Tender Rejection (TRI)

Trucking

WHAT IS IT?

Overview

Tender Reject Indices are measurements of carriers’ willingness to accept the loads that are tendered to them by shippers under contract terms. It is expressed as a percentage of loads rejected to total loads tendered. TRI is organized in terms of outbound, inbound, trailer type and length of haul. i.e. a carrier rejecting 2 of the 4 loads tendered would have a 50% TRI. See below for further descriptions of TRI by type.

Origin/Destination

Outbound TRI are tender rejection percentages organized by the origin market. Inbound TRI are tender rejection percentages organized by the destination market. In SONAR these are geographical markets labelled by the larger cities. i.e. the Atlanta (ATL) market covers central and northern Georgia. The OTRI.ATL would be the percentage of loads rejected versus the total loads tendered originating in the Atlanta market. The ITRI.ATL would be the percentage of loads rejected that deliver in the Atlanta market.
OTRI – Outbound tender rejection index
ITRI – Inbound tender rejection index

Trailer Type

Tender rejections from the perspective of trailer type:
VOTRI/VITRI – Van tender rejection index (VTRI is a legacy index)

VITRI – Van Inbound Tender Reject
VITRIW – Van Inbound Tender Reject Index – Weekly Change
VITRIF – Van Inbound Tender Reject Index – Two Week Change
VITRIM – Van Inbound Tender Reject Index – Monthly Change
VITRIY – Van Inbound Tender Reject Index – Annual Change
VOTRI – Van Outbound Tender Rejection
VOTRIW – Van Outbound Tender Reject Index – Weekly Change
VOTRIF – Van Outbound Tender Reject Index – Two Week Change
VOTRIM – Van Outbound Tender Reject Index – Monthly Change
VOTRIY – Van Outbound Tender Reject Index – Annual Change

ROTRI/RITRI – Reefer tender rejection index (RTRI is now a legacy index)

RITRI – Reefer Inbound Tender Rejection
RITRIW – Reefer Inbound Tender Reject Index – Weekly Change
RITRF – Reefer Inbound Tender Reject Index – Two Week Change
RITRM – Reefer Inbound Tender Reject Index – Monthly Change
RITRY – Reefer Inbound Tender Reject Index – Annual Change
ROTRI – Reefer Outbound Tender Rejection
ROTRIW – Reefer Outbound Tender Rejection – Weekly Change
ROTRIF – Reefer Outbound Tender Rejection – Two Week Change
ROTRIM – Reefer Outbound Tender Rejection – Monthly Change
ROTRIY – Reefer Outbound Tender Rejection – Annual Change

FOTRI/FITRI – Flatbed tender rejection index (FTRI is now a legacy index)

FITRI – Flatbed Inbound Tender Rejection
FITRW – Flatbed Inbound Tender Reject Index – Weekly Change
FITRF – Flatbed Inbound Tender Reject Index – Two Week Change
FITRM – Flatbed Inbound Tender Reject Index – Monthly Change
FITRY – Flatbed Inbound Tender Reject Index – Annual Change
FOTRI – Flatbed Outbound Tender Rejection
FOTRIW – Flatbed Outbound Tender Reject Index – Weekly Change
FOTRIF – Flatbed Outbound Tender Reject Index – Two Week Change
FOTRIM – Flatbed Outbound Tender Reject Index – Monthly Change
FOTRIY – Flatbed Outbound Tender Reject Index – Annual Change

IMOTRI/IMITRI – Intermodal tender rejection index

IMOTRI – Intermodal Outbound Tender Rejection Index
IMITRI – Intermodal Inbound Tender Rejection Index

Length of Haul

Length of haul tender rejection rates allow you to see the load rejections by total distance traveled on the load. The mileage bands are listed below:
CTRI – City (local) loads that have a <100 mile length of haul, (CTRI is now a legacy index)

COTRI – City Outbound Tender Rejection

CITRI – City Inbound Tender Rejection

STRI – Short haul. Loads that have a 100-250 mile length of haul (STRI is now a legacy index)

