Chart of the Week: Long Haul Outbound Tender Volume Index, Tweener Outbound Tender Volume Index, Short Haul Outbound Tender Volume Index, Local Outbound Tender Volume Index – USA SONAR: LOTVI.USA, TOTVI.USA, SOTVI.USA, COTVI.USA
Total load tender volumes (shippers’ electronic requests for capacity) have not changed much since March — falling only 1.8% — but their rate of rejection has fallen from 28% to 21% in the same time period. In other words, more loads are being accepted at previously agreed upon rates while demand remains flat. Does this mean capacity has increased? Not necessarily.
Contracted rate increases are more than likely playing a big role, but there is a less obvious factor that is probably contributing to the increasing compliance — an acceleration of growth in loads that travel less than 250 miles from the origin with a decline in 800 mile-plus loads.
An increase in contract rates is playing an obvious role, but shippers are moving an increasing amount of short-haul freight this summer. Tenders for loads moving less than 250 miles have grown 11% since early March, while requests for loads moving more than 450 miles have contracted nearly 10%.
The chart shows the national outbound tender volume index (OTVI) broken into load tenders for shipments moving at various lengths of haul in percent change from March 8:
- Long haul (LOTVI) — loads moving over 800 miles.
- Tweener (TOTVI) — loads moving between 450 and…
