With the help of Jim Tennant of The Tennant Group and Michael Meyer of Rate-Highway, Inc., we are conducting rate surveys on a weekly basis and providing analysis and comments where appropriate. We publish this monthly recap in our electronic edition and more comprehensive looks in the print editions.

December 2016 rate quotes were down $1.02 nationwide from a year ago to end a volatile year. With year-to-year comparisons ranging from down  $6.11 in January to up to $5.48 in September, the last three months in 2016 were relatively stable.

The weekly averages for the last two calendar years show an essentially flat year-to-year comparison, although individual regions have shown some movement.

Although December was down only about a dollar, the last two weeks of the month were down $8.42 and $11.13. As we have said previously, two weeks does not constitute a trend, but  those are large swings and do not bode well for the first quarter 2017.