Welcome back to the Weekly Report. This week we cover all of the latest driver recruiting data and tackle a new story of the week. This week’s story – some LTL companies have begun prioritizing freight in an effort to restore productivity. What does that mean for other LTL carriers? Check out the full report to find out.
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***UPDATE***
Shortly after the Weekly Report was filmed, FedEx announced it was reversing its decision. They are now resuming normal LTL pickups for all locations.
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How do you like your Weekly Report?
We provide the Weekly Report in numerous formats every week. Which one is right for you? Watch the latest reports on our Recruiting Resources or YouTube pages, use our Numbers at a Glance section for quick visual references, download the Weekly Report PDF (available below), read the transcript, or listen to the audio version of the June 23, 2021, Weekly Report below.
Numbers At A Glance – June 23, 2021
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Truck Driver Searches |
| WoW: Δ Up 11% |
|---|
| MoM: Δ Up 33% |
| YoY: ∇ Down 2% |
Load Volume |
| WoW: Δ Up 1% |
|---|
Volume by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 5% |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 9% |
| WoW: Flatbed ∇ Down 3% |
Spot Rates |
| WoW: ∇ Down 4¢ per mile *Declined Three Consecutive Weeks* |
|---|
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Clicks On Truck Driver Postings |
| WoW: ∇ Down 2% |
|---|
| MoM: Δ Up 21% |
| YoY: Δ Up 18% |
Truck Postings |
| WoW:∇ Down 8% |
|---|
Truck Posting by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van∇ Down 6% |
| WoW: Refrigerated ∇ Down 10% |
| WoW: Flatbed ∇ Down 9% |
Rates by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van ∇ Down 2¢ per mile |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 10¢ per mile |
| WoW: Flatbed ∇ Down 6¢ per mile |
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June 23, 2021 Driver Recruiting Insights
Would you like to have your own copy of the trucking industry data? All of the information covered in this week’s report for June 23, 2021, is available for your convenience in PDF form below.
Click the image to download the June 23, 2021, Driver Recruiting Insights PDF.
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Weekly Report – June 23, 2021 Transcript
Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Report. For Randall-Reilly I’m Joshua Miller. We’ve got a lot to go over today so let’s dig right into the numbers.
THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS
Searches for truck driving jobs increased last week as clicks eased slightly. The click-through rate dropped on all four major segments (those being company driver, owner-op, team, and trainee/inexperienced). Company driver postings saw the biggest drop in CTR with a 13% decline WoW. All three other segments had decreases in the low-to-mid-single-digit range.
And owner-operator was the only segment that actually increased in total clicks WoW. I know what you’re thinking here – how can total clicks be up but the click-through rate be down? Good question, glad you asked – it all comes back around to that increased search activity. Searches slightly outpaced clicks, which leads us to a decreased click-through rate. Now for the numbers.
Truck driver searches began to tick up as we saw increases of 11% WoW and 33% MoM, with a 2% drop YoY. For clicks on truck driver postings, we saw a decrease of 2% WoW, and gains of 21% MoM and 18% YoY.
THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT
Load postings inched up by 1% WoW with both dry van and refrigerated seeing increases. Dry van was up by 5% and refrigerated increased 9%, but flatbed fell 3% WoW. Truck postings tumbled by 8% WoW with all three segments decreasing in truck availability. Dry van was down 6%, refrigerated dropped 10%, and flatbed was down 9% WoW. And all this was as the ratio loads to trucks reached its highest level in three weeks.
Spot rates declined by 4¢ WoW. This decline now marks the first time rates have fallen in three consecutive weeks since the beginning of the year. Dry van dipped by 2¢ while flatbed decreased by 6¢ WoW. Refrigerated, however, saw an increase of 10¢ WoW, and that gain nearly erases the previous week’s rate decrease.
NOW FOR OUR STORY OF THE WEEK
Some less-than-truckload carriers are prioritizing freight and turning away pickups in an effort to help their overwhelmed terminals and restore productivity levels. For instance, just last week FedEx Freight, the FedEx LTL division, stopped normal truck pickups at locations for almost 1,400 shippers.
But FedEx is far from alone in prioritizing freight at the moment. Industry representatives point out that LTL carriers are typically extremely selective in the shipments they accept from both new and existing customers. In addition to that historical selectiveness, carriers are now also using pricing power to help manage capacity.
With LTL carriers like FedEx Freight choosing to turn away business, at least temporarily, the spot market is becoming flooded with rejected freight. While it’s likely very frustrating for shippers, that’s good news for other LTL trucking companies looking to pick up new loads. Not only is there a higher demand at the moment, but it could lead to increased profitability for LTL companies as shippers in need to move freight will likely be open to paying more.
The factors straining the supply chain as a whole over the past several months (increased freight, low inventory, and fewer truck drivers – to name a few) are helping to create a very favorable time for LTL carriers. And it’s likely that the favorable conditions will continue for LTL carriers even longer than for truckload carriers.
Adding less-than-truckload capacity is more difficult as the typical hub-and-spoke networks require many facilities to mix freight, and by contrast, pretty much anyone with a truck can move a full load for a single customer at any time, which helps diminish the truckload capacity crunch.
And that’s it for this week’s report. For updated driver recruiting numbers and a new story of the week come on back and see us next week, and every week after that while you’re at it. New reports debut every Wednesday morning both on our blog and YouTube channel. Until next week, have a great week everybody.
