Since late January, the Houston outbound tender rejection rate rose from just 3.0% to 7.7%, primarily in response to difficult operating conditions caused by Winter Storm Fern. Its Weighted Rejection Index ranking is third out of 135 regions, indicating that changing market conditions in Houston are having a large impact on the national freight market.
The Houston outbound rejection rate of 7.7% is well below the national average of 13.1%, and has been consistently below the national rejection rate since August. That is related to its status as a backhaul market (its HAUL value is currently -33; negative numbers mean a freight market has more inbound tenders than outbound tenders), often resulting in excess trucks looking for loads.
In accordance with its rapidly rising outbound tender rejection rate, 40% of Houston’s outbound lanes posted above average rate increases (net of those with below average increases), using a 4-day rolling average.
