BEAVERTON, Ore. — Load posts on DAT One gave back most of the previous week’s gains, falling 18% to 2.2 million loads during the week of July 13-19.
“The spot market stabilized last week after a surge in activity the previous week,” Dean Croke, DAT iQ industry analyst. “Dry van carriers re-entered the spot market in force, increasing equipment posts by 3% week over week. The 3-cent decline in the average dry van linehaul rate was the most significant weekly decrease since the start of April.”
The number of truck posts increased by 4% to 245,420, which is still 41% lower year over year and the lowest total for Week 29 in at least nine years. Though last week’s load-to-truck ratios were relatively high compared to previous years, national average spot rates slumped.
Broker-to-Carrier 7-day Average Spot Rates, July 13-19:
â–¼ Dry van: $2.03 per mile, down 3 cents week over week
â–¼ Refrigerated: $2.34 per mile, down 2 cents
â–¼ Flatbed: $2.44 per mile, down 3 cents
“The average rate for DAT’s top 50 van lanes by load volume decreased by 2 cents to $2.01 per mile. That’s 35 cents higher than the national 7-day rolling average,” Croke said,
Dry Van
â–¼ Van loads: 1.01 million, down 17% week over week
â–² Van equipment: 165,402, up 3%
â–¼ Linehaul rate: $1.66 net fuel, down 3 cents
â–¼ Loads per truck: 6.1, down from 7.4. 4-week average: 6.6, trending â–²
“Outbound dry van freight volumes were ice cold, with the number of load posts higher on only five U.S. markets compared to the previous week,” Croke said.
They include:
- McAllen, up 14.6%.
- Ontario, up 14.3%.
- San Diego, up 11.2%.
- San Antonio, up 6.6%
- Fresno, up 4.7%.
Reefer
â–¼ Reefer loads: 517,026, down 21% week over week
â–² Reefer equipment: 48,187, up 7%
â–¼ Linehaul rate: $1.98 net fuel, down 2 cents
â–¼ Loads per truck: 10.7, down from 13.9. 4-week average: 12.6, trending â–²
“The situation was similar for reefer load posts. Just eight markets were up week over week, and only Houston would be considered a high-volume reefer freight market,” Croke said. “Rates softened nationally, though at $1.98 per mile, last week’s average linehaul reefer rate was on par with the previous year and slightly below 2023 levels.”
Flatbed
â–¼ Flatbed loads: 688,422, down 16% week over week
â–² Flatbed equipment: 31,831, up 7%
â–¼ Linehaul rate: $2.08 net fuel, down 2 cents
â–¼ Loads per truck: 21.6, down from 27.0. 4-week average flatbed LTR: 24.1, trending â–¼
“The national average flatbed linehaul rate made its most significant weekly drop in a month, falling 3 cents to $2.08 per mile,” Croke said. “That’s still 9 cents higher than the same week in 2024 and 2 cents more than in 2023.”
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.
Rates are being affected by brokerages under bidding each other and the massive increase in foreign dispatch services gobbling up loads to give to the non domiciled. Couple that with the continued rise in fuel costs nationwide and we have a full blown crisis going on. There is NO SHORTAGE of drivers and trucks. There is however a huge problem with brokers taking more of the pie than they deserve. Driving out the small businesses with cheap rates will harm the entire industry.