BEAVERTON, Ore. — There are three major threats to 2024’s freight market: Soft pricing; unpredictable costs; and threats of fraud and cyber crime.
This is according to DAT Freight & Analytics.
Freight shippers, brokers and carriers are shifting tactics and accelerating the use of market data and artifical intelligence (AI) driven analytics as they grapple with a shifting business landscape, according to the 2024 Freight Focus Report from DAT Freight & Analytics.
With insight from DAT iQ’s analytics team, the report outlines key themes for 2024:
- Shippers are using a more dynamic approach to procurement by mixing contract, dedicated and spot-market capacity.
- The expanding role that freight brokers are playing in shippers’ strategic planning.
- The unconsidered risk of poor data quality and insufficient data-science support on transportation operations.
- How business conditions in the coming year will test carriers’ ability to forecast demand and negotiate rates.
- Why the expanding scope of AI and machine learning will reduce risk in the supply chain, whether it’s for assessing partners or pricing truckload services.
“There will be more freight-related data than ever in 2024,” said DAT President and CEO Satish Maripuri. “Advanced analytics can crack the code on what those millions of data points will mean for your business in the year ahead. Shippers, brokers and carriers should prepare for an AI revolution and learn what separates breakthrough value from just marketing slogans.”
DAT’s 2024 Freight Focus report outlines top freight lanes and more keys to success for transportation decision-makers in the coming year. It’s free and available to download at www.dat.com/2024-DAT-Freight-Focus.
“We saw unstable markets through the pandemic, materializing into an extremely soft market post-pandemic. DAT’s data and analytics help us balance out and understand what the market bears today versus what the long-term future could look like,” said Jessica Jones, director of truckload pricing at Forward Air. “We’re using everything from RateView to Ratecast to DAT’s RFP tool to coach our people around trends and changes inside the marketplace.”
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
Is the market and freight rates suppose to go up; and will it be a good time to buy a Truck?