William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Jan 26, 2012 4:29PM EST
Spot market truckloads dropped 14 percent in December from the previous month but were still 25 percent higher than in December 2010, TransCore Freight Solutions said.
That drop in demand meant trucks were easier to find on the spot market as 2011 wound down, according to TransCore’s latest Trendlines freight data report. Spot market loads dropped 1.3 percent in the week that ended Jan. 21 compared with the previous week, leading to a 2.7 percent increase in available capacity.
Dry van rates on the spot market were up 4.7 percent in December year-over-year. Spot refrigerated rates were up 4.8 percent, and flatbed rates rose 5.7 percent.
January saw rates slip, with van rates dropping 1.5 percent week-to-week Jan. 21 and reefer rates falling 1.9 percent. Flatbed pricing was flat from the prior week.
Spot market truckload rates on average rose 7.4 percent last year, and those rates are likely to resume climbing in early 2012, TransCore said early this month.
-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @wbcassidy_joc.