Southeastern flatbed demand - Online Freight Brokers Course

Southeastern flatbed demand softens amid housing lull

Dec

Southeastern flatbed demand softens amid housing lull , spot rates from New Orleans to Midland and Shreveport to Midland, the lanes connecting the Haynesville shale play to the Permian Basin, are also up over November averages. Still, we see downward pressure on rates as flatbed spot prices continue to drag contract rates down. For intraregional moves in DAT’s Southeast region, flatbed spot rates are 48 cents below thirty-day averages for contract rates ($2.83/mile); in the South Central, which includes Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, contract rates for intraregional moves are at $2.48/mile net of fuel, 34 cents above spot.

“Currently rates are down and demand is down as well,” Nathan Frazier, Director of National Accounts at LYNC Logistics, told us by phone. “The market, in general, is down on flatbed.” Frazier said that flatbed rates have dropped 12-15% in the past month, which he attributed to a return to normal seasonality.“Going into this time last year, customers were freaking out because of the ELD mandate. Asa Shirley, VP of Sales at Arrive Logistics, told us that flatbed rates inflated with the other equipment types over the past year and a half and are not really coming back down.“I feel like a lot of the flatbed carriers are trying to stay close to $2.30 or $2.50 a mile,” Shirley said.