GOOD NEWS: THE FREIGHT MARKET IS ABOUT TO TURN UP

Apr 16, 2020 at 10:13 AM CST
Freight market forecasting is a tricky game these days. Historical freight market data models provide good reference points, but because of the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 (a classic example of a black swan event), we have to rely on current data to understand what is taking place in the freight market. The good news is that this is the very data that SONAR has been building for the past two years. SONAR’s data comes from a number of disparate sources, but most importantly, electronic tenders. A tender is essentially a request for a truck, sent from a shipper to a trucking company. Tenders are transmitted over EDI or API and are the preferred method in the contract freight market. The reason this is important is that tenders are transmitted at the time the shipper is requesting a truck, usually a few days before it is to be picked up. The other thing about tenders: they are actual load requests sent from the shipper’s freight routing system (TMS); are not self-reported; and are actual load requests. Tenders are important because they are leading indicators of the direction of the freight market and provide unparalleled freight market insights.

Apr 16, 2020 at 10:13 AM CST

Freight market forecasting is a tricky game these days. Historical freight market data models provide good reference points, but because of the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 (a classic example of a black swan event), we have to rely on current data to understand what is taking place in the freight market. The good news is that this is the very data that SONAR has been building for the past two years. SONAR’s data comes from a number of disparate sources, but most importantly, electronic tenders. A tender is essentially a request for a truck, sent from a shipper to a trucking company. Tenders are transmitted over EDI or API and are the preferred method in the contract freight market. The reason this is important is that tenders are transmitted at the time the shipper is requesting a truck, usually a few days before it is to be picked up. The other thing about tenders: they are actual load requests sent from the shipper’s freight routing system (TMS); are not self-reported; and are actual load requests. Tenders are important because they are leading indicators of the direction of the freight market and provide unparalleled freight market insights.