Chart of the Week: Outbound Tender Quantity Index, Outbound Tender Rejection Index – USA SONAR: OTVI.USA, OTRI.USA
The nationwide Outbound Tender Quantity Index (OTVI) — which measures truckload demand — hit an all-time low for the month of October final week, registering a worth of 9,311. This locations the index roughly 19% decrease than final yr and 15% beneath 2023 for a similar interval. Usually, a collapse of this magnitude would set off a corresponding drop in tender rejections and spot charges. Nonetheless, practically the other has occurred: rejection charges (OTRI) are larger than each 2023 and 2024 ranges, whereas spot charges have moved erratically over the previous two weeks however trended largely upward. This implies that capability is leaving the market sooner than demand is declining — however let’s dive deeper.
A standard query individuals ask is, “What number of vehicles are on the street?” Whereas intuitive, that’s an incomplete query. There might be 1,000,000 vehicles accessible for 500 hundreds, and we may nonetheless face a capability downside if these vehicles aren’t in the proper locations. Any such imbalance occurs incessantly, even in well-supplied markets, although the consequences are normally short-lived.
The rise of freight brokers and cargo boards has improved provider visibility and connectivity with accessible freight. These instruments speed up market response instances, which might make charges risky within the quick time period however assist forestall extended capability shortages.
Practically each provider community operates out of stability. Carriers are always repositioning tools from markets with extra inbound freight to these with higher outbound demand. Southern California is the quintessential instance of this imbalance.
In Los Angeles, the Outbound Tender Quantity Index (OTVI) constantly exceeds the Inbound Tender Quantity Index (ITVI). With out carriers deliberately driving in empty — or “deadheading” — this market would rapidly run out of accessible vehicles.
Carriers compensate by charging larger charges for hundreds leaving undersupplied markets like Los Angeles (generally known as headhauls) and decrease charges for freight leaving oversupplied markets (generally known as backhauls).
One of the vital well-known backhaul markets is Lakeland, Florida, the place tender knowledge signifies practically twice as a lot outbound freight as inbound freight. This imbalance is why charges from central Florida are sometimes among the many lowest within the nation.
Over the previous 18 months, long-haul demand — outlined as hundreds transferring greater than 800 miles—has fallen about 30% year-over-year. A lot of this decline is because of freight shifting towards rail and intermodal service. With many shippers pulling stock ahead and increasing home supply timelines, the urgency to maneuver freight by truck has diminished.
Intermodal at the moment presents near-record financial savings in comparison with trucking, making it a straightforward selection for shippers who can use it. However this shift has disrupted connectivity between areas, making trucking extra regionalized and tougher to keep up as a nationwide community. Consequently, the market has grow to be extra weak to demand spikes in long-haul lanes.
This development is displaying up within the knowledge: long-haul tender rejection charges (LOTRI) climbed to 12.5% this month, the very best since Might 2024. At the moment, a wave of surprising West Coast imports — pushed by considerations over maritime service stability — brought about a short lived surge in rejections. The latest surge had no accompanying quantity.
Current crackdowns on immigrant and non-domiciled drivers can also be contributing to tightening situations. California, a frequent goal of Trump administration enforcement efforts, has seen extra scrutiny than different states, suggesting regional political bias in regulatory actions.
Whereas there’s a case to be made that current redoubling of efforts by ICE on the trucking sector could also be an element not too long ago, it’s arduous to say that it has been the case all yr lengthy. Rejection charges elevated with no related enhance from demand in July and August earlier than falling again in September. That is extra supportive of provider community challenges than regulatory exercise.
Spot charges from Los Angeles to Chicago — a lane that competes closely with intermodal—have been more and more erratic all through 2025 and trending larger since Might. Anybody working on this lane on the transactional aspect has doubtless skilled rising inconsistency in accessible capability.
FMCSA knowledge analyzed by Provider Particulars exhibits capability continues to exit the market at a fast tempo. This knowledge is extra reflective of the multi-year freight downturn than ICE raids and regulatory stress. The added pressure from the federal government helps to exacerbate the consequences of the lengthy operating freight recession and making it much less weak to the worsening demand aspect economics.
The FreightWaves Chart of the Week is a chart choice from SONAR that gives an attention-grabbing knowledge level to explain the state of the freight markets. A chart is chosen from 1000’s of potential charts on SONAR to assist members visualize the freight market in actual time. Every week a Market Skilled will submit a chart, together with commentary, reside on the entrance web page. After that, the Chart of the Week will probably be archived on FreightWaves.com for future reference.
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