PORTLAND, Ore. — Record diesel prices helped push truckload rates higher in September despite lower volumes for dry van and refrigerated freight compared with August, according to DAT Freight & Analytics.
Spot and contract rates, including fuel, rose for all three equipment types as the monthly national average on-highway diesel price surpassed $6 for the first time. Excluding fuel, van and flatbed rates declined in both markets while reefer rates increased.
DAT Truckload Volume Index
Monthly freight volumes were mixed, but all three equipment types remained below year-earlier levels. The DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI) fell from August for van and reefer loads and increased for flatbed:
- Dry van: 252, down 1% from August and down 1% year over year
- Reefer: 178, down 5% from August and down 10% year over year
- Flatbed: 298, up 2% from August and down 7% year over year
Spot and Contract Rates Increased Month Over Month
National average broker-to-carrier spot rates rose for all three equipment types:
- Dry van: $3.01 a mile, up 12 cents from August and up 96 cents from September 2025.
- Reefer: $3.62 a mile, up 24 cents from August and up $1.18 from September 2025.
- Flatbed: $3.61 a mile, up 7 cents from August and up $1.11 from September 2025.
The monthly average reefer spot rate set a record, topping the previous high of $3.60 in January 2022. Reefer spot linehaul rates rose 9 cents from August to $2.70 a mile, while van fell 2 cents to $2.17 and flatbed fell 10 cents to $2.60. Linehaul rates exclude an amount equal to an average fuel surcharge.
National average contract rates paid by shippers to brokers also rose for all three equipment types:
- Dry van: $3.24 a mile, up 13 cents from August and up 82 cents from September 2025.
- Reefer: $3.58 a mile, up 16 cents from August and up 82 cents from September 2025.
- Flatbed: $4.04 a mile, up 12 cents from August and up 99 cents from September 2025.
Monthly average reefer and flatbed contract rates set records. Excluding fuel, contract linehaul rates changed by 5 cents or less from August: van fell 1 cent to $2.40 a mile, reefer rose 1 cent to $2.66, and flatbed fell 5 cents to $3.03.
Fuel Surcharges Set Records
Spot rates are typically negotiated as a single price per mile. DAT estimates the fuel portion of spot and contract rates using an average fuel surcharge, and in September that estimate reached a record for all three equipment types:
- Dry van: 84 cents a mile, up 14 cents from August
- Reefer: 92 cents a mile, up 15 cents from August
- Flatbed: $1.01 a mile, up 17 cents from August
The previous highs were set in June 2022: 75 cents for van, 82 cents for reefer, and 90 cents for flatbed. DAT’s monthly records go back to 2010.
For a truck traveling 500 miles a day at 6 miles per gallon, fuel cost about $524 a day at September’s average diesel price of $6.291 a gallon, compared with $310 in February when diesel averaged $3.722. That’s an additional $214 a day, or about $1,070 over a five-day week.
“On the spot market, where there is no separate fuel surcharge, what matters for carriers is whether the rates they negotiate can cover their higher fuel bills,” said Dean Croke, DAT’s principal industry analyst. “Rates usually take three to four weeks to catch up with rising diesel prices, and carriers have to pay for fuel in the meantime.”
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe.
