Reefer spot linehaul averaged $2.65 per mile this week, minus fuel, down 2.6%, or $0.07 per mile, from the prior week. Rates ran 37.7%, or $0.73 per mile, year over year and held 28.5%, or $0.59 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average of $2.08 per mile, near the top of the historical range.
All rates cited are linehaul only. They exclude fuel costs and surcharges unless otherwise noted.
Get the clearest, most accurate view of the truckload marketplace with data from DAT iQ.
Tune into DAT iQ Live, live on YouTube or LinkedIn, 10am ET every Tuesday.
Bellwether states
The 10 reefer bellwether states posted a moves-weighted outbound rate of $3.63 per mile this week, essentially flat week over week at up 0.1% and up 42.2%, or $1.08 per mile, year over year. The roster carried 41.4% of all U.S. state-outbound reefer loads, at the upper end of its 38 to 40% baseline.
Regional rate trends
| Reefer — Top 10 Origins by Rate Per Mile · Week Ending July 31, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Origin Region | Avg RPM | WoW % | YoY % |
| 1 | Lower Midwest | $3.17 | -2.4% | +38.1% |
| 2 | Ohio River | $3.17 | +2.3% | +42.9% |
| 3 | California | $3.08 | -7.5% | +37.2% |
| 4 | Great Lakes | $3.04 | +0.0% | +39.5% |
| 5 | Upper Midwest | $2.96 | -2.7% | +33.1% |
| 6 | Southeast | $2.77 | -6.5% | +44.4% |
| 7 | South Central | $2.62 | -5.6% | +37.1% |
| 8 | Carolinas | $2.58 | -7.4% | +40.7% |
| 9 | Upper Atlantic | $2.48 | +0.9% | +33.3% |
| 10 | Lower Mountain | $2.40 | -4.8% | +28.4% |
The top 10 origins carried 84.2% of all U.S. outbound loads moved in the week. Ohio River led week over week at +2.3%, while most leading origins eased from the prior week as summer volumes softened.
Market conditions
Reefer load posts were up 1.6% week over week and up 27.3% year over year. Truck posts were down 10.3% week over week and down 25.4% year over year, so freight edged up while capacity pulled back. The load-to-truck ratio rose to 19.38, up from 17.11 a week earlier and 11.36 a year ago, the tightest of the three markets this week.
Spot vs. contract
Contract linehaul averaged $2.49 per mile this week against a spot rate of $2.65 per mile, leaving spot $0.16 per mile above contract, a clear inversion driven by the run-up in spot. Contract held the premium for roughly 44 months, from April 2022 through November 2025, averaging $0.25 per mile and peaking at $0.46 per mile in April 2023, before the spread flipped in December 2025. Across 2022 through 2025, contract ran $0.21 per mile above spot.
Short-term outlook
The 35-day DAT Rate Forecast puts reefer spot at $2.62 per mile in early September, roughly $0.03 below this week’s $2.65. The uncertainty band spans about plus or minus $0.07 per mile, or 2.7% of the point forecast, in the middle of the three equipment types this week. The end-of-forecast rate would stand about $0.58 per mile above the $2.04 actual recorded near the same date a year earlier.
