BEAVERTON, Ore. — Last week’s broad swath of severe winter weather fully delivered the expected boost to the spot market and perhaps then some.
“Total broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop.com system rose during the week ending Jan. 30 by the most in a single week since the end of 2023,” FTR said. “The 45-cent surge in refrigerated spot rates is the largest on record, at least back to 2008. The 20-cent jump in dry van spot rates is the third largest on record. Flatbed spot rates rose for the 10th time in 11 weeks.”
Total Spot Loads
Total load activity rose 17.4% from the prior week’s level after declining around 3% in each of the prior two weeks. Load postings were close to 56% higher than during the same 2025 week as all three principal equipment types recorded very large prior-year comparisons. Volume was close to 3% higher than the five-year average for the week. Presumably due to weather disruptions, truck postings fell 8.5%, and the Market Demand Index – the ratio of loads to trucks – surged to the highest level since late March 2022.
Total Spot Rates
The total market broker-posted rate rose just over 9 cents to its highest level of the year, falling about 3 cents short of the total rate in the final week of 2025. Total rates were 11% higher than in the same week last year for the strongest prior-year comparison since April 2022.
The weather impact is obvious enough just in the scope of the surges in refrigerated and dry van spot rates, but the effect is especially remarkable because spot rates for both equipment types almost always fall significantly during week 4. During 2015 through 2025, dry van spot rates on average fell 4.8 cents during week 4 while refrigerated spot rates dropped 8.6 cents. Rates for both equipment types fell in week 4 every year during that period except in 2021.
During the current week, extreme cold temperatures could keep refrigerated spot rates elevated as shippers seek insulated equipment to protect typically dry van freight that is subject to freezing. However, spot rates – especially those for dry van and flatbed – likely will not match or exceed those in week 4.
Dry Van Spot Rates
Dry van spot rates jumped 20 cents after falling nearly 22 cents since the end of 2025. Rates were 17.5% higher than in the same 2025 for the strongest prior-year comparison since February 2022. The largest week-over-week percentage increases were in the Midwest and Northeast while the West Coast saw little change. Dry van loads rose 39.3%, which is very large for a week that does not follow a major holiday. Volume was more than 44% higher than in the same 2025 week. Not surprisingly, the largest week-over-week increases in spot volume were in regions east of the Rocky Mountains.
Refrigerated Spot Rates
Refrigerated spot rates spiked 45 cents, surpassing the prior record week-over-week increase – at least since 2008 – of 42.6 cents during the final week of 2017. Rates were nearly 31% higher than in the same 2025 week for the strongest prior-year comparison since February 2022. All regions except the West Coast saw double-digit percentage increases versus week 3 during the week. Refrigerated loads jumped 51.1% – an extraordinary increase for a week that does not follow a major holiday. Coincidentally, volume also was just over 51% higher than in the same week last year. All regions experienced large week-over-week volume increases, ranging from about 20% on the West Coast to more than 73% in the Midwest.
Flatbed Spot Rates
Rates were close to 7% higher than in the same 2025 week. Flatbed loads increased 4.7%. Load postings were about 69% above that during 2025’s week 4, down from about 78% higher in week 3 than in the same 2025 week. Volume growth was almost totally centered in the Midwest and Northeast as loads fell on the West Coast and in the South Central regions and increased only slightly in the Mountain Central and Southeast.
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.
