Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) tracking ocean freight rates declined 2.6% this week, marking the fifth consecutive week of decreases.  The analyst in an update said that the trend indicates a significant shift in market dynamics following a volatile period induced by increased U.S. tariffs in April, and a subsequent China-U.S. tariff pause. Although the tariffs initially caused a lagged market reaction that saw rates climbing in May and surging into early June, this upward trajectory has not been sustained as rates have steadily dropped since mid-June. Trans-Pacific spot rates have also felt the impact, with prices from Shanghai to Los Angeles currently down by 4% to $2,817 per forty foot equivalent unit (FEU). Similarly, rates on the Shanghai to New York route have declined by 6%, to $4,539 per FEU.  Drewry said that despite these decreases, rates on both lanes remain higher than levels observed 10 weeks ago when tariff anxieties were initially escalating. Rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles are still up 4%, while those to New York have climbed by 24% compared to the figures on May 8.

American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council and Decisiv Inc., said parts and labor expenses dropped during the second quarter of 2023, according to data released in the latest Decisiv/TMC North American Service Event Benchmark Report. “With rising build rates for new equipment and less mileage reducing the need to operate aging trucks, fleets are finally seeing a definite improvement in parts and labor costs,” said Decisiv President and CEO Dick Hyatt. “The data that Decisiv collects and analyzes for TMC on Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standard system level codes points to a return to normalized trade cycles and more predictable service and repair costs. Along with greater stability, the highly detailed data and reporting enabled by Decisiv SRM allows fleets and service providers to focus on ways to continue to drive down expenses.”

“The frustratingly choppy freight environment continued in November,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Since hitting a low in January of this year, tonnage is up a total of 1.1%, but the path has been fraught with nice gains one month only to come back down the next. The good news is that the overall trend this year is up, albeit at a slow rate.” In November, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 112.5 compared with 114.6 in October. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was down 1% from the same month last year. The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 109.6 in November, 9.6% below October. The seasonally adjusted decrease follows a sequential 1.2% gain in October, which was unchanged from the November 19 press release.