Flatbed Spot Rates Hit $2.89/Mile, New Record, as Loads Drop 15.5%

Why did flatbed spot rates hit a new record while loads fell?

Flatbed spot rates climbed 9¢ last week to $2.89 per mile, setting another all-time high, even as flatbed load counts dropped 15.5%. Year over year, flatbed rates are up 47%. The disconnect between rising rates and falling volumes signals tight capacity, not surging demand.

Dry van spot rates rose 9¢ to $2.32 per mile, up 53% year over year, while dry van loads fell nearly 13%. Reefer moved the opposite direction, dropping just over 10¢ to $2.64 per mile, though still 52% higher than last year. Reefer loads fell hardest, down nearly 20%.

DAT's national linehaul averages tracked the same direction but smaller moves: dry van up 5¢ to $2.32, reefer down 2¢ to $2.64, flatbed up 2¢ to $2.89. The FTR figures, which include fuel surcharges and accessorials in some reporting contexts, showed larger swings.

What the volume drop means for small fleets

Load counts fell across all three segments, with reefer taking the steepest hit at nearly 20%. Flatbed and dry van both shed double-digit percentages. When rates climb while volumes fall, the math is simple: fewer trucks chasing fewer loads, but the trucks still running have pricing power.

For a 5-truck flatbed fleet, the $2.89 rate is the highest linehaul average on record. A 500-mile run that paid $1,445 in gross revenue last week would have brought $1,400 the week prior. The 9¢ gain adds $45 per load before fuel and accessorials. Over 20 loads a week across five trucks, that's $900 more in settlement.

Dry van fleets saw the same 9¢ bump, though from a lower base. A 600-mile dry van load at $2.32 per mile grosses $1,392, up from $1,338 the prior week. The year-over-year comparison is sharper: the same load paid $1,518 less in June 2025, when the average dry van rate sat around $1.51 per mile.

Reefer softens after months of gains

Reefer's 10¢ drop broke a multi-week climb. At $2.64 per mile, reefer still commands the highest linehaul rate of the three segments, but the 20% volume decline suggests produce season is not delivering the usual surge. A 400-mile reefer run that paid $1,056 last week would have grossed $1,096 the week before.

The reefer pullback may reflect seasonal timing. Early June typically sees rising produce volumes out of California and the Southeast, but if shippers pulled forward peak-season freight in May to dodge fuel costs or tariff risk, the June calendar may be lighter than usual. The 52% year-over-year rate gain shows the market is still far tighter than last year, even with the recent softening.

Flatbed's record run continues

Flatbed has now posted consecutive record highs for multiple weeks. The $2.89 average tops the prior peak and extends a rally that began in late winter. Construction materials, steel, and building products typically drive flatbed demand, but the 15.5% load drop suggests the rate climb is capacity-driven, not volume-driven.

For flatbed owner-operators, the record rate is real money, but the falling load count means more time on the Carrier Atlas load board hunting the next run. When volumes drop, even high per-mile rates can leave trucks sitting if the next load takes an extra day to book.

Year-over-year comparisons show how far rates have climbed

All three segments are up 47% to 53% compared to June 2025. Dry van's 53% gain is the steepest, followed by reefer at 52% and flatbed at 47%. Last June, dry van averaged around $1.51 per mile, reefer sat near $1.73, and flatbed hovered around $1.97. The current averages represent a $0.81 dry van increase, $0.91 reefer increase, and $0.92 flatbed increase in 12 months.

For a 10-truck dry van fleet running 100 loads per week at an average 550 miles per load, the year-over-year rate difference is $44,550 per week in additional gross revenue, or $2.3 million annualized. Fuel costs have also climbed in that window, but the rate recovery has outpaced diesel in most markets.

What happens when rates rise and volumes fall

Rising rates with falling volumes typically mean one of three things: capacity has exited the market faster than demand, shippers are paying up to secure the trucks that remain, or both. The 47% to 53% year-over-year gains suggest the latter. Thousands of carriers shut down in 2024 and early 2025, and the trucks that survived are now in a position to hold rates.

The risk for small fleets is that high per-mile rates don't offset low utilization. A truck that earns $2.89 per mile but only runs three days a week because loads are scarce will still lose money. The volume declines across all three segments mean dispatchers need to watch load-to-truck ratios in their lanes, not just the posted rates.

The bill for a 5-truck fleet

A five-truck operation running mixed equipment (two dry vans, two reefers, one flatbed) and averaging 500 miles per load would see the following weekly change based on last week's rate moves: the two dry vans each gained $45 per load (9¢ × 500 miles), the two reefers each lost $50 per load (10¢ × 500 miles), and the flatbed gained $45. Over 20 loads per truck per week, that's a net gain of $900 for the dry vans, a net loss of $2,000 for the reefers, and a gain of $450 for the flatbed, for a fleet-wide weekly change of negative $650 before accounting for the volume drop. If each truck lost two loads due to the 13% to 20% volume declines, the math gets worse fast.