Seasonal norms blunt recent improvements in freight markets

Slipping truckload demand obfuscates capacity exits Carriers have been rejecting more tenders the past few months, but the change would have been much greater if not for lackluster volume. (Chart: SONAR) SONAR's primary measure of volume, the national Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI), which measures total shipper requests to carriers, is down 2%, year over year. Weather and the timing of holidays make clean comparisons difficult this early in the year, but volume softness appears to be preventing tender rejection rates and spot rates from rising further. Yet, both of those metrics are higher year over year, suggesting the recent…