While the winds of Hurricane Florence have subsided, the effects of the hurricane will be felt for weeks and months to come. More than 30 people have died in storm-related incidents and several towns remain flooded. Some rivers have not yet crested, which could bring more damage. In North Carolina alone, more than 1,000 roads are closed and the city of Wilmington—a port town—remains cut off with no road access in or out of the city.
As we mentioned in last week's blog post, freight follows a common pattern with major weather events:
1. Increased freight movement before the storm
Activity on DAT Load Boards certainly heated up in the days leading up to Hurricane Florence. There was plenty of warning that a major hurricane was about to make landfall, and trucks rushed to move freight in and out of the Southeast before the storm hit.
2. A pause during the storm
During the storm, people hunkered down and freight movement slowed. This is the phase we're in right now, as emergency responders move in to help with immediate needs and survey the damage.
3. Relief freight after the storm
As roads reopen, we’ll see emergency freight brought in. Van and reefer loads usually move in first, and flatbed demand picks up later with construction supplies equipment needed for cleanup and rebuilding.
.png.aspx?width=500&height=281 "image-(2).png")
Rates will change quickly
As roads reopen and relief and replenishment supplies move in, rates are sure to rise in the Southeast region. DAT customers can stay current on the latest point-to-point lane rates by using DAT RateView, which is integrated into many DAT load board subscriptions or available as a stand-alone product. This would be a good time to check the rate average time frame in your load board subscription. Rate averages are available for the past 90 days, 30 days, 15 days and 7 days. The most recent time frames will be the best gauge of what brokers are currently paying carriers on any given lane.
Freightliner’s Team Run Smart is partnering with DAT to offer a special on the TruckersEdge load boardto its members. Sign up for TruckersEdge today and get your first 30 days free by signing up at www.truckersedge.com/378402 or entering “promo717” during sign up.
* This offer is available to new TruckersEdge subscribers only
About TruckersEdge®, powered by DAT®
TruckersEdge® Load Board is part of the trusted DAT® Load Board Network. DAT offers more than 68 million live loads and trucks per year. Tens of thousands of loads per day are found first or exclusively on the DAT Network through TruckersEdge.
This article was originally features on DAT.com.