Blog

Are you interested in moving intermodal freight and expanding your owner operator business? Download the free DrayNow app from the App Store or Google Play store, or click the button below.

As you may have seen, DrayNow has the Intermodal Spot Rate Tracker to help carriers get an understanding of current pricing conditions on the DrayNow app. The tracker shows average spot rates across all markets for each week. We also include weekly updates that interpret the trends seen on the average spot rate chart.

A practical way to use the tracker is to decide whether a carrier is going to take freight from the app now or later. For example, if rates are trending up, they may decide to wait before taking freight to see if rates will continue their upward ascent. However, if average rates are trending down, carriers may try and fill their schedules for the next several days before spot rates possibly dip again.

On the flip side, if a carrier is seeing high average spot rates on the tracker, but lower rates on the app, they may decide to wait until they see something more in line with trends. If rates are trending lower and there’s freight on the app well above the average, carriers are likely to quickly pick that load up.

Using the current data on the tracker, carriers can also take a look at recent trends to guide their decisions. For example, the October 4th, 2021 update on the tracker shows that the average rate was $3.57, which could be considered in line with the weeks that preceded it. Because of this, one could assume that rates are going to continue staying in this range and then carriers can refer back to the app with this information and choose the right freight.

It’s essential to remember that because the DrayNow app is a marketplace, conditions are constantly changing. This means that sometimes the tracker is not completely reflective of the real-time marketplace at a certain point in time, but it does give carriers the overall trends that are being seen across the board. And most importantly, it’s the only tool within intermodal freight that provides this much transparency on spot rates.

If you’re interested in utilizing the Intermodal Spot Rate Tracker for your business, you should consider signing up for email updates here. We send out a weekly email that brings the entire spot rate update right to your inbox. This includes the chart as well as our analysis of the current trends and what to expect next.

Spot rates are fluctuating faster than ever, and DrayNow is here to help you and your business make more data-based decisions!