Freight Futures market to watch today: West Region/LAX to SEA (VLS)
After a holiday break, sentiment in the Trucking Freight Futures markets turned slightly bullish. After a week long swoon, the spot National contract (FUT.VNU202001) inched up by a fraction to settle at $1.449/mile. Nudging the National market higher was the West regional contract (FUT.VWU202001), which ended the day 0.4% higher to $1.508 as both the East regional (FUT.VEU202001) and South regional (FUT.VSU202001) contracts each closed down 0.1% to $1.614 and $1.223, respectively.
On the individual lanes, gainers outnumbered decliners by a margin of four to two, with one contract unchanged. In the East, it was a mixed bag as the PHL to CHI contract (FUT.VPC202001) gained a fraction to $1.086, the ATL to PHL contract (FUT.VAP202001) slipped 0.4% to $1.729 and the CHI to ATL contract (FUT.VCA202001) finished unchanged at $2.027. The LAX to DAL contract (FUT.VLD202001) in the South gained 0.6% on the day to $1.441; however, a 0.8% drop in the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL202001) to $1.006 dragged the region lower. Comfortably in the driver’s seat is the LAX to SEA contract (FUT.VLS202001) from the West which rose nearly $0.01 on the day to $2.052. This follows a $0.043 or 2.15% rise from last week. The SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL202001), which has been beaten down since the beginning of the year, has gotten up off the floor and risen for a third consecutive session to $0.965, up 0.5% on the day.
