DAT Freight & Analytics

The AI boom isn't just a tech story, it's a flatbed freight story🚛 📊 Each gigawatt of new data center capacity equals roughly 100,000 truckloads of concrete, steel, transformers, and generators 🏗️ ~20 gigawatts built since 2023 means about 2 million truckloads already moved 📈 Nearly 50 more gigawatts are announced for 2026-2027, representing millions more truckloads ahead ⚠️ But only about a third of the 2026 pipeline is under active construction, and close to half of announced projects could slip or get canceled The bottleneck has shifted from chips to power equipment like transformers and switchgear, some on multi-year waitlists. That means the freight is real, it just doesn't arrive on a steady schedule. Are you tracking construction starts in your lanes, or just the announcements? 👀 bit.ly/4wlmcaW #Flatbed #DATMarketUpdate

How are you adapting to the rising fuel costs?⛽

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The market found its ceiling, at least for now. All three truckload modes eased off historic highs last week, but the pullback looks more like a breather than a reversal. Dry van linehaul spot rates (rate minus fuel) are still 48% above last year. Flatbed remains $0.24 above its 2021 record. Meanwhile, California's produce capacity flipped from loose to tight in a single week, sending Northeast rates up double digits, and new ton-mile data shows AI infrastructure spending is starting to pull real weight on freight demand, not just capacity constraints. If you're planning around this market, are you betting on demand or still riding the supply story?

Tariffs have a deadline, and importers are racing the clock⏱️ The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle roughly a third of all U.S. containerized imports, and retailers are pulling cargo forward now to beat a tariff deadline, with most of it landing in LA first. 📦 A temporary 10% tariff expires July 24, with a second round of tariffs on Chinese and other imports lined up around the same deadline 📈 Combined port volume climbed 17% month over month in June, with imports from Northeast Asia up 16.5% year over year 🚛 Drayage, intermodal, and inbound van and reefer freight out of the LA basin are set for a hot run through July 🌊 July is on pace to set an all time record for U.S. container imports If you're hauling freight out of the LA basin, Los Angeles is the market to watch this week👀 #MarketToWatch #FreightTrends #Tariffs #SupplyChain

Want to know what’s moving the market this week?👀 bit.ly/45ijIxS

Your summer BBQ is moving more freight than you think🌭 🌽 Peak produce season and grilling demand are adding pressure to reefer capacity 🥩 Increased meat and produce shipments are creating ripple effects across equipment types 🚚 Dry van markets are feeling the impact as seasonal demand picks up See how summer demand is reshaping freight capacity 👉 bit.ly/4w89Oeh

Spot rates paid to carriers just did something they haven't in over a year. They passed contract. Our latest data shows van spot rates topping contract in June, with reefer and flatbed spreads tightening too, all while capacity, not demand, tells the real story. Want the full breakdown?👀

California just caught the reefer market by surprise🥬 📈 Northeast-bound reefer lanes posted double-digit rate increases 📦 Tightening California produce markets are putting pressure on capacity 🚚 The ripple effects are being felt well beyond the West Coast How is California's produce season affecting your freight network? 👉 bit.ly/4vA1T8r

Can manufacturing keep fueling flatbed demand?👀 📈 Manufacturing extended its growth streak 🏗️ Industrial activity continues to support flatbed freight 🚚 Carriers are watching to see if that momentum carries into the months ahead What signals are you watching in the flatbed market right now? 👉 bit.ly/44x80PK

A look ahead at the next 35 days in freight👀

A flat week for flatbed is now a record week. National flatbed spot rates minus fuel didn't move, holding at $3.00 per mile paid to carriers on average. But that level is an all-time high, 9% above the old 2021 record, and scarce trucks are holding it there more than booming freight is. Dry van is riding the same dynamic from a different angle: reefers are chasing peak produce and grilling season, leaving fewer dry vans behind and lifting dry van linehaul rates to a seasonal high of $2.50 per mile, 51% above last year. Meanwhile the produce side is already easing off its peak, with South Texas flipping back to surplus and Georgia's shortage loosening across the board. If you're a shipper still working off last year's contract rates, you're negotiating against records set on tight capacity. If you're a carrier, the easy pricing power is thinning outside California, and one-week rate spikes are a trap. Where's your biggest exposure as summer capacity resets?👀

Guess what has to arrive before kickoff? Just about everything⚽🌭 The World Cup final is driving reefer demand into Northern New Jersey. 📈 Elizabeth inbound reefer rates are up 10% in the past month and 42% YoY 🚛 Event-driven demand is tightening capacity Elizabeth is the market to watch this week👀

What’s shaping the freight market this week? Take a look👀 bit.ly/4h84iDB

Hear more from Chris Caplice and Jim Filter on this week's Freightvine episode👀 Catch the full conversation 👉 bit.ly/42HyzRg

Why are freight rates rising if demand is still soft?🤔 📈 Freight rates continue to climb 🏗️ AI-driven data center construction is helping support demand 📉 Other freight sectors, including housing, continue to lag The result is a freight market where pricing is strong, but demand isn't evenly distributed. Are you seeing this play out in your network? 👉 bit.ly/3QYh3pP

The produce season squeeze is beginning to ease🥬 📉 Shortage conditions are easing in some markets 📦 Surplus is beginning to return 🚚 Seasonal produce flows continue to reshape freight demand What changes are you seeing in produce markets this week? 👉 bit.ly/4fo9CBz

What does it take to lead one of the industry's largest carriers through a changing freight market?👀 Chris Caplice talks with Schneider's newly appointed President and CEO, Jim Filter, about stepping into the role, evolving carrier strategies, AI, autonomous trucks, and what's ahead for transportation 👉 bit.ly/42HyzRg

Trucking tonnage took a short-term dip🚛 Is this a temporary slowdown or a sign of a bigger shift in freight? 👉 bit.ly/3QXEAar

Three records, one uneasy week. Dry van linehaul (rate minus fuel) hit $2.49/mile, a new Week 27 high that beats even 2021's pandemic peak. Reefer matched that 2021 record at $2.85/mile. Flatbed crossed $3.00/mile for the first time ever. On paper, it's the best week freight has seen in years. Look closer, and the story gets more complicated. Ton-mile volume grew just 0.2%, with almost all of that growth tied to AI infrastructure buildouts, not broader demand. And Florida's reefer season is winding down fast, pushing volume onto South Texas while Georgia carries the Southeast alone. If this rally is running on supply constraints and one hot sector, how exposed are you if either one shifts?