Freight Futures markets to watch today: West and South Regions
Sentiment in the Trucking Freight Futures markets was generally bearish on Wednesday with the spot National contract (FUT.VNU201911) closing down 0.34% to $1.471/mile. Pushing the National average lower were the West regional (FUT.VWU201911) and the South regional (FUT.VSU201911) contracts, which settled down 0.44% and 0.67% to $1.602 and $1.333, respectively. The East regional contract (FUT.VEU201911) ended the trading session unchanged at $1.478.
Driving overall market sentiment continues to be the individual lanes in the South and West. In the South, the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL201911) dropped 0.8% and closed at $0.99/mile. It’s sister contract, LAX to DAL (FUT.VLD201911) dropped 0.6% and settled at $1.675. The LAX to SEA contract (FUT.VLS201911) slid 0.62% to $2.076 as did the SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL201911), which fell fractionally to $1.127. The continued downward pressure on the individual lanes has caused the futures forward curves in the South (FWD.VLD) and West (FUT.VLS) to shift lower over the past 30 days. The East region remains relatively calm with the ATL to PHI contract (FUT.VAP201911) closing higher by a fraction to $1.602 and the CHI to ATL contract (FUT.VCA201911) retreating similarly to $1.903. The PHI to CHI contract (FUT.VPC201911) finished unchanged at $0.927.
