When the temperature starts to rise, so does the load volume for flatbeds. Over the last couple of weeks, the number of flatbed loads moving increased by more than 7%, according to DAT. The load post volume on DAT’s load board have also increased by about 18%. The number of carrier equipment being posted through the DAT system has also increased.
What does that mean? The short answer is that capacity is tightening. Yes, there are more loads and more equipment being posted, but the load to truck ratio isn’t increasing at the same rate. In fact, the recent DAT load-to-truck ratio trends are seeing a significant drop. (You can see the load-to-truck ratio according to DAT in the graphic to the right.)