BEAVERTON, Ore. — Load posts on DAT One topped 3.2 million, exceeding 3 million for the third straight week in the final full shipping week of 2025.
“The series of storms that crippled the Midwest created intense demand for refrigerated trailers during the first two weeks of December, including shippers using reefers to protect dry van freight from freezing. Midwest reefer spot rates jumped 23% in the week immediately after Thanksgiving,” said Dean Croke, industry analyst, DAT Freight & Analytics.
The total number of available trucks declined 12% to 226,556.
Broker-to-Carrier 7-Day Average Spot Rates
â–² Dry van: $2.32 per mile, up 6 cents week over week
â–² Refrigerated: $2.65 per mile, up 8 cents
â–² Flatbed: $2.48 per mile, up 4 cents
Dry Van
â–² Van loads: 1.6 million, up 5% week over week
â–¼ Van equipment: 159,658, down 12%
â–² Linehaul rate: $1.96 per mile, up 7 cents
Reefer
â–² Reefer loads: 757,258, up 10% week over week
â–¼ Reefer equipment: 42,511, down 9%
â–² Linehaul rate: $2.29 per mile, up 8 cents
“Looking at the big reefer freight markets in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Elizabeth, N.J., the December rate-per-mile trajectory is almost identical to last year’s, but a week earlier and up 10% due to cold weather and calendar effects, rather than necessarily sustained demand,” Croke said.
Flatbed
â–² Flatbed loads: 813,277, up 5% week over week
â–¼ Flatbed equipment: 24,387, down 16%
â–² Linehaul rate: $2.12 per mile, up 5 cents
“It’s too soon to say whether current demand for equipment signals a market turn,” Coke said. “The picture will be clearer by late January, when strawberries should be shipping out of central Florida; avocados will start arriving from Mexico ahead of the Super Bowl; leafy greens will be moving out of California and Arizona; and red roses will be arriving in Miami from Colombia and Ecuador before Valentine’s Day.”
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.