SOTRI – Short Haul Outbound Tender Rejection

SITRI – Short Haul Inbound Tender Reject

MTRI – Mid length of haul. Loads that have a 250-450 mile length of haul (MTRI is now a legacy index)

MOTRI – Midhaul Outbound Tender Rejection

MITRI – Midhaul Inbound Tender Reject

TTRI – Tweener length of haul. Loads that are 450-800 mile length of haul (TTRI is now a legacy index)

TOTRI – Tweener Outbound Tender Rejection

TITRI – Tweener Inbound Tender Reject

LTRI – Longhaul length of haul. Loads that are 800+ mile length of haul (LTRI is now a legacy index)

LOTRI – Longhaul Outbound Tender Rejection

LITRI – Longhaul Inbound Tender Reject

LOTRI and TOTRI are also offered in market granularity where volume allows. Example LOTRI.LAX = longhaul tender rejection index for the outbound Los Angeles market

Tri-Deltas

The TRI Deltas are 3 indices that measure the difference between the outbound tender rejection index for today and 1 week (OTRIW), 2 weeks (OTRIF), and monthly (OTRIM). i.e. the OTRIW.ATL = 1.5% today with the OTRI.ATL = 30.5% today. That means 1 week ago the OTRI.ATL = 29%. These variations of the TRIs are also available for the equipment type TRIs. i.e. National Reefer TRI weekly change = RTRIW.USA.

Lanes

TRI lanes are tender rejection rates organized by an origin and destination lane pair. Lanes with enough volume will have a TRI lane. The ticker format is OTRI.3 digit origin market 3 digit destination market. Lanes are also offered in tri-delta format, showing weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly changes.

Example of a lane: If a user wanted to see the Los Angeles to Dallas tender rejection index, they would type OTRI.LAXDAL

Example of lane TRI-delta: If a user wanted to see the weekly change for the Los Angeles to Dallas TRI, they would type OTRIW.LAXDAL.

WHO IS INTERESTED?

Anyone that has an interest in freight movement patterns. i.e. Shippers, freight brokers, fleet managers, executives in a transportation company, owner operators

WHAT DOES IT TELL ME?

The TRI is an indicator of carrier activity. The higher the TRI percentage the less carrier availability to move the freight at the contracted rate in the market. The reasons for a carrier to reject the load tender are 1) lack of capacity and 2) too low of a rate. Fast movements up or down in a market indicate potential spot market activity as well as freight volume surges and network imbalances.

Sub breakdowns of the TRI indices (the following are different organizational perspectives of the Tender Rejection Index):

Origin/Destination

Outbound tender rejections will tell you about carrier behavior in the origin market. The point of origin in trucking is the easiest to relate to as it is telling of the capacity in that market. The reasons carriers are more apt to reject loads from an origin perspective are when 1) capacity is low and 2) they can get a better rate moving other freight in the area.
Inbound tender rejections will tell you about general carrier attitudes about going into a market. Unlike the origin, the inbound side will be more descriptive of how a carrier feels about ending the load in a market. For instance, in a market with little freight coming out of it, carriers will be less willing to move freight into it. Weather and traffic patterns can also make a market less desirable.

Trailer Type

Trailer type rejection rates will tell you about the types of freight that require specialized trailer usage. Freight that requires temperature controlled trailers like produce and alcohol will have an impact on the RTRI. For instance, when the produce harvests occur RTRI percentages will increase. A change in reefer trailer capacity can also help explain why capacity in general has changed, as those reefer trailers are not available for other types of freight. Dry van freight movement patterns will have an impact on the VTRI. Van freight is the largest trailer type represented as most freight can be carried in a van. Flatbed or open sided trailer activity will be represented by the FTRI.

Length of Haul

Length of haul tells you what carriers are more willing to accept in each mileage break. They are more indicative of the general market itself as it will describe what kind of hauls are available and desirable. If carriers are rejecting generally desirable regional freight with more frequency it is a sign that market capacity is tightening. It can also indicate the volume of freight available in each range is changing.

Trucking