Dry van spot linehaul rates averaged $2.24 per mile last week, excluding fuel, according to DAT Freight and Analytics. That is down 0.7%, or $0.02 per mile, from the prior week and up 32.8%, or $0.55 per mile, from a year earlier. Rates sit 23.5%, or $0.42 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average of $1.82.

The dry van bellwether states averaged $2.95 per mile, down $0.04 on the week and up $0.79, or 36.7%, year over year. Those ten states held 35.4% of national dry van outbound volume.

Among origin regions for the week ending Oct. 24, California ranked first at $2.58 per mile, followed by the Great Lakes and Ohio River regions at $2.55 each. Southeast origins averaged $2.04 per mile, down $0.06 on the week, and the Carolinas averaged $2.01, down $0.04. Florida and South Georgia averaged $1.38 per mile, the lowest among the top ten regions. The ten regions together accounted for 87.4% of dry van outbound loads.

Load posts fell 2.1% while truck posts slipped 0.2%, easing the dry van load-to-truck ratio to 9.51 from 9.70 the week before. A year ago the ratio stood at 6.03. Load posts are 16.9% above last year, and truck posts are 25.9% below, which DAT analyst Dean Croke attributes to capacity rather than demand holding rates up.

The DAT Rate Forecast projects dry van spot linehaul near $2.24 per mile 35 days out, with a forecast low of $2.17 and a high of $2.31.

Source: DAT Freight & Analytics - https://www.dat.com/blog/dry-van-report-spot-rates-slip-as-load-posts-cool-but-tight-capacity-holds-them-up