William B. Cassidy | Aug 12, 2011 11:23AM EDT
TransCore’s North American Freight Index rose 22 percent year-over-year in July, the seventh straight same-month increase for the spot market truckload index.
The index slipped 24 percent from June, but TransCore said that reflects a normal seasonal shift in shipping patterns rather than deterioration in the economy.
“So far in August our freight is up significantly, something along the order of 40 percent,” said David Schrader, senior vice president of TransCore Freight Solutions.
Over the past decade, the July index declined 19 percent on average from June, dropping more than 24 percent in four of those years, TransCore said.
July’s seasonal shift in spot market freight volume was reflected in spot rates, which slipped 3.6 percent for dry vans from June and 9.4 percent for refrigerated trucks.
Spot market rates for flatbed tractor-trailers were stable month-to-month, but were up 11 percent from a year ago, indicating strong flatbed demand.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com
