Spot truckload freight activity jumped last week as shippers and logistics providers repositioned freight as two major storms were forecast to land along the Gulf Coast, Laura and Marco. Hurricane Laura has made landfall within the last 24 hours and is forecast to continue north through Louisiana and surrounding states before turning east at Tennessee/Kentucky.
The number of loads posted on the DAT One load board network increased 9% in the week ending Aug. 23, and truck posts ticked up 2% compared to the previous week, pushing national average spot rates to their highest levels since July 2018.
National average spot truckload rates, August (through the 23rd)
**Van: $2.20 per mile, 17 cents above the July average
**Flatbed: $2.28 per mile, up 8 cents
**Refrigerated: $2.43 per mile, up 13 cents
These rates are rolling averages for the month and include a fuel surcharge.
Fuel prices: Hurricane Laura landed on the northwestern Gulf Coast along “Gasoline Alley,” a 375-mile stretch between Galveston, Texas, and New Orleans. This area is home to the single largest concentration of oil refineries and chemical plants in the country. In the weeks after Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area in August 2017 and caused refineries to shut down, diesel and gasoline both rose more than 15 cents a gallon.
Port traffic is curtailed: The ports of Houston and New Orleans anticipate closures through end of day today as Hurricane Laura makes landfall. Houston handles nearly 70% of all Gulf Coast container traffic.
Volumes tumble on major van lanes: Average spot van rates were higher on 58 of DAT’s top 100 lanes by volume but the number of loads moved on those lanes fell 30.4%. Despite declining volumes, spot van rates were up out of several key markets compared to the previous week:
