BEAVERTON, Ore. — Despite a post-holiday bump in load and truck posts, spot truckload rates slipped last week
Load posts on DAT One rebounded after the holiday-shortened workweek, jumping 32% to 2.5 million loads during the week of July 6-12.
“That’s up 18% year over year,” DAT said. “The number of truck posts increased by 9% to 222,511. Despite higher load-to-truck ratios, national average van and reefer spot rates declined as load volumes approached a seasonal drop. Flatbed load posts surged to the highest week 28 total in three years.”
Broker-to-Carrier 7-Day Average Spot Rates
â–¼ Dry van: $2.06 per mile, down 1 cent week over week
â–¼ Refrigerated: $2.36 per mile, down 6 cents
— Flatbed: $2.47 per mile, unchanged
“At 1.17 million, the number of van load posts on DAT One was the highest since the week of May 11-17, when CVSA International Roadcheck occurred,” said Dean Croke, DAT iQ industry analyst. “The number of available reefer loads–614,849–was also the most since Roadcheck week.”
Dry van
â–² Van loads: 1.17 million, up 34% week over week
â–² Van equipment: 152,744, up 10%
â–¼ Linehaul rate: $1.69 net fuel, down 1 cent
â–² Loads per truck: 7.7, up from 6.3. 4-week average: 6.5, trending â–²
Reefer
â–² Reefer loads: 614,849, up 13% week over week
â–¼ Reefer equipment: 41,514, down 1%
â–¼ Linehaul rate: $2.00 net fuel, down 5 cents
â–² Loads per truck: 14.8, up from 13.2. 4-week average: 12.5, trending â–²
“The July 4 holiday marks the start of a slowdown in produce-hauling activity, and with it, lower spot reefer rates,” Croke said. “Although the national average reefer rate fell nearly 5 cents to $2.00 per mile, this year’s week 28 average was 2 cents higher than last year and nearly the same as 2023.”
Flatbed
â–² Flatbed loads: 792,281, up 47% week over week
â–¼ Flatbed equipment: 28,253, up 20%
— Linehaul rate: $2.10 net fuel, unchanged
â–² Loads per truck: 28.0, up from 22.8. 4-week average flatbed LTR: 24.9, trending â–²
“Houston led the nation in opportunities for flatbed haulers, with load posts increasing by 27% week over week,” Croke said. “The four busiest outbound flatbed lanes all originated in Houston.”
- Houston-Lubbock: $2.50 per mile.
- Houston-Fort Worth: $2.87 per mile.
- Houston-El Paso: $2.40 per mile.
- Houston-Dallas: $2.84 per mile
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
