Contract linehaul rates for dry van truckload freight rose 13 cents per mile from June to July, the largest move between those two months on record, according to DAT Freight and Analytics. Refrigerated contract linehaul rates gained 9 cents per mile over the same stretch.

Those increases arrived while freight volumes fell across every equipment type. The DAT Truckload Volume Index put dry van at 252, down 6% month over month and 3% year over year. Reefer read 181, down 5% from June and 13% below July 2025, the steepest June-to-July reefer decline in six years. Flatbed registered 291, down 8% month over month and 7% year over year.

Including fuel surcharges, national average contract rates reached $3.01 per mile for dry van, up 12 cents from June, $3.29 for reefer, up 7 cents, and $3.83 for flatbed, up 3 cents. Stripping out fuel, contract linehaul rates settled at $2.39 for van, $2.62 for reefer and $3.09 for flatbed.

Spot pricing moved in mixed directions. The spot van rate reached $3.01 per mile with fuel, up 1 cent, while reefer climbed 3 cents to $3.42 and flatbed slipped 5 cents to $3.64 after setting a record high in June.

Van spot and contract linehaul rates both averaged $2.39 per mile in July, reaching parity. Measured against July 2025, spot linehaul rates ran 76 cents higher for van, 79 cents higher for reefer and 86 cents higher for flatbed. Average fuel surcharges eased 1 to 2 cents from June to 62 cents for van, 67 cents for reefer and 74 cents for flatbed, while remaining 20 to 23 cents above year-ago levels.

Source: DAT Freight and Analytics via GlobeNewswire - https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/08/11/3342999/0/en/dat-contract-van-and-reefer-rates-make-record-june-to-july-gains.html