Now that the West Coast longshore workers and the port have reached a tentitive agreement, trucking rates are already being affected. Spot market van rates from LA rose 4 cents to $1.92 per mile within the last 8 days. The bottleneck of freight that was caused by the strike severely decreased available loads that would normally pick up freight at nearby facilities and move them throughout the country. The directors of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach estimate that things won't return to normal for approximately 90 days.
The increase follows weeks of depressed spot market truck pricing in Southern California as containers piled up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, decreasing available loads for trucks that typically would pick up freight at nearby warehouses and transloading facilities.
The national average van rate rose 1 cent to $1.88 per mile on the strength of several key truckload markets, DAT said. Spot van rates in Memphis increased 12 cents to $2.30 per mile; rates in Columbus, Ohio, jumped 3 cents to $2.15 per mile; Dallas rates rose 6 cents to $1.76 per mile; and Buffalo rates rose 4 cents to $2.22 per mile. The national average flatbed and reefer spot rates each rose 1 cent to $2.13 and $2.11 per mile, respectively, DAT said.
