The gap between spot and contract freight rates has flipped in an unusual way this summer: dry van spot linehaul rates are now running seven cents per mile above contract rates, according to DAT Freight & Analytics, a reversal from the roughly 22-cent premium contract carriers typically held over spot pricing between 2022 and 2025.

Dry van spot linehaul averaged $2.32 per mile for the week ending July 31, excluding fuel, down 2.4% from the prior week as summer freight demand cooled. Even with the weekly dip, the rate sat 42.1% above the same week last year and 30% above the nine-year seasonal average of $1.78 per mile, keeping spot pricing near the top of its historical range. The ten dry van bellwether states, which carry roughly a third of all outbound U.S. dry van loads, posted a moves-weighted rate of $3.04 per mile, up 46.5% year over year.

Capacity continues to leave the market faster than freight volume is declining. Truck postings on DAT's load boards fell 12.5% week over week and dropped 27.8% from a year earlier, while load postings were down a more modest 3.6% for the week. That imbalance pushed the load-to-truck ratio to 10.93, up from 9.92 the prior week and more than 60% higher than the 6.64 ratio recorded a year ago, indicating fewer trucks are chasing each available load.

DAT's short-term forecast puts dry van spot rates at roughly $2.29 per mile by early September, still about 63 cents above the actual rate recorded in the same period last year.

Source: DAT Freight & Analytics -- https://www.dat.com/blog/dry-van-report-spot-rates-ease-as-summer-freight-demand-softens