DAT spot truckload market data for July 20-26, 2025 (Week 30)

Load and truck posts both declined last week; spot rates slipped again

National average spot rates fell for the third straight week, and load and truck posts on DAT One declined by 7% compared to the previous week. Despite a gradual decline, spot rates tracked seasonally and remained in line with those from the last two years. Dry van load- and truck-post volumes were each nearly 8% higher than in Week 30 of last year.

Broker-to-carrier 7-day average spot rates:

▼ Dry van: $2.02 per mile, down 1 cent week over week

▼ Refrigerated: $2.33 per mile, down 1 cent

▼ Flatbed: $2.43 per mile, down 1 cent

Dry van

▼ Van loads: 952,482, down 6% week over week

▼ Van equipment: 952,482, down 6%

▼ Linehaul rate: $1.65 excluding fuel, down 1 cent

— Loads per truck: 6.1, virtually unchanged

Reefer

▼ Reefer loads: 434,353, down 19% week over week

▼ Reefer equipment: 43,184, down 12%

▼ Linehaul rate: $1.96 excluding fuel, down 2 cents

▼ Loads per truck: 10.1, down from 10.7.

Flatbed

— Flatbed loads: 686,562, virtually unchanged week over week

▼ Flatbed equipment: 30,531, down 4%

▼ Linehaul rate: $2.06 net fuel, down 2 cents

▲ Loads per truck: 22.5, up from 21.6

Market notes from Dean Croke, DAT iQ industry analyst:

At $1.65 per mile, last week’s national average dry van linehaul spot rate was 3 cents higher than it was at the same time last year. The average rate for DAT’s top 50 van lanes by load volume decreased by 1 cent to $2.00 per mile, 35 cents higher than the national 7-day rolling average.

The reefer load-to-truck ratio was largely unchanged at 10.06, with reefer load posts down 20% and equipment posts 12% lower.

It’s earnings season for the big publicly traded contract carriers. Last week, Heartland Express reported disappointing Q2 results with wider-than-expected losses and an operating ratio of 106%. Revenue was down 23.4% year over year. ArcBest, Old Dominion Freight Line, Werner Enterprises, Schneider National, and Knight-Swift Transportation will follow this week. Fragile freight demand, high costs, poor utilization, and a soft rate environment persist as significant headwinds.