Strong consumer demand! No sign of a drop in US truck freight rates!

According to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), U.S. retail sales in December 2021 increased by 14.1% year-on-year. Although it was down 1.9% from November, it increased by 16.9% year-on-year. Overall, retail sales showed a solid growth momentum.

NRF said that e-commerce in the United States has driven the growth of the trucking industry, but due to labor shortages, supply chain problems and other issues, truck freight rates have increased significantly. It is expected that it will take a long time for the turning point to appear. For a long time in the future, freight rates will not fall and may even rise.

The index of truck tonnage moving freight climbed 1.4% in December, marking four straight months of gains, according to the American Trucking Associations (CASS).

According to the CASS freight index, U.S. truck freight volume increased by 7.7% in December compared with the same period last year, and was higher than the 4.5% in November. In addition, truck freight expenditure increased by 43.6% year-on-year, an increase of 3.4% from November.

DAT, North America's largest truck freight company, said its truck freight volume in December increased 18% year-on-year, with an average of 6.5 loads per vehicle, up from 5.2 in November.

The DAT Index shows that both freight volumes and transportation costs increased in December, with truck and refrigerated truck cycle rates increasing by 54 cents and 79 cents per kilometer, respectively.

Notably, according to Feightwaves data, rejection rates for freight transported by truck have increased by more than 20% over the past 19 months, with refrigerated trucks experiencing the highest rejection levels at nearly 40%.

NRF President Matthew Shay expects truck rejection rates to rise further this year as Americans worry about inflation, supply chain issues and pay more attention to their spending.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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