DAT Freight & Analytics

09/02/2026

The flatbed load-to-truck ratio just doubled year over year. Where did all the trucks go? 🚛

📉 Truck posts fell 8.8% week over week and 27.1% year over year
📈 Load posts climbed 8.8% on the week and 43.5% year over year
📊 The ratio jumped to 41.84 from 35.09, roughly double last year's 21.27
💵 Spot linehaul averaged $2.67 per mile, down 1.2% on the week but up 32.2% year over year

Rates eased slightly, but they're still sitting 26.5% above the nine-year seasonal average. Are you seeing capacity tighten in your flatbed lanes?

See what the data is signaling 👀 https://bit.ly/4irODzZ

Flatbed spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.67 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 1.2%, or $0.03 per mile, from the prior week. Flatbed spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.67 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 1.2%, or $0.03 per mile, from the prior week.

09/02/2026

When illness or injury takes a driver off the road, the truck stops. The bills don't.

We're proud to sponsor the second annual Freight Fantasy Football League, benefiting the St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund.

🏈 Open to anyone in freight and logistics
💛 100% of proceeds go to the Fund
🚛 The Fund supports professional drivers and their families when they can't work
📈 The freight community has raised $26,200 this year, up from just under $5K last year

That's what happens when this industry decides to show up.

Join the league or donate: https://bit.ly/4gHTvOz

09/01/2026

🚛 22% of everything FMCSA stopped in wave two went out of service.

Dean Croke breaks down the latest Operation Highway Shield results across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio, and what's coming next on the rule making side.

09/01/2026

Brake Safety Week thins capacity every year. This year it wasn't close to normal.

Truck posts dropped 10% for dry van, 8.7% for re**er, and 8.8% for flatbed last week. The five-year average for the same week is a decline of 2% to 4%. Drivers had more reason to park this time around, with inspections covering driver credentials, English-language proficiency, and immigration status on top of brakes.

Rates responded. Re**er spot linehaul, meaning the rate without the fuel surcharge, rose about 6 cents to $2.69 per mile and ended a seven-week slide. Van slipped 2 cents to $2.19 and flatbed 3 cents to $2.67, both slower declines than the week before. Out of Fresno, re**er loads heading east of the Mississippi picked up an average of 19 cents per mile, roughly triple the national move.

The load-to-truck ratio tells the fuller story. Dry van hit 12.01, up from 9.62 the prior week and 6.69 a year ago, the highest Week 35 reading in our 10-year comparison. Re**er hit 23.55. Van load posts are running 22.2% above last year while van truck posts sit 31.9% below. Brake Safety Week ends. That capacity gap doesn't.

Did your fleet or your carriers sit out Brake Safety Week this year, and how much did it move your rates?

08/31/2026

Apples, pears, berries, and onions are about to hit the road, and the Pacific Northwest re**er market is already feeling it🍎

Fall produce hasn't peaked yet, but capacity is tightening ahead of the harvest window as shippers line up trucks for long-haul temperature-controlled moves.

📈 Regional re**er spot rates are running 19% above last year
🌲 Spokane rates are up 21% year over year
🚛 Load posts from Twin Falls, ID to Atlanta jumped 74% week over week and 74% year over year
❄️ That Twin Falls to Atlanta lane is pricing 34% higher than last year, well ahead of the 10% gain on Twin Falls outbound re**er overall

Carriers sitting in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon have real pricing power right now, and it should build as harvest volumes accelerate.

Re**er operators, the Pacific Northwest is the market to watch this week👀

**erMarket

08/31/2026

Want to know what’s moving the market this week?👀

https://bit.ly/4yh3vpw

Recorded on: August 29, 2026Welcome to DAT Market Update, DAT’s w...

08/28/2026

Dry van rates are climbing while freight demand sits flat. Here's what's actually driving it 🚛

📊 Dry van spot linehaul averaged $2.21/mile, down $0.04 week over week and up 35.6% year over year
📈 Rates are running 23.8% above the nine-year seasonal average of $1.78/mile
📉 Truck posts fell 28.4% year over year, lifting the load-to-truck ratio to 9.88 from 5.72 a year ago
🏭 The ATA's For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index slipped 1% in July to 113.5, landing 0.5% below the same month last year

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said last week that the recent tightening owes almost entirely to capacity leaving, not to freight demand coming back. Rate strength is real, but it's built on a thinner base rather than a volume recovery.

Dry van carriers, are you feeling the tightening in your lanes, or does demand still feel flat? 👉 https://bit.ly/4wUXsFX

Dry van spot linehaul paid to carriers averaged $2.21 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 1.6%, or $0.04 per mile, from the prior week. Dry van spot linehaul paid to carriers averaged $2.21 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 1.6%, or $0.04 per mile, from the prior week.

08/27/2026

National re**er rates barely moved this week. Produce lanes were a different story 🍉

📊 Re**er spot linehaul averaged $2.63/mile, down less than a cent week over week and up 32.5% year over year
📈 Rates are running 24.8% above the nine-year seasonal average of $2.10/mile
🚛 Load posts jumped 10.9% week over week while truck posts fell 5.2%, lifting the load-to-truck ratio to 21.10 from 18.03
🍉 DelMarVa watermelons surged into Chicago (+17%), Atlanta (+14%), and Philadelphia (+13%)
🍎 Yakima and Wenatchee tree fruit firmed double digits into Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, and Boston

Produce rates turned back up last week as carriers took time off ahead of Brake Safety Week. That firming landed on top of a base that already sits a full tier above last August. South Texas was the one clear laggard, sliding for a second straight week.

Re**er carriers, which lanes are paying best for you right now? 👉 https://bit.ly/4wPJuF2

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Re**er spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.63 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 0.2%, or less than a cent per mile, from the prior week. Re**er spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.63 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 0.2%, or less than a cent per mile, from the prior....

08/26/2026

Flatbed rates are holding near the top of the historical range, but July's housing data is flashing a caution sign 🏗️

📊 Flatbed spot linehaul averaged $2.70/mile, down $0.02 week over week and up 35.1% year over year
📈 Rates are running 28.3% above the nine-year seasonal average of $2.10/mile
🚛 The load-to-truck ratio firmed to 36.11, up from 33.31 a week earlier and well above 20.44 a year ago
🏠 Single-family housing starts fell 9.9% in July to 808,000, the third decline in the past four months

Capacity is pulling back faster than freight, which is holding rates up for now. Permits are the counterweight: they rose 5.0% in July, which suggests builders are pausing rather than pulling out.

Open-deck carriers, are you seeing construction freight slow in your lanes yet? 👉 https://bit.ly/4ivZtET

Flatbed spot linehaul averaged $2.70 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 0.8%, or $0.02 per mile, from the prior week Flatbed spot linehaul averaged $2.70 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 0.8%, or $0.02 per mile, from the prior week

08/26/2026

🍓 Produce season rates just doubled the 10-year norm. Volumes? Down 10%.

Dean Croke on why the numbers don't add up, and what happens when the season cools.

Watch the full episode 👉 https://bit.ly/4wAEvIk

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