Spot Freight Rates Stable, Available Loads Drop
Spot truckload rates, including fuel surcharges, remained nearly unchanged over the past week as overall load availability fell 5.5% during the week ending Aug. 22, according to DAT Solutions.


Spot truckload rates, including fuel surcharges, remained nearly unchanged over the past week as overall load availability fell 5.5% during the week ending Aug. 22, according to DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT network of load boards.
Refrigerated load volume increased 4.1% as the number of available trucks was unchanged. The reefer load-to-truck ratio rose 4.1% resulting in 4.7 available reefer loads for every reefer truck posted on the DAT network. The national average spot rate for reefer loads held at $2.04 per mile, but is down from $2.13 three weeks earlier.
In the van market, load availability declined 2.6% after three consecutive weekly gains. The national average van rate dipped 0.6% to $1.76 per mile, continuing a seasonal slide and compares to $1.82 per mile three weeks earlier. The number of van posts edged up 1.1% while the load-to-truck ratio remained at 1.8 van loads per truck.
Flatbed load availability fell 13% while available capacity increased 6.8%. The national average flatbed load-to-truck ratio dropped 19% to 10.4 loads per truck. The average spot flatbed rate was unchanged at $2.07 per mile, after hitting $2.15 per mile two weeks earlier.
While it’s typical for spot market rates to increase when load posts are up, and load available has been up in recent weeks, truck posts have also been on the rise, according to DAT. With the cost of diesel low, there are more trucks on the road, which typically leads to looser truckload capacity and less pressure on rates.
All this happened as national average price of diesel fell 6 cents to $2.56 per gallon last week. You can read more about how cheaper fuel is affecting the spot freight market in the DAT Blog.
More Fleet Management

Deen Albert: Let Automation Do the Math, People Make the Decisions
HDT Truck Fleet Innovator Deen Albert makes sure people are still at the heart of operations at Grand Island Express, even while adopting artificial intelligence tools. AI-assisted dispatch helped boost revenue 25% with the same number of trucks.
Read More →Trimble’s New AI Agent Takes Aim at Fleet Back-Office Busywork
Arc Agent works across Trimble TMS products to automate repetitive tasks such as freight orders, maintenance, invoices, fuel costs and more.
Read More →
How HDT’s 2026 Truck Fleet Innovators Are Rethinking Fleet Operations
Meet five trucking leaders who are challenging assumptions, solving operational problems, and putting innovative ideas to work.
Read More →
Tight Trucking Capacity Pushes Rates Higher Even as Freight Volumes Fall
“Spot rates moving ahead of contract rates have historically signaled a tightening market, but we haven’t seen a capacity-driven market quite like this one,” said DAT's Dean Croke.
Read More →
Import Cargo’s Early Peak Season is Winding Down
There was an early start to peak season this year at the nation's gateway ports, as retailers brought in merchandise ahead of tariff changes in late July and responded to other supply chain uncertainties,
Read More →
Fewer Cargo Thefts, Bigger Losses: Criminals Target Higher-Value Loads
CargoNet says organized theft rings are stealing fewer shipments but choosing more valuable freight, including metals and technology, resulting in record losses.
Read More →
How Innovative Trucking Leaders Turn Change Into an Advantage
As the pace of change accelerates in trucking, the fleets that adapt best have more than the latest technology. They have cultures that embrace improvement.
Read More →
Freight Broker Bonds Just Got Harder to Get. Here's What That Means for Your Fleet.
When it gets harder for a freight broker to prove they are financially sound, the ones who cannot clear that bar get pushed out of the market. And those are exactly the brokers who used to leave motor carriers holding the bag.
Read More →
Long-Awaited Canadian Border Bridge to Open in Detroit
For trucking, the bridge opening should offer immediate improvements in efficiency and reliability, with new customs facilities, expanded inspection capacity, and direct freeway-to-freeway connections.
Read More →
Aurora Rolls Out Next Generation of Driverless Trucks for Commercial Freight
Aurora's latest autonomous trucks it's rolling out with International feature lower-cost hardware designed for a million miles as the company expands commercial driverless freight operations across the U.S. Sun Belt.
Read More →
