The Weekly Report brings you updates on the most important driver recruiting metrics each and every week. In addition to updated click, search and rates, we cover a new story of the week. This week’s story – While problematic, the current port congestion issues we are experiencing are just a symptom of much larger supply chain problems.
New episodes of the Weekly Report premiere every Wednesday at 10 AM CT on our YouTube channel and blog page.
We provide the Weekly Report in numerous formats every week. Which one is right for you? Watch the latest reports on our Recruiting Resources or YouTube pages, use our Numbers at a Glance section for quick visual references, download the Weekly Report PDF (available below), read the transcript, or listen to the audio version of the November 3, 2021, Weekly Report below.
Numbers At A Glance – November 3, 2021
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Spot Rates |
| WoW: Δ Up 5¢ per mile |
|---|
Rates by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 8¢ per mile |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 2¢ per mile |
| WoW: Flatbed Δ Up 4¢ per mile |
Load Volume |
| WoW: Δ Up 2% |
|---|
Volume by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 4% |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated ∇ Down 1% |
| WoW: Flatbed Δ Up 1% |
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[one_half_last]
Truck Postings |
| WoW: Δ Up 5% *Compared to Two Weeks Ago* |
|---|
Truck Driver Searches |
| WoW: ∇ Down 3% |
|---|
| MoM: ∇ Down 25% |
| YoY: ∇ Down 19% |
Clicks On Driver Postings |
| WoW: ∇ Down 15% |
|---|
| MoM: Δ Up 25% |
| YoY: Δ Up 58% |
[/one_half_last]
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November 3, 2021, Driver Recruiting Insights
Would you like to have your own copy of the trucking industry data? All of the information covered in this week’s report for November 3, 2021, is available for your convenience in PDF form below.
Click the image to download November 3, 2021 Driver Recruiting Insights PDF.
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Weekly Report – November 3, 2021 Transcript
Hello everyone and welcome to the Weekly Report. Thanks for joining us today. If you happen to be watching over on YouTube don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more of our driver recruiting content. For Randall-Reilly, I’m Joshua Miller. We hope you all had a fun and happy Halloween. Now … we’ve got all the latest numbers and rates for you so let’s get to it!
THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS
Truck driver searches were down across the board yet again. Searches were down 3% WoW, 25% MoM, and 19% YoY. Clicks on truck driver postings also saw a decrease WoW with a dip of 15%, but clicks were up 25% MoM, and 58% YoY.
The 3% drop in search rate is primarily from a decrease in searches for trainee/inexperienced driver job postings. The search rate for experienced driver job postings remained flat.
After three weeks of click volume reaching the highest levels since the onset of the pandemic, the click rate dropped by 15%. The majority of this decrease is again largely due to a drop in the number of clicks on trainee/inexperienced driver job postings. Though clicks on experienced driver postings were also down by 6%.
THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT
Total load postings increased by 2% WoW. Load postings for dry van were up 4%, flatbed increased by 1%, and refrigerated fell by 1% WoW. Truck availability was up 5%. Quick note here about this availability number. We still do not have any official numbers for last week’s availability to compare to, so this 5% increase is compared to two weeks ago … the last time we had solid truck availability data. Moving forward we should be able to once again resume supplying you with the WoW % changes.
Spot rates were up 5¢ per mile WoW, with all three major segments seeing increases. Dry van was up 8¢, refrigerated was up by 2¢, and flatbed saw an increase of 4¢ per mile WoW.
STORY OF THE WEEK
If you’ve turned on the news over the past few weeks you’ve likely seen a lot of time and coverage being devoted to the congestion at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. While this congestion is a problem, transportation industry leaders from all segments of the supply chain agree, the port congestion is merely a symptom to much a deeper and systemic problem.
The unprecedented freight demand across rail, ocean carriage, and trucking has exposed supply chain deficiencies. This coupled with labor shortages that continue to plague factories, transportation providers, and docks have only magnified the problem.
Exposing and improving existing chokeholds and bottlenecks throughout the supply chain is necessary to alleviate the rising pressure. Unfortunately, estimates indicate that this process could take three or possibly even four quarters to complete.
Associate Professor of Logistics at Michigan State University, Jason Miller, argues that the congestion in the L.A. area ports is more of a result of changes in purchasing behaviors than shortages in warehouse workers and truck drivers. For example, through the first nine months of 2021, the two L.A. area ports have processed 20% more twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) than in 2019.
That increase equates to an additional 1,315,207 TEUs. This increase is due to an unprecedented surge in purchases of (non-auto) durable goods. Since June 2020, (non-auto) durable goods demand has averaged 24.5% above 2019 levels. While this certainly doesn’t mean things are operating smoothly, it is a testament to the system that it has been able to hold up under such prolonged stress.
That does it for the Weekly Report. Don’t forget you can get your own PDF covering all the information we went over in today’s report. That is always available on the main blog page for today’s report as well as in the description section of the YouTube video. We look forward to seeing you back here next week as we cover all the latest recruiting data from this week. Until then, have a great week everybody.
