Dive Brief:
- The truckload market cooled in August as fewer loads moved after July’s tariff-driven pull-forward of imports, according to DAT Freight & Analytics’ Truckload Volume Index.
- DAT’s index declined for dry van by 8% month over month, while reefer and flatbed freight both declined by 6%. However, there was a bit of an uptick in loads during the last week of August due in part to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's Brake Safety Campaign.
- Spot rates also dipped on all three equipment types month over month, including a drop of 6 cents for flatbed. Spot rates went down 2 cents for dry van and 1 cent for reefer. Meanwhile, contract rates are under pressure for truckload carriers due to the onset of contract bidding for 2026, according to Ken Adamo, DAT chief of analytics.
Dive Insight:
Softening truckload volumes in August were in line with DAT’s forecast from last month. “Barring some major event, there’s nothing to suggest that’s going to change any time soon,” Adamo said in a Aug. 15 press release.
Increasing tariff actions and weakening economic conditions continue to disrupt normal shipping patterns, with cargo moving earlier than usual.
“August underscored how shippers pulling forward imports earlier in the year is affecting typical seasonal demand for trucks,” Adamo said in the September news release. “Retail goods that usually move in August—back-to-school and holiday products, for example—are already in inventory.”
Shippers such as Sportsman’s Warehouse and Williams-Sonoma are part of the trend, having pulled forward inventory to reduce potential impacts of higher tariffs later in the year.
The Port of Los Angeles also reported a wave of cargo frontloading for the month of July, although the surge began to fade in August.
“Retailers and manufacturers have continued to bring goods in early, both to get ahead of holiday demand and to hedge against any shifts in trade policy,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka during a Sept. 17 media briefing.
