Each week, MarketFIT™ from Express Freight Finance analyzes real-time freight market data to surface the most favorable and competitive markets across the country.
Rather than reacting to yesterday’s trends or generic load board averages, MarketFIT helps carriers and brokers make smarter decisions in the moment — from where to drive next, to how to price lanes, to when to push for stronger rates.
MarketFIT Platform Overview
With MarketFIT, Express Freight Finance clients gain access to in-depth dashboards covering 125+ U.S. markets and thousands of active freight lanes, all updated continuously to reflect real-world conditions.
If this is your first time here, watch our short overview below featuring Dan Hadley, President & CEO of Express Freight Finance, to see how MarketFIT turns raw data into actionable strategy inside your business.
What This Week’s Data Shows
Below is a snapshot of this week’s live MarketFIT data, highlighting key shifts in demand, capacity, and pricing across top U.S. freight markets.
Freight market conditions in Duluth, MN improved dramatically over the past week, with the Overall Fit Score increasing by 20.25 points to 32.94. This sharp increase brings the score to its highest level during the period shown and represents a substantial recovery from the late-July low of 7.76. Current conditions indicate significantly tighter capacity, driven primarily by exceptionally elevated carrier rejection activity despite a slightly unfavorable freight-flow balance. As a major transportation hub in northeastern Minnesota, Duluth supports freight movements associated with mining, forestry, manufacturing, agriculture, port operations, and regional distribution across the Upper Midwest.
Outbound Tender Volume is at 5.6, compared to 6.5 for Inbound Tender Volume, resulting in a -0.9 Head Haul Index. This slight negative differential indicates that inbound freight volume modestly exceeds outbound demand, suggesting that more equipment may be entering the market than leaving with outbound loads. While this dynamic would typically place some downward pressure on rates, the imbalance is relatively small and is currently outweighed by the market’s exceptionally elevated carrier rejection activity.
The Outbound Tender Reject Index (OTRI) is currently at 35.43, indicating extremely elevated carrier rejection activity and severely constrained contracted capacity. An OTRI above 35 suggests that carriers are rejecting more than one-third of contracted outbound tenders, potentially pushing a substantial amount of freight into the spot market. This level of rejection activity gives carriers greater pricing leverage and can create significant upward pressure on spot rates as shippers compete for limited available capacity.
Overall, Duluth is demonstrating strong positive market momentum, supported by a sharp week-over-week increase in the Fit Score and a substantial recovery from its late-July low. Although the Head Haul Index remains slightly negative, the exceptionally high OTRI suggests that capacity constraints are the dominant market force and that conditions currently favor carriers. As a key Upper Midwest freight and port market, Duluth’s conditions will continue to be influenced by mining and forestry activity, manufacturing output, port-related shipments, seasonal agricultural flows, and regional distribution demand.
Carriers Continue To Find Strong Opportunities With These Lanes:
- Chicago, IL → Detroit, MI — Avg. Rate per Mile: $3.75
- Los Angeles, CA → Phoenix, AZ — Avg. Rate per Mile: $3.51
- Ontario, CA → Portland, OR — Avg. Rate per Mile: $3.04
These lanes continue to offer attractive earning potential as pricing remains elevated across major Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast freight corridors, providing carriers with consistent opportunities in high-demand regional markets.
Load Availability & Lane Rates Intelligence
Zero in on where freight is actually moving right now — highlighting lanes with rising demand, tightening capacity, and improving rate potential.
Use this MarketFIT data to spot pockets of opportunity as they emerge, compare lanes side by side, and prioritize routes that offer the best balance of volume and pricing — before conditions shift.
Below is a snapshot of this week’s load availability and lane rate data across key markets.
You can learn more about MarketFIT and request a demo by visiting MarketFIT.