and 55% picked “running far less than usual.”
The April 22-27 survey received 405 responses, 88% of those with their own operating authority. Almost half of the total have two to nine trucks.
There were signs of small improvement last week in the spot freight markets, where many independents operate. DAT Solutions, operator of the DAT load board network, reported spot load-posting volume increased 6.2% after weeks of steep declines. That comes as Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and other states began to slowly ease lockdown orders on parts of their economies.
Nonetheless, 88% of Overdrive survey respondents rated freight levels of the past week as having decreased, the highest point in the five weekly surveys. Most of those chose the “decreased significantly” rating.
Spot rates slid further into dangerously low territory for owner-operators and small carriers, with van rates for April, per DAT, sitting 20 cents a mile below the March average, 24 cents lower for both flatbed and reefer average rates.
Many Overdrive survey respondents, citing rates too low to operate at a profit, have continued to point to brokers exploiting the market to their advantage. “Brokers are raping carriers,” wrote one respondent. “I can’t afford to haul anything hardly being posted. I’ve even had brokers tell me this is their time to make money. I replied ‘not off me.’”
The region reporting the biggest share of freight level decreases the past week is the Middle Atlantic (New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania), at 95%. Other regions, particularly in the nation’s Eastern half, were not far behind.
