Market Demand Index (MDI)

The freight market is still tight in 2019 despite changing conditions over the course of 2018 that originally drove the market.

Truckstop.com is committed to helping the freight community better leverage market data. See below for the market update from the week of February 18-23, 2019. What It Is This graph shows the ratio of loads posted to trucks posted by equipment type. Why It’s Useful There is a strong correlation between MDI and average spot

An explanation of Truckstop.com’s Market Demand Index with the ratio of loads posted to trucks posted by equipment type.

If you’re familiar with the Perry Rule of Three, you may be looking at the latest Truckstop.com Market Demand Index (MDI) numbers for dry van with alarm. We’ve now had four consecutive weeks of elevated numbers. The change has coincided with the normal spring safety enforcement period, suggesting a strong enforcement effect. While there is likely some fire to go with that smoke, we need to look carefully before concluding that the market has moved to a new and more dramatic level of tightness.

Week 25 Market Analysis – Has Something Happened?

Total MDI: Up 3.9 points from the previous week The MDI is a measure of relative truck demand in the spot market. It compares load availability to truck availability. The MDI for Total equipment increased 3.9 points in the latest week to 42.7, an increase of 10.0%. Compared to last year, the MDI is up

Total MDI: Down 1.9 points from the previous week The MDI is a measure of relative truck demand in the spot market. It compares load availability to truck availability. The MDI for Total equipment decreased 1.9 points in the latest week to 35.3, a decrease of 5.1%. Compared to last year the MDI is up

Total MDI: Down 0.1 points from the previous week The MDI is a measure of relative truck demand in the spot market. It compares load availability to truck availability. The MDI for Total equipment decreased 0.1 points in the latest week to 26.7, a decrease of 0.5%.  Compared to last year the MDI is up

Truckstop.com’s Market Demand Index saw a steady rise through the nine-week period from Feb. 8 through April 11. After a rocky start to 2016, the MDI slipped to 8.30 on Feb. 8, but rebounded over the nine-week period to 15.00 on April 4 before dropping back to 13.99 on the final week of April 11.

Truckstop.com’s Market Demand Index took a strong hit in the final five weeks of the period from Dec. 7 through Feb. 8, as shown in Truckstop.com’s weekly Trans4Cast newsletter. The MDI came in at 10.87 Dec. 7 and surged to 14.59 in the Jan. 4 newsletter, but then plummeted over the next five weeks to