SONAR Observations: Imports to Los Angeles are on the rise this week, adding truckloads

Below are highlights from Friday’s SONAR reports. To learn more about SONAR—the industry’s fastest freight forecasting platform—or to request a demo, Click here. Also, don’t forget to check latest update of SONAR, TRAC — the latest spot rate data in the industry.

Market review for October 14:

Southern California

Admissions from Southern California continued to rise over the weekend after hitting a two-year low earlier this week.

On Sept. 25, Atlanta surpassed Ontario, Calif., for the largest share of the market by export volume and still holds 3.8%, but a recent uptick in volumes in Southern California has pushed Ontario’s share back to 3.7%.

The weekend tender volume index for Ontario rose 16.5 points, or 6.6%, to 425.9 this week. It is good to see volumes coming out of Southern California increasing, but the level remains 23% lower than this time last month.

Dwell times at the Port of Los Angeles fell to 3.5 days, the lowest since August 2020, and US customs ocean import cargoes ready to enter the Los Angeles inland market rose 68.6% since Monday. An increase in cargo being unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles led to a 2% increase in demand for outbound trucks in Los Angeles over the same time period. However, it is important to note that the Port of Long Beach has seen a decline in imported containers this week, down 19.3% on Wednesday.

Throughput was significantly reduced during last week’s reduced volume levels, increasing to a 4% rejection rate, but increased outbound cargo this week has resulted in lower rejection rates. Since Monday, the index of rejected exit bids for both the Los Angeles and Ontario markets is down 134 basis points to 2.5%.

Columbus, Ohio

Outbound demand from Columbus picked up sharply over the weekend after a week-long slump.

The weekend tender volume index for Columbus jumped 23 points, or 11%, on Thursday to 237.4, roughly flat since late July. Columbus hasn’t seen much change over the past few months, seeing only a 0.65% increase in shipments over the two weeks.

On the other hand, inflows have been volatile in recent months. The Inbound Tender Volume Index rose nearly 5 points on Friday, but is down nearly 16 points since the start of the month, leading to an 8.2% drop in inbound trading volume over the two weeks.

Capacity is effectively automatically accepting contract freight, as the index of rejected tenders fell 67 bp since Tuesday. to 4.5%.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Outbound volumes in the Northeast’s two main freight markets have been steadily declining over the past month.

Since September 14th, outbound demand in Harrisburg is down 17.6% and is still pointing to a downward trajectory heading into the weekend. Harrisburg’s neighboring market, Allentown, Pennsylvania, is seeing the same trend, with shipments down 14.4% since this time last month.

Continued declines in departures have resulted in abandonment rates in both markets falling to two-year lows. Harrisburg’s rejected tender index fell to 6.1%, while Allentown’s index rose to 5.5% as capacity converted to contract freight to secure cargo. Harrisburg saw a slight increase in denials on Friday, indicating that carriers may be trying to raise rates.

NTI as a point of reference

The National Truckload Index is a daily look at how spot rates in specific lanes are holding up compared to the national average, giving carriers and brokers an idea of ​​which lanes to move to or avoid.

Lane to watch: Harrisburg – Columbus

Spot rates from Harrisburg to Columbus remain at $2.39 per mile — 26 cents below the national average. Outbound demand in Harrisburg has been on a steady downward trend, and a relatively lower rate here could help carriers tap into a market that is seeing increased outbound volume.

The return trip to Harrisburg offers a much higher rate of $3.57 per mile, and as denials from Columbus decline, those rates can only go down further if denials continue to decline.

Watch: carrier update