Spot market freight availability increased by 9 percent in September, compared to August, according to the TransCore Freight Index, a measure of truckload freight volume found on load boards supported by the DAT Network, including 3sixty Freight Match and TruckersEdge.net.

The 9-percent month-to-month uptick continues a three-month trend of better-than-seasonal improvement. Likewise, load-to-truck ratios on the spot market have been trending upward since February.

Although the September 2009 spot freight volume was off by 14 percent compared to that of a year ago, it appears to be on track to exceed the fourth quarter of 2008 on a year-over-year basis.

Brokers, 3PLs, carriers and owner-operators in North America list more than 50 million loads and trucks per year across a variety of services feeding TransCore's DAT Network. As a result of this high volume, TransCore's Freight Index is representative of the ups and downs in U.S. spot market freight availability.

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