We noted a few months ago that historically, the number of available loads across the country will drop significantly going into the end of year holiday season. We have certainly experienced that expected drop and available loads have begun to increase again in January; however, not nearly to the same degree as last year at this same time.

We often highlight specific areas that experience sharp changes in the number of available loads. The accompanying chart shows the 2014 monthly average number of available loads by geographic region. You can see that the Gulf South, Southeast and Great Lakes regions have experienced some of the most dramatic variations over the past year. These fluctuations help explain the considerable variations in freight costs from month to month in these regions. Conversely, the Southwest, Great Plains, Mountain West, Northwest and Northeast regions were all fairly steady throughout the year and freight costs remained comparatively stable.