Spot Market Freight Up by 12 Percent, in End-of-Quarter Surge

Last week, we predicted this uptick in freight volume, as shippers tend to accelerate freight movements just before the end of a quarter. In fact, spot market load availability surged by 12 percent and equipment capacity loosened by 8.1 percent in the week ending October 2, compared to the previous week.

Those additional shipments were enough to boost spot market totals for September so they beat August levels by 3.5 percent. Compared to the same month in 2009, September spot freight was 69 percent more plentiful this year.

Spot freight in the third quarter lagged the record-shattering volume of Q2 by 40 percent sequentially, and beat Q3 '09 levels by 91 percent year-over-year.

Gazing once again into the crystal ball, we are looking for a bump in spot freight availability for all equipment types in the next few weeks, as the holiday retail season approaches.

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