SONAR Sightings: Business as usual for East Coast markets in Nicole’s path

The highlights from Friday’s SONAR reports are below. For more information on SONAR — the fastest freight-forecasting platform in the industry — or to request a demo, click here. Also, be sure to check out the latest SONAR update, TRAC — the freshest spot rate data in the industry.

Market Watch for Nov. 11:

Greensboro, North Carolina

As Tropical Depression Nicole makes its way up the East Coast, volumes and rejections both aren’t reacting quite as drastically as they have to previous severe weather storms. Markets in the Carolinas, Virginia and Pennsylvania are all seeing mild responses in rejection rates, but those rejections are correlated with a fluctuation in volume levels, indicating that it is business as usual for the markets in the path of the storm.

In Greensboro, North Carolina, rejection rates skyrocketed this week as outbound demand crawled out of a two-year low. The Outbound Tender Volume Index climbed just over 9 points, or 16.4%, to 63.26. Inbound volumes, on the other hand, remain relatively stagnant, but ticked up on Friday to exceed outbound volume by only 1.2%. The slim variance between the two pushed the Headhaul Index down almost 3 points to negative 0.73.

Rejection rates soared at the start of the week as outbound volume was increasing but are trending back down as demand slows into the weekend. The Outbound Tender Reject Index gained 191 basis points to 5.8% on Thursday, but by Friday morning edged down to 5.6%.

Norfolk, Virginia

Outbound demand in Norfolk, Virginia, plunged at the start of the month to its lowest point since May 2020, teased a recovery and fell right back down to its low again.

Norfolk’s outbound volume fell 19.5% from Oct. 25 to last Saturday but recovered 6.3% at the start of this week. The Outbound Tender Volume Index then dropped almost 2 points, or 5.9%, since Tuesday to 28.73 — still its lowest value since May 2020.

While volumes out of Norfolk were decreasing, inbound capacity was on the rise. From Oct. 26 to Nov. 3, inbound tender volumes increased 18.8% before dropping off 14.3% from Nov. 3.

Since there was more capacity flooding the market while outbound demand was falling, rejection rates descended rapidly. The Outbound Tender Reject Index in Norfolk fell 142 bps since the end of October to 2% on Tuesday but ticked up to 2.1% on Friday as outbound demand declined and carriers were likely attempting to keep their trucks out of the 15 to 25 mph winds.

Pittsburgh

Demand out of the Steel City exploded this week after slumping to a two-year low this time last month.

Outbound tendered load volumes plummeted 22% from Sept. 14 to Oct. 11 and remained consistently low throughout the second half of October. On Sunday, however, the Outbound Tender Volume Index in Pittsburgh jumped almost 25 points, or 25.8%, to 121.12 — its highest value since March.

Inbound capacity picked up 11% since the start of the month but is trending down heading into the weekend. The decrease in inbound capacity places the disparity between inbound and outbound volume at only 3.1%, pushing the Headhaul Index up almost 17 points to minus 3.8 — its highest value since April of 2020.

Rejection rates remained at or around 2.5% while outbound volume was flatlined and carriers searched the spot market for better rates and opportunities but have dropped this week as carriers are receiving and accepting more contracted tenders. The Outbound Tender Reject Index is down 52 bps since Sunday to 2%.

NTI as a point of reference

The National Truckload Index is a daily look at how spot rates in specific lanes hold up in comparison to the national average, giving carriers and brokers an idea of which lanes to gravitate toward or avoid.

Watch: Carrier update

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Source: freightwaves - SONAR Sightings: Business as usual for East Coast markets in Nicole’s path
Editor: Corey Smith