MARKET UPDATE - SEPTEMBER
As the Global Economy continues to operate at different levels across many countries and regions, we have seen varying effects on the pricing and capacity in the market:
Trucking:
- The load-to-truck ratio continued to climb for all major equipment types, indicating ongoing increased demand. Spot Load Postings also continued to rise, partly due to many companies repositioning equipment in the wake of the hurricanes in the Gulf
- Forecasts are now starting to predict 2020 ending the year with demand levels higher than those of 2019
- National rates for van, flatbed and reefer all climbed from July to August. Van rates saw the largest average increase at about 8%. The national average for rates are now at their highest levels since July 2018
Ocean:
- Rates continue to hold steady across the majority of lanes, with India to US being one of the areas where shippers are seeing increases
- Rates for Asia to Europe are expected to take a heavy increase in September
- Vessels remain full out of the major Asian and European ports to US
- Space remains tight out of many inland US terminals
- Booking is recommended 3 weeks in advance in the following lanes:
- Europe to US (both East and West coasts)
- Asia to Europe
- Expect to book 10-14 days in advance on the following lanes:
- US to Asia
- US to Europe
- India to US
Air Freight:
- China/Hong Kong: After rates continued to increase for several weeks, they pulled back for the past week. However, as demand remains strong, and a strong peak season is projected, rates are expected to continue their rise.
- Americas: Airlines do not expect a significant increase in passenger traffic until the summer of 2021. With business travel down 90%, cargo is expected to continue to be at a premium through 20214
- Europe: Capacity remains stable both on the Transatlantic and Far East lanes, allowing rates to remain quite stable
Parcel:
- Both FedEx and UPS continue to apply the COVID-19 surcharges on international shipments (the costs vary, starting at around $0.10/lb on most shipments, but substantially higher out of places like China and Hong Kong), along with some increases to those charges announced for August 30
- FedEx and UPS continue to charge additional “peak” surcharges that were added in June, to include additional costs on items like Large Package/Oversize, Residential Delivery and SmartPost/SurePost packages
- FedEx and UPS have both announced their 4Q peak surcharges that will begin in early October through mid-January. As with 2019, these will include additional charges for Additional Handling, Oversize/Large Package and Over Max/Ground Unauthorized. In addition, both carriers will be adding a peak surcharge for Residential Delivery starting in early November through mid-January. For UPS, those can range as high as $4 and for FedEx they can reach up to $5 per package
- E-commerce demands remain at elevated levels, although the commercial market has bounced back considerably from the April lows. Parcel shippers had to make adjustments for the much higher ratio of residential and last-mile deliveries. This has also led to numerous shippers looking at alternate solutions to manage capacity, such as using regional providers like LaserShip and OnTrac, or even focusing on postal-type services such as USPS, UPS Mail Innovations or DHL SmartMail
Data2Logistics has a dedicated “Professional Consulting Services” team that can help you identify opportunities across all modes. We provide various services such as data metrics/analytics, market studies, carrier strategy/negotiation, etc. For more information, please contact Dan Leva at [email protected] or 973-222-5882.