National average spot rates for van and refrigerated freight closed last week at their highest points in nearly two years, and the van load-to-truck ratio was above 5 for the third straight week, unprecedented for the month of August, said DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT One load board network. That of course follows scarcely three months from that same van ratio falling below 1 for several weeks in the depths of the COVID lockdowns and subsequent/concurrent freight fallout.
The number of available trucks on the DAT load board network was unchanged compared to the previous week, while load posts declined almost 3% during the week ending Aug. 16. Looser capacity measures, whether signaled by a decline in load posts or a rise in truck posts, often signals a negative turn in rates.
National average spot rates, August thus far
**Van: $2.19 per mile, up 16 cents compared to July
**Flatbed: $2.27 per mile, up 7 cents
**Reefer: $2.42 per mile, up 12 cents
These are rolling all-in (with the cost of fuel reflected) averages for the month of August. Spot rates continue to track above seasonal norms. The spot van rate averaged $1.82 per mile in August 2019, a 37-cent difference versus last week’s national average.
Load-to-truck ratios softened last week a tick. The average van ratio was just above 5, down from 5.2 the previous week but still easily the highest weekly average for the year. The reefer ratio declined from 8.7 to 8.3, and the flatbed ratio was unchanged at 28.3.
Van rates are strong on high-volume lanes. The average spot rate was higher on 55 of DAT’s top 100 van lanes by volume compared to the previous week. The number of loads moved increased on 81 of those 100 van lanes by a total of 8.2%.
