PORTLAND, Ore., May 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DAT Freight & Analytics will showcase how shippers can use DAT iQ to anticipate freight market trends and manage volatility at the 2026 Gartner® Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo™, taking place May 4–6 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Shippers are navigating shifts that last year’s procurement playbooks were not built to handle. DAT iQ, the company's freight intelligence platform, helps them see those shifts clearly:

• Spot and contract rates are moving quickly. Dry van spot rates are running more than 20% higher than a year ago, while contract rates have moved less than 5%—a gap that signals a market turn.
• Spot freight capacity is contracting. Available spot capacity is returning to levels last seen in 2018, when a tighter market left shippers exposed when routing guides failed. Shippers heading into bid season with last cycle's assumptions risk locking in rates that the market is about to move past.
• Fuel economics are shifting. Carriers are recapturing far more of the rising trucking fuel cost on the contract side than on the spot side. This shift in fuel cost management is fundamentally changing how they bid and cover loads.
• Intelligence is a CFO-level concern: Procurement is increasingly evaluated on cost avoidance—catching costs before they hit the P&L. In this volatile cost environment, freight market intelligence isn’t just for transportation analysts. CFOs are looking for reliable data and analytics, too.
  
  

Ready-now intelligence for shippers

DAT iQ is built for that environment. Trained on more than $1 trillion in verified freight transactions, it gives shippers the market visibility, benchmarks, and forecasts they need to validate the rates they are paying, identify where they are overpaying, and plan freight procurement and capacity strategies with confidence.

“While many enterprises are still assembling the data foundation they need to put AI to work on procurement, DAT iQ is a ready-now solution for shippers,” said Patrick Pretorius, GM of the Shipper Business at DAT Freight & Analytics. “The data, the benchmarks, and the forecasts are available now, and they are built on real market transactions, not assumptions.”

Where to find DAT: DAT will exhibit its DAT iQ solutions for shippers at Booth 230.

Speaking at Gartner: DAT’s Dr. Chris Caplice, chief scientist, and Dean Croke, principal market analyst, will present “DAT Freight & Analytics: Reading the Road Ahead” on Tuesday, May 5, from 12:05 to 12:25 p.m. The session will examine where the truckload market is heading and how business cycles, policy shifts, and structural changes are reshaping pricing, procurement timing, and lane strategy.

About Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo

Dynamic by Design. Renew, Rethink and Recode Next-Gen Supply Chains. CSCOs are called to predict disruptions before they happen and to achieve unprecedented visibility and transparency. They are leading through the rapid pace of AI and technological advancement, enabling faster data-driven decisions to fuel growth and protect margin. Join us at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo in Orlando to inspire ideas, fuel bold experimentation, and accelerate transformation – by design.

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About DAT Freight & Analytics

DAT Freight & Analytics operates DAT One, North America's largest truckload freight marketplace; DAT iQ, the industry's leading freight data analytics service; and Trucker Tools, the leader in load visibility. Shippers, transportation brokers, carriers, news organizations, and industry analysts rely on DAT for market trends and data insights, informed by nearly 700,000 daily load posts and a database exceeding $1 trillion in freight market transactions. Founded in 1978, DAT is a business unit of Roper Technologies (Nasdaq: ROP), a constituent of the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Fortune 1000. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, DAT continues to set the standard for innovation in the trucking and logistics industry. Visit dat.com for more information.

Contact

Georgia Jablon
Corporate Communications, DAT Freight & Analytics
georgia.jablon@dat.com 
904-305-6454