DAT: Van spot rate rises to $3.05 a mile, highest since early 2022
Key Highlights
- ➤Dry van spot rate $3.05/mile, up 4 cents monthly and 98 cents year over year
- ➤Van spot rates averaged $2.78/mile January-October, highest for that period in DAT records
- ➤Van contract rate $3.28/mile, up 4 cents and matching May 2022 record
- ➤Reefer contract rate $3.62 and flatbed $4.05 set records for second and third straight months
- ➤Truckload volumes remained below year-earlier levels across all three equipment types
Expert Statements
Dean Croke, Principal industry analyst at DAT
“Brokers moved fewer loads than a year ago and paid carriers about a dollar a mile more to move them last month.”
Dean Croke, Principal industry analyst at DAT
“Equipment posts on DAT One are running about 22% to 26% below last year depending on the equipment type.”
Dean Croke, Principal industry analyst at DAT
“While fuel and other operating costs are high, carriers are heading into the holiday freight season in a position to be selective and negotiate better rates.”
PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The average spot-market rate to move dry van truckload freight rose to $3.05 a mile in October, its highest monthly average since February 2022, even as fuel costs eased slightly from September, DAT Freight & Analytics reported.
Refrigerated (“reefer”) and flatbed spot rates held steady or shifted lower from September. All three were about 45% higher than a year earlier: * Dry van: $3.05 a mile, up 4 cents from September and 98 cents year over year * Reefer: $3.60, down 2 cents from September and up $1.12 year over year * Flatbed: $3.61, unchanged from September and up $1.10 year over year Spot rates are paid by freight brokers to truckload carriers and are negotiated as “all-in” pricing, with no fuel surcharge. From January through October, spot rates averaged $2.78 a mile for van, $3.25 for reefer, and $3.36 for flatbed, the highest for that period in DAT’s monthly records, which go back to 2010. The previous highs were set in 2022.
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