Spot Market Rates and Loads Generally Higher Over Past Week
Spot market freight availability is increasing while rates have generally headed higher. New figures from the freight matching service provider DAT TransCore show spot market loads increased 11% for the seven days ending May 25 from the week before.
Spot market freight availability is increasing while rates have generally headed higher.
New figures from the freight matching service provider DAT TransCore show spot market loads increased 11% for the seven days ending May 25 from the week before.
Load-to-truck amounts also improved, increasing 9% for vans, but even more for reefers and flatbeds, adding 14% and 13%, respectively.
Rates for vans had the biggest increase, adding 2.3% from the previous week for an average of $1.82 per mile. Those for reefers increased 1.2% to $2.14 per mile while flatbed rates fell 0.6% to 2.14 per mile.
Writing for the company’s Freight Talk Blog, analyst Mark Montague points out the increase in rates for vans is being led by a 19 cent-per-mile increase in rates between Houston and Oklahoma City, possibly due to tornado relief efforts.
He also points out that “rates are rockin' and reefers are rollin'” in California, especially in the central part of the state’s produce markets, while demand for flatbeds and rates paid for them are generally best east of the Mississippi River.
More Drivers
How Top Trucking Fleets Improve Driver Retention [Video]
What do healthy snacks, optimized routing, and just picking up the phone have in common? They're all strategies the Best Fleets to Drive For are using to retain truck drivers.
Read More →
Trucker Path Adds Verisk CargoNet Theft Data to Navigation Platform
Trucker Path’s new cargo theft risk overlays give drivers and fleets visibility into high-risk areas, stolen commodity trends, and theft hotspots.
Read More →
Netradyne Intelligence Uses New AI Agents to Automate Response to In-Cab Camera Data
The company called the next-generation in-cab camera safety platform "a fundamental shift from systems that report on what happened to systems that actively drive what should happen next."
Read More →
Why Truck Detention Keeps Costing Fleets Time and Money
A 2024 ATRI study found detention affects nearly 40% of truckload stops and costs the industry more than $15 billion annually. Despite the toll on drivers, fleets, and supply chains, the problem remains stubbornly persistent.
Read More →
Prime Inc. to Open $7.9M Flagship Used-Truck Dealership
A new driver-focused facility to sell Prime Inc's used trucks and trailers will be the first purpose-built location in the company's history.
Read More →
Short Takes: Inside K&B’s Truck Safety Tech
Listen to learn how K&B Transportation uses cellphone-blocking technology, speed management systems, weather geofencing, bridge avoidance tools, and more to improve driver safety.
Read More →
Nussbaum Expands Driver Compensation with Pay Raises, Profit Sharing
Nussbaum Transportation said its latest compensation package could push first-year driver earnings above $90,000 in key hiring markets.
Read More →
Listen: Inside Modern Fleet Safety: AI, Cameras & Speed Control at K&B Transportation
Fleet safety is evolving fast—and technology is at the center of it. Learn how a former commercial vehicle enforcement officer turned director of safety at K&B Transportation is embracing real-world safety technology.
Read More →
Maverick Announces 2026 Driver Pay Raises
New raises for Maverick Transportation drivers will take effect on May 31, 2026.
Read More →
Illinois Trucker Indicted for Nearly $22,000 in Ohio Turnpike Toll Evasion
Authorities say an Illinois trucker avoided paying tolls for two years, and now faces felony charges, possible prison time, and forfeiture of his Freightliner tractor.
Read More →