Monday, October 24, 2022

Freight Rates Go Down, Down, Down

Freight rates are an excellent example of the supply/demand equasion.  When rates are taking a dive, as they are now, it means that there's a lot less freight to be moved.

In September of 2021 the average cost for shipping a container from Asia to the U.S. West Coast exceeded $20,000. Last week, the average cost to ship a container from Asia to the U.S. West Coast had declined 84% from a year earlier to $2,720....

That's not all.

 ...Today’s daily national truckload index rate was $1.78, just $.03 above the breakeven rate for some of the truckload carriers in the market. Note: this is peak season....

Elsewhere it is reported that major national 'contract' carriers are accepting freight-tenders in the spot market at contract rates; that is, they're low-bidding to get the business.

It's fair to say that 2023 will be a challenging year, at least for retailers.   That means that it will be a challenging 3 & 4Q for manufacturers.

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