The world of freight management continues to evolve, but the systems that help individual companies prioritize needs and keep freight spend under control may quickly become outdated. At the same … Read More
Freight Rates: 3 reasons shippers who predict rates reduce costs, find capacity
Maintaining control over freight rates has never been easy for shippers. There is an ongoing shift in each of the 135 major U.S. markets – either shippers or carriers have … Read More
How to use SONAR to monitor freight markets
Freight volumes SONAR’s outbound tender volume index (OTVI) measures electronically tendered truckload volumes across the U.S. Overall OTVI is indexed to 10,000 (March 1, 2018) and is the aggregated volume … Read More
How do tender reject rates predict the freight economy?
Tender rejections occur when a contracted carrier rejects an electronic load request from a shipper customer. FreightWaves SONAR measures the former via the outbound tender reject index (OTRI). Carriers really … Read More
FreightWaves SONAR adds Lane Signal app
FreightWaves SONAR now provides analytics down to the lane level. SONAR subscribers can see and use data on a freight lane at the granular level. FreightWaves launched SONAR two years … Read More
Why destination matters for freight rates
While origin matters for transportation rate forecasting, the destination is often times more important. The transportation rates for a backhaul destination are naturally higher than transportation rates for a headhaul market. This holds for all freight moved by truck, rail/intermodal, ocean or air.
How to develop freight forecasts using SONAR
Forecasting trucking rates is one of the most important roles for all freight forecasters. Load volumes and truck capacity for individual markets are the primary drivers in developing freight forecasts. Each individual freight market has its own unique load demand and truck capacity cycles. These cycles are most often linked to seasonal demand patterns and the ratio of outbound to inbound freight volumes in each market.
How is freight priced? A dive into freight rates by mode of transit
Understanding freight cost per unit across different transportation modes is a key to determining what mode is the most cost-effective and timely to ship goods from point A to point … Read More
Good news: The freight market is about to turn up
Freight market forecasting is a tricky game these days. Historical freight market data models provide good reference points, but because of the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 (a classic example of … Read More
Why historical spot rates alone are not the best predictor of future spot rates
History tends to repeat itself, or does it? A common thought in the trucking industry is that looking at historical spot rates are good indicators of what to expect each … Read More